. <- point (Moved to Wordpress)

After Five Years, we bid adieu.. to blogspot

2009-07-23T10:02:00.003-04:00

NOTE BENE

Another Point of Singularity has been around on Blogspot.com since December of 2004. I am, today, shutting this blog off. I am NOT going away, just transitioning to WORDPRESS.COM.

I am liking Wordpress more and more these days. For lots of reasons, most of them administrative.

Please take a moment to adjust your bookmarks accordingly. For those of you "following" you can do essentially the same thing in Wordpress.com by "subscribing".

The new blog is THIRD POINT OF SINGULARITY, and is located here:

http://misternizz.wordpress.com

This blog account will remain active for a while for everyone to get used to the idea, then I will shut it off.

Transition Point Soon

2009-06-04T11:33:00.002-04:00

Short History Lesson

1. Before this incarnation of a blog, I ran A POINT OF SINGULARITY, on Xanga.com, from 6/03 to 12/04. At the time, Xanga was pretty limited in a lot of ways, and I did not like their posting interface. I understand Xanga has made great strides since then.

2. I have run ANOTHER POINT OF SINGULARITY since December of 2004 on blogger.com, and generally, I'm happy with blogger. Now that the company is owned by Google they are making great strides to integrate their blogging product with other Google apps, and that's only a good thing. However, there are elements of control that I desire that are simply not here. I've been shopping around for a new technology to implement, possibly even (gack!) a paid domain with my own content management application, like Joomla.

3. In the end, I think there's a nice reasonable compromise out there, and it is (yay!) still free. That's Wordpress blogging application, hosted on Wordpress.com. I still may host a Wordpress blog on a paid domain eventually, because Wordpress.com only allows a certain level of functionality and and only their own templates. However, it is a very nice comprehensive blogging service even if I'm not hosting it myself.. Wordpress is more complex than blogger, and I'd like to get used to it for a while before committing myself to PHP and MYSQL. I think it's the right choice.. there are many nifty plugins that support expanded social media activity, like Podcasting and other feeds. That's something I've been nerving myself up to attempt at some point, and it would be nice to have something in place that can handle it.

So, at some point, after I finish importing the archive from blogger.com to Wordpress.com, This blog is going to get turned off. It will still be here, but it won't be updated any more. You will have to move over to http://mrnizz.wordpress.com for THE THIRD POINT OF SINGULARITY.

I'd say this is definitive.

2009-06-04T00:04:00.002-04:00

Fortunately I've been working on transitioning the archive of THIS blog over to wordpress. The posts came over, and most of the tags (as categories) but many are uncategorized.. from the two years that blogger didn't use the tagging system.. GAHHH!

A quick poll: Wordpress? or Blogger?

2009-05-26T19:13:00.003-04:00

So, this theme has been up for about a year now and for the most part I enjoy it, but it has certain limitations. I've been monkeying around with Wordpress lately and I enjoy the level of control this service gives you, especially with podcasting, which is something I'm working on jumping into. If anyone out there is reading this, I'd be interested in what you had to say.

Ditch the Blogger theme? Go with Wordpress?

THIS is an example of what the new site might look like, with all these posts and comments captured over to it. Comments welcome.

Get This - Survey Results

"... and the Sea Shall yield up her Dead"

2009-05-25T21:35:00.003-04:00

I attended a quiet little Memorial Day service run by the American Legion post of Woodstock, Virginia. The ceremony was quiet, small and very local. There was an invocation, then a prayer for the Dead. A small honor guard saluted as the National Anthem was played, then we said the Pledge of Allegiance. Speeches were given, a local girl who had won a civics essay wrote about the value she placed on the sacrifice of the men and women who put themselves in the way of danger to protect freedom.

Afterward, there was a quiet little lunch of baked chicken and potato salad and coleslaw, which the folks at the Legion called "serving supper". The facility is humble, a largish hall with pictures of Robert Lee and Stonewall Jackson at one end. I grinned at that. Pictures of past presidents and ladies auxiliary presidents line the wall, going back to the sixties. So old fashioned, yet so poignant, this small town who had provided its share of its young men and women to die on foreign fields through the long roll of history. I found myself deeply moved by the whole thing. Living near DC, you see your share of politically inspired hoopla around the holidays. It's all rather solemn but in the end this tiny little town, remembering the fallen, meant so much more to me.

Cherish the Living. Honor your Dead.

Happy Memorial's Day.

I revisit a science fiction convention..

2009-05-25T17:22:00.013-04:00

There was a day when I used to attend Science Fiction conventions quite regularly. In my 20s, I was a regular attendee of Evecon, DISCLAVE and occasionally Balticon. Life can throw some changes your way, and mine has been no exception. After getting a suit job and settling down a bit, I had less opportunities to attend them and gradually dropped SF conventions from life in favor of miniature gaming cons like HISTORICON, COLD WARS, and ORIGINS. I love reading and I love science fiction, but I am not a classic fan boy. Geeky, too be sure, but not a fanboy-- I just like a good book or movie. Still, I miss the old days, so when the opportunity arose to visit BALTICON for the first time in years over the weekend, I took it.

Balticon takes place in the Fort Hunt Marriott hotel, which is where HMGS and the BGA have run cons, and I am familiar with the location. To call the locale "Baltimore" stretches the geographic definition a bit, being west of Towson, but the neighborhood is certainly a lot more affordable than downtown.

Con Suites are still in vogue. This one was open 24/7/365, as all good con suites should be.

I'm not crazy about the Fort Hunt Marriott, as a rule. The hotel is expensive (for the location), laid out like a puzzle and quite cramped, dark and claustrophobic. The flip side of the location is parking is free, there are some hotels nearby that are reasonable (unlike in the Inner Harbor, for instance), and the local cuisine is... well.. robust and cheap.

I could only make it for Sunday, but I got up pretty early and participated in a lot of programming until I left at 10:30 PM.. so I got my 36 dollars worth and was well satisfied.

Steampunk was a prominent theme at the convention art show.

After a quick walkabout to get my bearings and visit the dealer's room (such as it was-- the HMGS Exhibitor's hall could have swallowed three of these), I attended the first item on the agenda, which was "LIVE! Stranger Things: Singularity" in the Grand Ballroom. This was a live event hosted by a talented and engaging young chap named Earl Newton. Mr. Newton is a film director and video podcast producer of the show STRANGER THINGS, a web-based video show that is a mix of science fiction, horror, and science fantasy. I like indie films and mixed media content, so I sat in on this one. The format was interesting.. a little too bombastic when a feller named Matt Wallace took the stage and tried to to turn it into a Generation Z pep rally-- you know the drill. "What? I can't HERE youuuuuuu?" and "How about a big hand for all of you...", that sort of thing. Still, I was fascinated with his interview with J.C. Hutchins about Hutchins forthcoming novel, PERSONAL EFFECTS: DARK ART. Mr. Hutchins is an early adoptor of the freebie podcast novel method of getting your name out there (A' la Scott Siglar), and has written three (the Seventh Son trilogy).

Mr. Wallace Interviews Mr. Hutchins

His new book will be published by St. Martins Press and from what Mr. Hutchins described, it will be something to see-- full of extra media bits-- business cards, ticket stubs, websites, etc., all designed to keep you tied into the central narrative and take the story into a direction outside of what is printed on the page. I'm intrigued. Mr. Newton, with the help of Mr. Hutchins, produced a short film whose name I plumb forgot, about digital voyeurism.. this was very well done and well received. I also caught "The Shed" about a family dealing with a zombie outbreak. Fantastic work.

I wanted to catch Scott Siglar's autograph session, but being the hoity toity type that he is, he was busy plotting ultimate world domination and was late, so I ended up giving blood at the Heinlein Society Blood Drive and totally missed his slot. Side Note: Can you think of a better, safer group of blood donors than science fiction fans? I did see Siglar a little later, but I missed my chance.

I spent a brief time in the Dealer's room, being shamlessly huckstered too. I was particularly taken with the works and sales approach of Mr. C.J. Henderson, who was cheerful and engaging and absolutely without shame about pimping his work. I ended up buying TO BATTLE BEYOND from him directly, and look forward to reading it. Mr. Henderson seems to be inhabiting a nice pulpy niche in science fiction-- somewhere between Randall Garrett and P.J. Farmer.

I stopped in a Costuming panel discussion, because the subject was "Steampunk: the Next Big Thing" (which I thought was a silly title-- Steampunk never really went OUT of style, so how could it be the next big thing?).

They had some neat toys!

I'm not even remotely a costuming type of person, so I just looked at a few props and left to sit in on a presentation called THE TOXICOLOGY OF MUSTARD GAS, by Doctor Henry Meier. The presentation was simply fascinating (and not a little bit gross in parts).

From there, I went to a panel discussion called HOW TO TEACH AN OLD BLOG NEW TRICKS, by Angela Render and Mur Lafferty. Miss Render, in particular, is very market savvy about web design and marketing, and Miss Lafferty was in the forefront of the social media marketing of novels.

Mur Lafferty

Angela Rader, Web marketing whiz.

The discussion was focused on "blog rejuvenation strategies" and I found it interesting and useful. I may even follow some of that advice for this blog-- not that it's a commercial entity or anything.

After a jaunt out to discover my favorite barbecue joint down the street isn't open on Sundays (curses!), I came back for a short jaunt to the game room (playing the Traveler version of FULL THRUST), then to attend PODCASTING 102, with a panel consisting of Earl Newton (remember him from earlier?) Dan Tabor, Patrick Maclean, MAinPA, and Paulette Jaxton. Since, at some point, I intend to start a podcast of my own, I wanted to drop in on this panel discussion to pick up useful information. It was a very helpful little group, but sadly, far too short.

The Video Room was very hip, but I never spend time there-- I can watch commercial video at home. HOWEVER, this offering, FAUST: EINE DEUTSCHE VOLKSSAGE, made me wish I had the time to spare.

From podcasting, to film festivals.. I ended the evening watching the BALTICON SUNDAY NIGHT FILM FESTIVAL in the ballroom. This was a wonderful (if chilly) event. I recall some of the entrants, but didn't write it all down.

Burning Safari

Burning safari
by cosmicdance

The Hunt for Gollum

(the Hunt for Gollum floored me. A forty minute short that fills in the small gap just before the events of THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. Shot in a visual style with props, actors, fonts and cinematographic style very evocative of Jackson's work, I'm thinking I'd better download this fast before the New Line lawyers pay the producers a visit with a cease and desist letter. It was genius.

Six Impossible Things was a sweet story about a young girl who builds a robot to cope with the loneliness in her life after her mother passes away.

the last one I can recall was THE ALLIANCE, a potboiling classic Science Fiction oater. What was unique about this one was the distinctive (extremely positive) Muslim viewpoint of the director and writer.

After nearly freezing out of the auditorium, I submitted my ballot and nosed my car out into the traffic for home-a-byes..

In retrospect, I'd have to say I liked Balticon very much, especially the many interesting panel discussions on Social Media and cross media promotions. I will likely not be giving up any miniature gaming convention for a SF convention any time soon, because for me, reading is a personal and private thing. I'm not the type of fellow to put on a costume or wear a lot of buttons or go (shudder) filking, so I'm really only at these things for the books. Still, some people I admire were there (Siglar, and Lafferty, and Van Verth, and Hutchins and etc) so I'm glad I was in the same place with them at the same time, even if I'm too shy to be a nudge, even with Siglar. So I'll likely attend a Balticon again, if opportunity arises, but it won't be a driving force in my life. I'm not 20 any more!

This ain't yo' Daddy's Kobolds...

2009-05-25T15:39:00.006-04:00

On the way back from dropping off Anne and Little G up at the cabin, I took the long way back through Mosby's Confederacy (aka, the Horse Country of Northern Va)-- Middleburg, Upperville, Aldie, etc. Simply gorgeous and sunny, I was in no great hurry to be anywhere. When I'm in no great hurry to be someplace, and in Chantilly, I drop in the Game Parlor, and Saturday was no exception. I was was pleased to run in to my friends Ed, Nigel, Jeffrey and Brett, who were there for Worldwide D&D Game Day. I have only a nodding acquaintance with the new 4th Edition of Dungeon and Dragons, which is a game very much removed from the days of my youth. I figured what the heck and sat in on an adventure after well all went out for Peruvian chicken and Yucca.

Say what you like about Wizards of the Coast (and why not? I often do), they have the logistics on this event nailed. WotC recruited a small army of volunteer GMs to run a series of canned adventures, provided them with the maps, the figures and the modules to run the event with. These were short adventures, designed to be run through end to end in four hours or less. We did our in 3 hours and change.

The Blurb:

Journey Through the Silver Caves – A kobold wyrm priest has stolen an ancient book of prophecy from the people of Albura, a fortress on the borderlands. The kobold has a dark plan for the book – and only you can stop him in time! An adventure for 5 pregenerated 5th-level characters.

First thing I noticed: there's a ton more player character races in this version of D&D. We had an Eldarin wizard, a Dragonborn sneaky guy, a Tiefling warlord, and a Dwarf paladin as well as me, a giant stony-skinned grey guy named Uthal, who was a "Goliath Barbarian".

The second thing I noticed is the game is much more skirmish-like than the old days. Most adventures are focused on a group going to a nasty place to fight it out with bad guys. The nasty guys are a lot nastier than they used to be. To an old guy like me who was used to wading through (literally) mountains of make believe low level critters back in his heyday, to face Orcs and Kobolds that not only put up a heck of a fight, but can stand and deliver for several turns, inflicting deadly force every time, well, that's a surprise.

Characters have more race and class specialty actions than in the old days. Skills are critical for combat now, and all classes have specific actions they can take to modify a combat.

The new D&D is faster, more complex with a lot of "Bottom" that we used to have to create ourselves. I like it!

* Freshly scrubbed for grammar and shiny new!

Lonely Robot sits alone

2009-05-22T18:14:00.003-04:00

Title unknown, Artist: Eric Joyner

Historicon News Flash from HMGS East

2009-05-12T20:07:00.002-04:00

Released: Historical Miniatures Gaming Society East Announces Legion of Honor, Scruby Award Winners

Bel Air, MD (May 11, 2009) -- The Historical Miniatures Gaming Society East (www.HMGS.org) will present the Society’s lifetime achievement award -- the Jack Scruby Award - to Todd Fisher of Chicago, IL at the 25th annual HISTORICON ™ 2009 conference to be held July 16 – 19, 2009 at the Lancaster Host Resort and Conference Center in Lancaster, PA. The Jack Scruby Award is presented bi-annually by the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society East (HMGS) for distinguished service to the hobby of historical miniatures gaming. HMGS is a non-profit educational organization that promotes the study of military history through historical miniatures gaming, seminars, grants, and conventions.

The Scruby Award is named after the late Jack Scruby, one of the first to make a critical contribution to the growth and promotion of the hobby and industry of historical miniatures gaming in the U.S. The award recognizes individuals who exhibit the same selfless service and incomparable contributions to the hobby as exemplified by Jack Scruby.

Todd Fisher has contributed to many different fields of historical miniatures gaming. An avid wargamer and dedicated Napoleonic scholar, Todd has organized and assisted in organizing a number of game conventions, the most notable is Little Wars, sponsored by the HMGS Midwest chapter, which Todd was also instrumental in organizing. Perhaps Todd’s most famous achievement was the Emperor’s Headquarters (EHQ) that he started in 1990, a wargaming super-shop that gamers drove hundreds of miles to visit, and which undoubtedly inspired many of the successful historical shops in the country today. Todd also formed the Emperor’s Press, which published not only wargaming rules, but also many serious scholarly works by respected historians, including Christopher Duffy. Todd was editor and publisher of Napoleon Magazine and has served as a retailer, publisher, and manufacturer, producing a number of historical figure lines under license. He has also been involved in the artistic end of the hobby, the art of game design. Todd has been closely associated with the various editions of Empire, and was central to the development of the new Revolution and Empire rules, in addition to designing the popular medieval rule set Revenge.

Todd is the Executive Director of the Napoleonic Historical Society, and in that capacity, he has led tours of the Napoleonic Sights of Europe for over thirty years (he was one of six original inductees in the International Napoleonic Society.) He has authored several books on the Napoleonic period, including The Napoleonic Wars, which is used as the textbook for many graduate courses, written articles that have appeared in international journals, and was the chief historical advisor on the Peabody award-winning “Napoleon” for Public Broadcast System (PBS).

“Todd’s incredible accomplishments in the field of historical miniatures gaming -- from conventions, education and retailing to publishing and game design -- make him an outstanding recipient of the Jack Scruby Award,” said Pete Panzeri, president of HMGS.

HMGS Legion of Honor Awards

Elected to the 2009 HMGS Legion of Honor are Don Perrin and Philip Viverito whom will be inducted during the Scruby Awards Dinner, Friday night at HISTORICON ™ 2009. The Legion of Honor inducts individuals for their significant personal accomplishment in one or more fields of historical miniature gaming.

Don Perrin of Williams Bay, Wisconsin is publisher of Historical Miniature Gamer Magazine and president of True North Miniatures. He was also the publisher and editor for James Manto's Men-at-Arms medieval wargame. Don served with the Canadian Army for 10 years, retiring as a Captain in the Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. Currently, Don works with the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre of Canada to train Corps Headquarters in NATO, the European Union and the African Union for peacekeeping operations. He has published eight novels and has authored or edited a host of card games, miniatures games and role-playing games, including the Dragonlance d20 Campaign Setting, the Star Trek Original Series Collectible Card Game, Uncle Duke's Napoleonette Rules for 15mm Napoleonics and the Sovereign Stone Role Playing Game. Don has also served as president of the adventure game industry's trade organization GAMA, and has consulted for games and toys with Hasbro, Mattel, Origin Systems and Scenario.

Currently, Don devotes his time to printing other peoples fine miniatures games (such as Test of Battle Games' Command Decision: Test of Battle, LMW's G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T and Holy Hack, Sam Mustafa’s Might & Reason and OGDW's General Quarters), through his company Quality Print-On-Demand. He helped organize many conventions, including HISTORICON, Little Wars, REDCON, and RockCon, is publisher of the award winning Historical Miniature Gamer magazine, North America's only historical miniatures magazine, and continues to promote and play historical miniature games.

Philip Viverito of Tonawanda, New York is a prolific writer, historian, game-rules author, game-master, figure painter, master terrain maker, event organizer, and HMGS supporter. He began creating model buildings and relief maps focusing on various historical periods from Classical times to modern times model in junior high school and was so successful that he was invited to lecture on historical topics to other classes. After graduating Niagara County Community College and then Niagara University with a BA in history, he began building larger, award winning dioramic presentations for gaming conventions. He was contracted to do an architectural display for Amherst Historical Museum, Amherst, New York. Later he designed and created a series of seven miniature buildings depicting the development of The French Castle for The Old Fort Niagara Association, Youngstown, New York. In addition, he assisted in cataloging photographs for the Association's librarian. This led to other photographic assignments for the Fort. He was also responsible for the care and preservation of the Canadian Power Company's photographic archives and collections, eventually creating a photographic history of the company that was donated to the Canadian Government collections. Other commercial endeavors include photographic work for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian and the Niagara Falls Public Library Local History Department. Phil and other authors have their game systems, scenario books and The Classical Hack Newsletter published through LMW Works, which he co-founded.

Phil has traveled extensively through out the U.S. and Canada putting on demonstrations and seminars using his models as a backdrop, bringing history to life in miniature. Phil is noted for his speaking engagements as a former Smithsonian Instructor, having participated in The Legacy of Hannibal Program at the Tunisian Embassy in Washington, D.C. His other speaking engagements include the Origins War College, Buffalo School System D’Vouville Campus and The Biblical Archeological Society (Buffalo).

“We congratulate Don and Phil on their accomplishments and welcome them into the Legion of Honor,” said Pete Panzeri, president of HMGS.

HISTORICON is the largest historical miniatures gaming convention in the United States. Each year, thousands of avid gamers descend on what the New York Times has described as the "mother of all war gaming conventions." The event features thousands of attendees (adults and children), hundreds and hundreds of games, the world's biggest war game hobby shop, painting events, and a special awards celebration. Other HMGS events include the annual “Fall In” convention to be held Nov. 6 – 9, 2009 in Gettysburg, PA, “Cold Wars”, to be held March 11 – 14, 2010 in Lancaster, PA, and “Historicon 2010” to be held in Baltimore, MD next July.

For more information on HMGS, visit www.hmgs.org.

For more information on HISTORICON, visit www.HISTORICON.org.

ProFlowers.Com? Never again.

2009-05-11T10:35:00.003-04:00

I used ProFlowers.com last year, on a coworker's recommendation (to take advantage of an online coupon that was making the rounds, to be honest, 15% off). I ordered a nice arrangement for my own mother and one for my wife, gave them the different addresses, had them repeat it back to me. Paid for it, printed out the PDF receipt and tucked it away-- then the hilarious hijinks ensued. Both arrangements were sent to my mom, which isn't all that bad a thing, but it's not very classy to have a flower arrangement for your wife go elsewhere. Ah well, I thought, they can't do the same thing twice if I use two different vendors, can they? This year I ordered another nice arrangement from ProFlowers for Audrey. Fedex dutifully emailed me that they had arrived (in my garage-- even though we were home). I rushed out and retrieved the box, only to open it up and discover... stems. Yes, that's right, ProFlowers delivered a box of chopped off stems to my house for Mother's Day. I was fit to be tied-- and my language was salty, bordering on coarse, when I called up the ProFlowers customer representative. To their credit, they promptly refunded me for my order both times-- but I'm not getting fooled a third time. Sayanora, ProFlowers!!

Turning a playset into a Coliseum.

2009-05-03T23:17:00.003-04:00

I've been dabbling in 54mm Gladiators for a long time, almost two years. I really like the scale of 54mm-- it's easy to paint and easy to play with. For as long as I've been involved in this scale, I've enjoyed the spectacle of big figures, but there's never really been a decent solution for a coliseum.

Sure, I could have gone with the Ben Hur Coliseum playset. You can still get this in recast plastic-- but it doesn't look like a Coliseum to me, and it costs an arm and a leg to find one in any decent shape.

Then I noticed the following "Roman Coliseum Playset" on MichToy.

The figures are kind of playmobil like, but I gave them to Gar (with the chariot), keeping the shields and weapons for gladiator games as missing weapon tokens. The coliseum itself is made of a semi-soft plastic (not rigid), with lots of fine detailing in the statuary and tiling and mosaics. The scale is just perfect for 54mm. At this moment, I have primed it with Kryolan Fusion plastic paint, and I'm tempted to leave it be, or give it another coat-- the kryolan gives it a sort of marble finish. I'll have to paint the door and fixture details, of course, to give it some contrasts. I am pleased with the investment, which was fairly minimal compared to picking up an entire Ben Hur playset, and frankly I think this looks better.

A life lived well: Alan Calhamer and the story behind Diplomacy

2009-04-29T12:02:00.002-04:00

Alan Calhamer (pictured above, in younger days), once was a genius graduate of Harvard University, attended law school (dropping out), thought he might end up teaching history, ended up retiring from being a letter carrier for 25 years in La Grande Park, California. Along the way, he had one great achievement. He designed the game Diplomacy. A recent article in Chicago Magazine, "All in the Game" by Edward Mclleland, tells us the rest of the Alan Calhamer's life story. I found the article very poignant, and it concludes with the question: Is a life worth one great achievement? I'm sure Alan thinks so, somehow.

His childhood friend, Gordon Leavitt, sums it up nicely: "If somebody had written a book that’s still in print 50 years later, that’d be quite an accomplishment. That’s what Allan did. He invented something that’s still being used 50 years later.”

If you like boardgames, especially Diplomacy, read this article. It's a very human story.

Hail to the Champ

2009-04-25T00:16:00.002-04:00

Eric Joyner, What We Ought Not, We Do, 2006.

Upcoming reviews: VACATION and SHEEP AND WOLVES by Jeremy Shipp

2009-04-24T16:53:00.002-04:00

I bumped into Jeremy on Facebook. I'm not a stalker or anything; Facebook provides a nice opportunity to get a voyeuristic window into the lives and current projects of writers I like. Those writers have friends that are writers, and maybe Facebook recommends more to you, and so on, and so on.. so on. To be utterly honest, I had some inkling of Jeremy's existence in advance, as a writer that sometimes pops into CEMETARY DANCE magazine, and I have heard his name whispered in association with something called "Bizzaro Fiction", so I croaked "Oh! That guy!" and sent him a friend request. Most writers will friend you on Facebook, that's nothing special.. it's just another way of making word of mouth happen. Jeremy seems like a nice chap, though, and ran a little "Status Update Murder Mystery" where the people on his friends list would grill him for clues and they would eventually figure it out, three minute mystery style. I liked that-- it's fun and accessible. So when he sent out a status update asking "anyone want to review VACATION and SHEEP AND WOLVES (short stories)? There' s a couple of free PDFs in it for you!" I figured, why not?

VACATION grabbed me with the first sentence, and that's a capricious enough way to get a review started in my book. So that's what I'm reading now. I hope to have it done over the weekend; we'll see. I'm trying to kill off ANATHEM for my book club one of these days, so I can't promise I'll get to SHEEP AND WOLVES quickly, but I think I can plow through VACATION quickly enough.

Stay tuned, this looks like fun.

Nudging incoming world-killing asteroid with nukes: Good idea or Bad idea?

2009-04-24T16:37:00.001-04:00

QUEST on KQED Public Media.

Cool Nautical Warfare-wear

2009-04-22T17:18:00.002-04:00

The SEAWARSTORE has a series of shirts for naval geeks like me.

Famous Nineteenth Century Naval Battle Tee-Shirts

Dreadnought Age Sea Battles Tee Shirts

And many more! Great White Fleet, Sink the Bismarck, Midway, etc. There are many history geek tshirts out there, but very few on naval subjects, and even fewer on 19th century and dreadnought era battles and themes.

There are also polo shirts with embroidered naval flags of the time period:

The SEAWARSTORE's Naval Theme and Naval Battle Shirt page is HERE.

Steve Gibson's wonderful Circus Magicus events

2009-04-10T00:46:00.003-04:00

Here's some photos Jack Mosquera posted to the TNGG Yahoogroup. A pretty decent portryal of a Fantasy Chariot race, as we play it.

Photos: Jack Mosquera
Game: Steve Gibson

Think good thoughts for Steve, who is recovering from extensive surgery at the moment.

Philadelphia Road Trip to Big Bad Buttkicking Bob Doggett's house

2009-04-06T10:38:00.002-04:00

Making small roads out of sheet styrene and caulk. Interesting series.

2009-04-06T10:24:00.003-04:00

Photo Credit: Eastern Funker's blog

Eastern Funker's "Panzerfaust: Iron Fist" blog has a very nice series on a project he completed recently, building roads out of caulk applied to sheet styrene cut into standard miniature wargames road templates.

For the entire series, START HERE. for "Follow the Homemade Caulk Road"

"Follow these instructions..." on Jan. 2, 2009

"Stuck in a Rut.." on Jan. 19, 2009

"Road building" on Jan. 31, 2009

"End of the Roads" on Feb. 10, 2009

This is a nice series, outlining a clever idea. The tutorial is well illustrated and gives a project materials list at start.

Well done, Eastern Funker!

Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal have been sighted

2009-04-01T12:07:00.003-04:00

Long term readers may remember the stunt where I used the now deceased Smoking Betty (my pickup) as a jury rigged shield for a nest of Cardinals in the cherry tree in our front yard. The result was a bevy of female cardinals that have gone on to go find some eligible cardinal gentlemen to set up house with. I'm happy to report that their parents, the original Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal, seem to have returned and appear to be antsy to set up a nest somewhere on the grounds of the Casa Nizz.

no, this isn't them, but it sure is pretty

The branch they normally use was snapped by a passing bus last year (validating my decision to park a truck underneath it during nesting season), so we haven't located the new nest yet. I wish Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal every success in 'doin the Cardinal nastay'.. and hope we shall have some smaller piping voices soon.

And so the cycle of life continues.

Like Sampson.. Gar loses his locks

2009-04-01T12:02:00.003-04:00

Young Garrett has been shorn to pre-hippy hair levels and now sports an older style bowl cut. His hair will be donated to wigmakers for making wigs for chemotherapy patients. I'm quite proud of the lad, for sticking it through when we made him comb the snarlys out in the morning, and constantly take care of it, and putting up with being mistaken for a girl. Well done, my boy.

Google made a funny!

2009-04-01T11:55:00.003-04:00

I was more than puzzled to log into GMAIL(tm) this morning and see a link to what appears to be a boffo new service by Google called AUTOPILOT, which apparently learns your communication style and answers emails for you.

How does Gmail mirror my communication style?

The more Gmail messages Autopilot can sample, the better. With fewer than 100 messages, there may not be enough data to calibrate Autopilot effectively. You can adjust tone, typo propensity, and preferred punctuation from the Autopilot tab under Settings.

You may want to log in every week or so to ensure Autopilot is calibrated optimally.
Does Autopilot work for Gmail chat too?

Yes. Chat was actually simpler to build, given the natural language headway made by Joseph Weizenbaum's ELIZA. While many claim ELIZA oft times passed the Turing test, Gmail Autopilot passes with 99.9% accuracy due to the inclusion of human-like qualities such as compassion and wisdom and CADIE's related ability to calibrate to match your chat style.
What happens if a sender and recipient both have Autopilot on?

Two Gmail accounts can happily converse with each other for up to three messages each. Beyond that, our experiments have shown a significant decline in the quality ranking of Autopilot's responses and further messages may commit you to dinner parties or baby namings in which you have no interest.

What the heck? Then I read the the individual examples of correspondence and realized it was April the first. D'OH! You scamps!!

Man, taken in by geek humor... this office needs some windows, for God's sake.

(It really was amusing, Google, thanks!)

DungeonCrawler.. available for free

2009-03-26T00:22:00.003-04:00

I saw this on TMP last night. Some chaps are working on an old school, Nethack-like two dee top view Roleplaying application, for public distro. It's called DUNGEONCRAWLER.

At first glance it reminds me strongly of NETHACK or an old freeware game I played on the Macintosh called Quest for the Orbs. Great fun indeed!

HMGS COLD WARS 2009

2009-03-21T02:49:00.002-04:00

A Slideshow of the Big Show.

I had a very good COLD WARS this year. The first one I've been to since I stopped being a CD in fact. I had taken a break from wargaming for a while; honestly, a person can burn out after so much exposure to it. So it was good to get away and reconnect with the things I like about this hobby; friends, good company, moving lead around, having fun.

I was very fortunate to be allowed into Chuck Turnitsa's Red vs. White 15mm Russian Civil War game on Friday morning, which worked out really well-- I had a night shift on the Events desk. It was Chuck's home system, a mix of many things. The outcome was a draw.

Quick gulp-down of dinner, and a long shift slinging tags. I haven't done that in a while. And I thought it would be slow! HA!

I was a bit beat to get into a night game, no great loss. I went out and played ILLUMINATI with some friends I know locally-- that game still has it!

Saturday, worked an earlier shift, but it was pretty inconvenient being midday. Missed out on a few games I had a jones to play. So it goes. Did some frantic shopping. Invested in UNCHARTED WATERS, which looks highly amusing.

got some dinner, came back and played in a Howard Whitehouse game, his new COMBAT! system for Wargames Factory. A great time.

Met up with John and Dewey at the end of that. We broke out 54mm gladiators and had a quick game with Patrick from the HAWKS. I noticed a game of WEREWOLF going on in the corner and jumped into it.. man, I'm a target for these things. Why is that?

Loved the game, it was fueled by booze.

Overslept Sunday, tried to flea market sold almost nothing. Did a quick pass around the vendors, and then I was heading homeward.

Great Show, Frank Preziosi and crew! You deserve every bit of the compliments you will have showered upon you for your hard work and dedication.

Hey, kids, it's Saturday morning Watchmen!

2009-03-21T02:03:00.001-04:00

Count Gore De Vol meets the Langley Punks

2009-02-28T01:00:00.004-05:00

yes, I'm old enough to have seen their stuff at the Biograph Theater in Georgetown, when it existed.

Anyone who's tried to sculpt foam terrain for miniature wargames would appreciate this

2009-02-23T13:53:00.002-05:00

Make a Hot Knife using a soldering iron - More DIY How To Projects

From the latest Instructables...

Matakishi's Tea House website

2009-02-17T10:59:00.003-05:00

Matakishi's Tea House is a wonderful site to visit for terrain, scenery and modeling projects, usually on the cheap with available materials. I highly recommend the Tea House, it has a little bit of everything.

One of my gaming group (The TNGG at the Game Parlor, Chantilly, VA) has put up photos of fantasy buildings made out of cork board recently, and it got posted on the Tea House. Bravo, Sir!

This is epic...

2009-02-16T11:51:00.003-05:00

I think I wouldn't have left the house like this, if it were me.

The Japanese and their Minstrel Show sense of Humor

2009-02-12T09:48:00.004-05:00

I'm jaded about politics. This is hardly a secret-- I live in the environs of Washington DC and have seen them come and go over the years. Like any sensible American, I'm wishing our president EVERY success... I'd be a fool not to. I admit he has a certain candor and wit, and tremendous potential to charm-- but I can't say I'm a huge fan of the man himself, like a lot of us, I'm waiting for him to prove himself. Until then, I'll reserve judgment and fervently hope he doesn't screw things up. I was amazed at my own response, recently, upon seeing a Japanese game show lampoon the president with actors in blackface.

I like shock humor as much as anyone, but this is a bit much. Oh, those wacky Japanese.. maybe they can bring back Amos and Andy while they are at it.

The Three Wheeler Morgan, from Jay Leno's Garage

2009-02-11T18:33:00.001-05:00

I LOVE this series, and this might be my favorite car in his garage:

The Dark Knight meets... Superman

2009-02-05T17:52:00.003-05:00

Inaugration Day 2009, the Mall

2009-02-04T06:56:00.003-05:00

Park Police photograph of the crowd conditions on the mall for the Obama inauguration.

Click to enlarge.

Pinewood Derby Day, Pack 1346

2009-02-01T10:41:00.002-05:00

We did reasonably well.. Garrett's "gold brick" car did well, not as good as past years, alas. I have to share the race car cam that one of the den dads made, it's super cool:

Winter War, by HPS Simulations

2009-01-31T07:14:00.004-05:00

I had tried the Squad Battles system by HPS Simulations before. I think the game was "When Eagles Strike" or some such. Honestly, it was ho-hum for me. I guess I've seen one too many small scale World War Two games set on the Western Front. Just out of curiousity, I was over at the HPS site a month or so back, and discovered the HPS people had made a version of the Squad Battles for both the Spanish Civil War and the Russo Finnish War. Now this was a totally different kettle of fish. I picked both of them up (used) and installed them on my old beater Vista "fun machine" in the study. Even though I'm more of a fan of the Spanish Civil War I installed and played Winter War first.

I've changed my mind about Squad Battles. What fun this is! There's something inside us all that approves of heroic last stands, and the Finns were all over this in the Winter War early in World War II. To quote the advertisement blurb:

For 105 days, the tiny nation of Finland fought a war that typically merits only a footnote history books, or a passing remark in a WWII documentaries. Taking on the vast manpower of the Soviet army, the Finns put up a fanatical defense of their homeland, inflicting horrific casualties on the invading Soviet army. In the end, the overwhelming number of Soviet troops and tanks sent into Finland forced the Finns to sue for peace, but they walked away from the conflict with their much bigger neighbor with their independence and national pride intact. Their struggle influenced the landscape and direction of the entire World War that followed--and perhaps the outcome as well.

Winter War is a tactical level simulation of this conflict using the Squad Battles system... and it's pretty complete, too. 75 scenarios, 3 major campaigns.

My second attempt at Squad Battles revealed it's depth to me. There are many options here-- the AI may not be brilliant, but it is relentless (if you set it high enough) and if you play the Finns in the Winter War, well, your work is already cut out for you. Click on the picture above to see the result of a recent narrow Finn victory, where the Finns were defending a rail line with small outposts here and there on the map. The Finns had men with rifles, two very useful armored trains that were dispatched early as you can see, and a few buildings to hide in, and good cover. The Soviets had tanks, artillery, hordes of men, and air support. The dead (rifles), pinned (P) and Demoralized (D) markers are ample testimony that the AI knows how to attack, Soviet style.

I'm greatly pleased with this purchase and unlike a lot of other computer games at various scales, I don't see me getting hugely bored with it that quickly.

NOVAG's Winter Game Day, this Saturday

2009-01-19T12:40:00.003-05:00

Northern VA Gamers (NOVAG) is holding their WINTER GAME DAY this weekend, on Saturday, 24 January 2008, from 10 to 5 EST. Please consider attending this one-- it's important.

Why?

The recent economic downturn has hurt many businesses, especially ones that have to do with leisure time. Even the Game Parlor, which we have been very fortunate to have in the Washington DC area for so many years, is hardly recession-proof. To quote from a recent NOVAG-gram from Tim Tilson:

He says that TGP went
thru a recession in '07 but survived and '08 looked fine until..... the crisis
last September. He says that spooked the banks and consumers. Bank bridge
loans for small business like TGP have dried up. And his creditors/suppliers
are not as acomodating as before either. Therefore he had to make these changes
which included firing some workers. If things get worse, he will have to lay off
more workers and probably charge for tables.

Specifically as to his choice on hours, the staff will be working four 10.5
hour days with 1 hour for lunch. He does not want to work the staff more than
40 hours. There were suggestions he move the opening time to 12:00 on some days
to allow for later evening hours. However that would require him to have the
staff "volunteer" to work a longer day and cut other staff hours. Additionally
the 10:00-11:00 a.m. period does twice the business as the 9:00-10:00 p.m.
period. At the Chantilly store, they do get a lunch hour rush.

If the economy improves he will consider returning to the longer hours. He,
himself will open the Woodbridge store at 10:00 for the NOVAG game day.

What can you do to help?

-Buy something at the store, even if just a water.

I will certainly do my part to continue purchasing games directly from TGP in the future, rather than through mail order (when it is feasible to do so).

In the meantime, I'm going to drop by on Saturday and help out a brick and mortar store owner that's been a friend of gaming in the DC area for the last decade or more.

Treasure Trove of Old Miniatures..

2009-01-16T14:05:00.003-05:00

I stumbled upon Mr. John Lerchey's Miniatures Gallery the other day, while I was doing a search for the old RIVETS miniatures by Martian Metals, a defunct company.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Mr. Lerchey not only had a few, he has ALL OF THEM. A couple times over. Lucky dog.

he also has most of the older, Martian Metals versions of the old Ogre Miniatures that were manufactured long before the notion of "Ogre Miniatures" (the game) or Deluxe OGRE and GEV.

Needless to say, he has a lot of these, as well. Sniff. At least they are easier to get these days.

Mr. Lerchey's page was a nostalgic delight! I owned a few of these back in the day (more of them now, at least the OGRE minis). It's rare to see all of this stuff in one place.

He rounds the page off with a nice workbench section that outlines conversions of 6mm miniatures for OGRE play (a subject near and dear to my heart) as well as tiny terrain techniques. A tip of the hat to Mr. Lerchey for a nice collection and a very entertaining webpage.

The Recently Deflowered Girl

2009-01-09T09:46:00.003-05:00

Click to proceed to site

Click on the book cover to be transported to the site of THE RECENTLY DEFLOWERED GIRL, by Edward Gorey. An old book rediscovered, scanned and made available for perusal. You will be very glad you did.

(NOTE: Original Livejournal link is down, redirected to another site)

It sure plyas hlel with seclcelhpk!!

2009-01-07T17:17:00.001-05:00

A recnet sutdy desecivrod taht hnuams are rkalmarbey clbpaae at rndaieg smbelacrd wdros when the fsrit and last lteetrs wree kpet icantt. A follew (or gorup of feollsw) at a bolg caleld "001% PO-gr" hvae put a vrey ntfiy ltitle gdaegt OINNLE that will sclmrbae text for you to tset this apsoimtsun. Ntalalury, I had to psot tihs post sbmleacrd. Naet, eh?

Top 50 Movie Special Effects shots by the Den of Geek

2009-01-06T17:42:00.002-05:00

The DEN OF GEEK released their "Top Fifty Special Effects Shots" lists. Ofttimes I dismiss various "top 50 lists" as bogus, but for once, here's a list where I can't really complain about any of the choices; the larger 'famous' effects (Metropolis, the Day the Earth Stood Still, Jason and the Argonauts) share time with the more subtle "hey, how did they do that?" moments, such as Forrest Gump lifting fully limbed Gary Sinise playing legless Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump. Of course, I know my favorite, perhaps the most referenced special effects shot of them all.

Ski Season ready to start?

2009-01-06T17:27:00.004-05:00

Sure, if you have a year to spend in transit and a good suit for vacuum conditions.

Above is a picture of the MARTIAN POLAR ICECAP, one of a series of stunning photographs recently published in the New York Times' POSTCARDS FROM MARS.

The high-resolution camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has five times the resolution of the camera used by its predecessor, Mars Global Surveyor. In dusty areas that looked bland and featureless in pictures from Global Surveyor, Reconnaissance Orbiter revealed complex textures, providing scientists with clues about what is shaping the Martian landscape today.

Source: New York Times 2009

The Orwell Diaries Online

2009-01-06T17:02:00.005-05:00

Some FIFTY ODD YEARS after his death, author George Orwell (1984, Animal Farm) is finally having his journals published, after a fashion. They are intensely cryptic in their own way-- today's entry, for instance, is "Three Eggs". Perhaps Orwell saved his verbosity for the published page.

Orwell's online diary can be found HERE. I am considering adding an RSS feed widget here for my own amusement, if they are all this cryptic.

The Airships, 1 of 3

2009-01-06T07:47:00.002-05:00

Part of a series I recently discovered on YouTube. I won't show them all at once.

1 of 3: Liftoff

The Unchartered Seas by Spartan Games

2009-01-05T07:37:00.004-05:00

Having recently heard about THE UNCHARTED SEAS, by Spartan Games courtesy of The Miniatures Page, I decided to look into the game. Fortunately I also discovered the fantastic gaming podcast D6 GENERATION podcast recently and they have featured the game in a recent episode.

Craig Gallant's painted fleets, along with some really nice terrain he made for the game, can be viewed here. He took the photo above.

THE UNCHARTED SEAS is exploring the same niche that GW's MAN O' WAR briefly inhabited, and to a lesser extent, STRANGE TYDES by Wessex Games. Small fleet fantasy naval warfare is a 'period' I'd love to delve into, if the game is cost effective and plays well. I loved Man O' War when it was out, all too briefly, and always thought it was a crime that this particularly offshoot was pruned from the GW family tree.

I don't know much more about THE UNCHARTERED SEAS than what I can see; there are (at this time) four base fleets, available as individual ships or small starter fleets, all at a reasonable amount (considering the international rate of exchange). These are Humans, Dwarves, Orcs and the Dragon Lords. The Human FLeet greatly resembles a mix betwen the Bretonnian and Empire fleet from Man o' War, sort of like giant souped up medieval cogs. The Dwarven fleet look somewhat jarring in comaprison- sleek, almost like a futuristic luxury liner. Orcs look.. well, ork-y.. all angles and spikes. The Dragon Lord fleet has a repltilian flair to it.

I can't really comment on the rules, as I didn't see a sample PDF or anything I could base any judgment on. The images of rulebook pages look extremely well illustrated with lots of helpful examples.

I like Spartan's marketing approach; wait until you have enough starter fleets done to provide a nice mix of things BEFORE you do an all out game release. Word has it that an Elf Fleet is in the works.

Summary: I'm intrigued and certainly interested. That's about all I can say as I haven't see the game for sail or played around this part of the United States. Long gone are the days when I'd mail order it on a whim, just to find out (until we are in better economic times at any rate). I hope I can see this played at some point, and I'll have more to go on.

Cosmic Encounters for Fans Only!

2009-01-03T13:44:00.001-05:00

Courtesy of Scott Nicholson's vlog. I think I qualify as a fan.

Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-02T18:15:00.003-05:00

A bit delayed, for obvious reasons, but if you are out there reading this, I wish you a safe, healthy and prosperous AD 2009.

Now, click the danged thing and let's pop the champagne.

Phoenix Lander landing site photos as Lander greats a new Martian year

2009-01-02T15:52:00.005-05:00

A Change of Seasons

01.02.09 -- Summer turned to autumn for the Phoenix Mars Lander on December 26, 2008. This image, taken on December 21 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows the lander during the last waning days of northern hemisphere summer. This is the first image targeted to the lander since it ceased activity.

(click photo to enlarge, obviously)

Text Copyright NASA Administration, 2009

The Passing of Father Michael C. Kelly

2008-12-31T18:23:00.006-05:00

A very sad New Years this has turned out to be. A good friend passed tonight, in a one in a million accident that claimed his life. I met Father Mike Kelly at Saint Ambrose in Annandale, VA, and we became fast friends. Sure, I know we all say that after someone has passed away-- but in my case, it's more than a sanctimonious statement. Father Mike Kelly was a true kindred spirit, a self-professed history 'geek', a reenactor, and yes, a wargamer. I had Father Mike over to the house many times to play miniature skirmish games in my basement. He was an ardent player and passionate about history-- we jokingly dubbed him the 'minister of war'.

It's easy to like a guy like Father Mike. He had (still has) a big heart, was friendly to all and unrelenting about matters of the spirit. In the midst of my own spiritual crisis, I sought his advice once, about grief and pain, and he revealed to me how he got his calling.. not with trumpets and sudden revelation, but with the subtle whisper of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit never gave up on Mike Kelly, and he taught me it had never abandoned me in the darkest times.

I had lost touch with Father Mike when he moved out to Front Royal, and from there to St. Francis de Sales in Purcellville. I wish we had stayed in contact, but he was always a very busy man.

Go with God, Mike Kelly. May you sit at the right hand of the Lord forever, you made a difference with your life. You certainly did for me.

Time Tripper (SPI) by Java!

2008-12-31T11:31:00.004-05:00

You know, it's gratifying that there are people out there that cherish the old ways. I was on Boardgamegeek recently (back up after being inexplicably down for a week) and was catching up on some old geekmail. One of these was a comment from the designer of the old Avalon Hill game WIZARDS. I actually don't own that game, nor ever played the physical game, because, well, it kind of came and went when I was a youngster-- I never saw it in a store. But I love tile based games like this (and the far more complex MAGIC REALM), so I have downloaded and played the Java implementation of Wizards on the dewkid website. It's a fun pastime, not anything that floats my boat like Colossus does, but it retains the game play and funky artwork of the original nicely, and so it's a nice diversion. I hadn't looked at that site in eons, and the geekmail reminded me of it again.. so I popped over, and upon browsing the site for updates, noticed that Robin had made a java app based on the old SPI Time Tripper game. Now this was a development that brought back a flood of nostalgia. I had owned Time Tripper once-- and played it, regularly. I inflicted this one on my friends many times. We all liked the premise of the time-tripping Vietnam squaddies encountering hordes of generic bad guys from various realms of history and fantasy. A great game, and a great idea for a java implementation. I have to hand it to people like Robin, they really are the salt of the earth, making stuff like this available for free. Well done!

Tom Vasel takes a look at the new Cosmic Encounter game

2008-12-30T07:54:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite games of all time is COSMIC ENCOUNTER, which dates back to the 70s. The game has been reprinted many times by various publishers-- Eon, Games Workshop, Mayfair, and Avalon Hill. The latest edition, by Fantasy Flight Games, gets high marks by Tom and now I'm TOTALLY JONESING to buy CE for myself, even if I have the Mayfair and Avalon Hill editions already! Sheesh! Such a dilemma!

Duck Soup: Roy Blount Jr. Speaks out about the greatest Marx Brothers movie, evah

2008-12-23T10:18:00.003-05:00

Personally, I think there are two kinds of people in the world: Duck Soup fans and Night at the Opera fans. These two Marx Brother comedies are classics, and yet so very, very different from each other-- a difference highlighted by the fact that one followed the other. After Duck Soup's modest response at the box office, the Marx Brothers were in a bit of a dilemma. Duck Soup was not quite the flop the Marx Brothers would refer to in their memoirs, but the film certainly was not as good a performer as Horse Feathers. Faced with a perceived lack of bankability, and complaining of financial and creative issues, the Brothers jumped ship from Paramount to MGM, under the sheltering wing of Irving Thalberg. A Night at the Opera was a masterpiece in its own right, to be certain. However, it was a movie rich in formulaic plot bits and heavily reliant on romantic subplots-- not a direction the Brothers had gone before. The "Night at the Opera approach" would be the guiding principle of every movie they made after, much to the detriment of their comedy.

In stark contrast, we have the movie they made the year before-- Duck Soup. Perhaps the LEAST formulaic movie ever made by the Marx Brothers, and the most interesting and surrealistic. This brilliant, wickedly funny war parody succeeds on so many levels-- as satire, and slapstick, as witty wordplay, as a surreal tour de force-- it is a lesson in public taste to realize that Duck Soup 'failed' and Night at the Opera was their most commercially succesful film.

Roy Blount, Jr. is working on an entire book devoted to the movie DUCK SOUP (it's no mystery to figure out what kind of person Roy is, btw). You can read about his plans for the book on Harper and Row's 26th Story site. To quote Blount:

It was a movie, and what a movie: Duck Soup, the Marx Brothers at their most intense, in their finest hour. In Hannah and Her Sisters, Woody Allen’s character, Mickey Sachs, is considering suicide when he happens to see a bit of Duck Soup and has an epiphany: How can anyone even think of killing himself when this world affords such high-low comedy as the Brothers' spectacular musical number, "The Country's Going to War," in which the call to arms involves, among many other rousing elements, takeoffs on gospel ("All God's Chillun Got Guns") and the Virginia reel. I feel confident in asserting that there is nothing anywhere else in the history of American culture quite like Harpo's contribution to the do-si-do.

I'm a Duck Soup man, if you haven't figured it out. Even to this day, after repeated viewings.. the bit about "All God's Chilluns got Guns" has me laughing like a hyena.

Game Table Online, really coming along..

2008-12-22T01:29:00.006-05:00

GAME TABLE ONLINE

I dropped in GTO the other night after hearing they had Battle Cry online. Wow, they have put a lot of work into this effort. I have to hand it to them.

I played BC a couple times against opponents, and got creamed. Of course, playing it solo, I was victorious. :-D

Other games they have that I like are:

Axis and Allies...

Acquire...

Lord of the Fries..

and also Vampire, Guillotine, and soon enough, 1960: The Making of a President.

I'm just old "hotspur" there. Drop me a line and we'll play a game

I know what I want for a Christmas Stocking Stuffer

2008-12-17T11:36:00.004-05:00

The KINNIKU MAN USB Drive. Now that rocks.

I admire the evil glower of Robin Mask and Wars Man, and perhaps the serene contentment of Ramen Man, but the frantic look of Anime Anger on Kinniku has me sold.

Sigh, you captured me with those six pack abs, Kinniku Man!

Adler Tag

2008-12-12T07:27:00.001-05:00

Yes, this was done with IL2 Schtumovick. It boggles my mind...

Farewell, Bettie Paige

2008-12-12T06:40:00.003-05:00

Bettie Paige left these mortal climes yesterday, at age of 85. She died of pneumonia in Los Angeles, CA.

Bettie's active career in modeling, especially for the notorious Irving Klaw and Bunny Yeager, helped develop her trademark (now iconic) black bangs and taste for black hose and complicated underwear. She would deny vociferously in later years, but there is no dobut she contribted greatly to the nascent sexual revolution of the late 50s. Bettie showed a whole generation of young American males that there was something dark and exciting to the lady waiting at home in high heels with a martini glass. I am sure that the Jergens lotion company has a memorial to Bettie somewhere..

Much will be written on her life and career this week. She was a bit before my time, but I always thought she was a beauty, in a very retro-chic sexy way. May God bless you and keep you, Bettie Paige.

The WarGameRoom, PBeM via Flash Apps

2008-12-10T13:55:00.003-05:00

I haven't been keeping up with a lot of the PBeM via JAR stuff that's been en vogue lately, for at least a couple years. Although I had heard of WARGAMEROOM.COM, I hadn't really tried that service out yet. Dunno how I found this out, but it turns out WargameRoom makes a module for my recently acquired 1960: THE MAKING OF THE PRESIDENT. Wargameroom.com seems to favor supporting card driven area movement conflict simulations, such as Paths to Glory. The interface seems less splashy than cyberboard or aide de camp II, but who cares, it gets the job done.

That being said, I'd love to try out 1960: THE MAKING OF A PRESIDENT with a patient opponent some day.

Forrest J. Ackerman goes to his great reward

2008-12-05T16:16:00.005-05:00

Life is full of transitions; it is a part of life that friends we cherish shall eventually yield to the ravages of time and depart this mortal coil. That does not mean we can easily accept the passing of people we will greatly miss with an easy equanimity.

A recent loss underscores this. Forrest J. Ackerman has passed away. Who was Forrest J. Ackerman? You mean, you really don' t know? That is a story, and I'll let Wikipedia give me a hand with it.

Forrest J. Ackerman or, "Mr. Science Fiction", saw his first "imagi-movie" in 1922 (One Glorious Day), purchased his first science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories, in 1926, created The Boys' Scientifiction Club in 1930 ("girl-fans were as rare as unicorn's horns in those days"), contributed to both of the first science fiction fanzines, The Time Traveller, and the Science Fiction Magazine, put out and edited by Shuster & Siegel of Superman fame, in 1932, and by 1933 had 127 correspondents around the world. He attended the 1st World Science Fiction Convention in 1939, where he wore the first "futuristicostume" (designed and created by Myrtle R. Douglas) and sparked fan costuming or cosplay. He has since attended every Worldcon but two thereafter. Ackerman invited Ray Bradbury to attend the now legendary Clifton’s Cafeteria Science Fiction Club, where Ray met the writers Robert A. Heinlein, Emil Petaja, Fredric Brown, Henry Kuttner, Leigh Brackett, and Jack Williamson. And with $90 from Forrest, Bradbury launched a fanzine, Futuria Fantasia, in 1939.

Ackerman helped found the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, a prominent regional organization in science fiction fandom, as well as the National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F). He also provided publishing assistance in the early days of the Daughters of Bilitis, and (as the author of several lesbian novels under the name "Laurajean Ermayne") was dubbed an "honorary lesbian" at a DOB party. He was personally acquainted with many twentieth-century writers of science fiction. Hewas noted for having amassed an extremely large and complete collection of science fiction, fantasy and horror film memorabilia, which was, until 2002, maintained in a remarkable home/museum known as the 18-room "Ackermansion" in the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles, filled with 300,000 books and pieces of movie memorabilia. He has entertained approximately 50,000 fans at open houses beginning in 1951, including 186 fans and pros in one memorable night, including astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Ackerman is a board member of the Seattle Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, where many items of his own collection are displayed. Ackerman received a unique 1953 Hugo Award for "#1 Fan Personality" which some might say is the equivalent of the present-day Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer.

Ackerman is credited with nurturing and even inspiring the careers of several early contemporaries like Ray Bradbury, Ray Harryhausen, Charles Beaumont, Marion Zimmer Bradley and L. Ron Hubbard. He was Ed Wood's "illiterary" agent and has represented 200 authors of science fiction and fantasy.

Ackerman has had 50 stories published, including collaborations with A. E. van Vogt, Francis Flagg, Robert A. W. Lowndes, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Donald Wollheim and Catherine Moore and the world's shortest — one letter of the alphabet. His stories have been translated into six languages. Ackerman named the sexy comic-book character Vampirella and wrote the origin story for the comic.

Ackerman is fluent in the international language Esperanto, and claims to have walked down Hollywood Boulevard arm-in-arm with Leo G. Carroll singing La Espero, the hymn of Esperanto.

Through his magazine, Famous Monsters of Filmland (1958–1983), Forrest J Ackerman introduced the history of the science fiction, fantasy and horror film genres to a generation of young readers. At a time when most movie-related publications glorified the stars in front of the camera, "Uncle Forry", as he was referred to by many of his fans, promoted the behind-the-scenes artists involved in the magic of movies. In this way Ackerman provided inspiration to many who would later become successful artists, including Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, Stephen King, Penn & Teller, Billy Bob Thornton, Gene Simmons (of the band Kiss), Rick Baker, George Lucas, Danny Elfman, Frank Darabont, John Landis and countless other writers, directors, artists and craftsmen.

In the 1960s, Ackerman organized the publication of an English translation in the U.S. of the German science fiction series Perry Rhodan, the longest science fiction series in history. These were published by Ace Books from 1969 through 1977. Ackerman's German-speaking wife Wendayne ("Wendy") did most of the translation. The American books were issued with varying frequency from one to as many as four per month. Ackerman also used the paperback series to promote science fiction short stories, including his own on occasion. These "magabooks" or "bookazines" also included a film review section, known as "Scientifilm World", and letters from readers. The American series came to an end when the management of Ace changed and the new management decided that the series was too juvenile for their taste. The last Ace issue was #118, which corresponded to German issue #126 as some of the Ace editions contained two of the German issues, and three of the German issues had been skipped. Forry later published translations of German issues #127 through #145 on his own under the Master Publications imprint. The original German series continues today and passed issue #2400 in 2007.

He has also contributed to film magazines from all around the world, including Spanish speaking La Cosa: Cine Fantástico magazine, from Argentina, where he had a monthly column for over four years.

Uncle Forry was the most accessible, friendly personality in science fiction, in my opinion. I had met him several times at conventions in earlier years and had dinner with him twice. He was quite a character-- even in his later years he possessed an effusive personality and coupled with encyclopedic memory capable of near-eidactic recall. I knew better than to challenge him any niggling point in the SF genre-- there wasn't any future in it. On the flip side, he was a genuinely caring and friendly man, not in the least bit arrogant and always a tad bewildered that people made such a fuss over him. His 100% unaffected sense of glee about life allowed him to get away with a sense of humor that was pure corn... I would groan at the same material from anybody else, but from Uncle Forry, you knew he meant it.

I won't be a hypocrite and pretend we were fast friends-- he was a fixture at many SF conventions from my youth and I greatly benefited from knowing him. His loss is a bitter blow. God rest, Uncle Forry. You lived exactly the life you wanted to and ended up, by accident or design, enriching the lives of those that knew you. Enjoy the Ackermanision in the sky.

Battlestar Galactica: Caprica ordered by SciFi Network

2008-12-03T14:45:00.003-05:00

Sci Fi channel announced that it has ordered 20 hours of the Battlestar Galactica prequel, called "Caprica". The pilot is delayed until 2009, with the full up series landing "sometime in 2010".

Here's a teaser blurb from SFC:

Set 50 years before “Battlestar Galactica,” “Caprica” follows two rival families — the Graystones and the Adamas — as they grow, compete, and thrive in the vibrant world of the 12 Colonies, a society recognizably close to our own. Enmeshed in the burgeoning technology of artificial intelligence and robotics that will eventually lead to the creation of the Cylons, the two houses go toe-to-toe blending action with corporate conspiracy and sexual politics. “Caprica” will deliver all of the passion, intrigue, political backbiting and family conflict in television’s first science fiction family saga. As the series begins, a startling development is about to occur — the creation of the first cybernetic life-form node or “Cylon” — the ability to marry artificial intelligence with mechanical bodies. Joseph Adama (Morales) — father of future “Battlestar” commander William Adama (Najafi) — a renowned civil liberties lawyer, becomes an opponent of the experiments undertaken by the Graystones (Stoltz), owners of a large computer corporation that is spearheading the development of these living robots: the Cylons.

I dunno.. sounds like windy suckage to me at this juncture.. too much throbbing passions and not enough toasters. I have great faith in Ron Moore, however, and I have seen him turn things around before. I am somewhat excited with anticipation...

Leonardo's Flying Machine at the Weber Library

2008-12-03T11:50:00.006-05:00

I am somewhat manic about the fanciful engineering works of Leonardo Da Vinci. Much was made of him being the "father of the helicopter" and "inventor of the airplane" when I was growing up, with scholars triumphantly pointing at his engineering works and proclaiming "See? See? He thought of this centuries before the fact!!"

In truth, almost all of the Da Vinci military engineering sketches truly belong in the fantasy versus reality category. Most of the working models seem to fall apart when scaled upward, a sad reality of physics.

However, this does not mean that his models and sketches weren't art in themselves-- perhaps they were impractical, but I could readily fantasize about a legion of his circular tower tanks advancing upon a fleeing enemy, cannons blazing, or his birdlike glider planes dropping bombs from above. YES, there IS a wargame in there, and I've seen it done (as I, Leonardo).

Maybe the Weber Public Library in Ogden, Utah agrees with my point of view. Their History of Flight Section recently commissioned MAYS DESIGNS to construct a full size, working model of one of Da Vinci's more famous gliders to be constructed as an exhibit. Click on the picture below to go to the project page, it is a beauty of woodwork and design.

Leonardo's Mystery machines

1960; The Making of the President, by Z-Man Games. MY SECRET SANTA present!

2008-12-03T08:12:00.003-05:00

Woo-HOO! There's a nice little bit of Holiday kharma going around at Boardgamegeek this time of year. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Mr. Tom Vassel, a worldwide "secret santa" round is going on where you can send total and complete strangers presents of boardgames via the efforts of the boardgamegeek site. You can choose to reveal yourself or not; I never do. I suspect my target this year was a good one; he or she lives in the Gulf Coast of the United States. I can imagine this is an area that has seen some adverse economic activity of late so it feels good to spread some anonymous love.

I keep saying I'll be noble and selflessly elect to give, but not receive, a game. Aw hell no, I'm not a hypocrite. I love that portion of the event, too. This year I received (hand-wrapped, second year in a row, thank you!) my own copy of the reasonably hard to find 1960: THE MAKING OF THE PRESIDENT.

I'm ecstatic! This thing has been on my Geek Wishlist for almost two years. 1960 is very similar to another favorite of mine by the same designer, TWILIGHT STRUGGLE, the cold war two player game. I had begun to despair of getting it-- it almost seemed out of print there for a while.

THANK YOU, SECRET SANTA, for a gift of positive kharma and wonderful community spirit. You've greatly improved my Christmas spirit.

Flying Circus: Decision Games

2008-12-02T10:18:00.003-05:00

Verdict: Not bad at all, quite entertaining

I recently noticed that Flying Circus Deluxe was out, which uses Dan Verssen's popular Down in Flames core engine to fight World War One. DELUXE is the campaign game that plays with bombers and campaigns and such, so I ordered the basic game of Flying Circus and gave it a try.

What's in the (small) box: The small box is a surprise---the entire game is the two decks of cards and a folded rulebook, stuck in a box not much bigger than a bridge deck of cards. There are 68 cards for the reactions, maneuvers and bursts deck and 42 aircraft cards for Leaders and Wingmen of various years of the war. You have to come up with your own system of marking damage, altitude or ace pilots. I just used scrap paper, it works fine.

Rules are not vastly different from WW2 era Down in Flames, but there are some critical points that will make the game experience different. First and foremost, if the Leader dies, the Wingman doesn't promote to Leader (and the dogfight ends immediately, unlike DiF). This will make contests short and bloody, and tends to promote a "gang up on the leader" syndrome. I'm not sure what the point of that rule is, but it can be ignored if you like.

Flying Circus also uses a point purchase system for aircraft selection-- e.g., you settle on a point total and select your airplanes based upon that. So it is entirely possible to purchase a combination of a Leader and TWO wingman, which is very different from DiF. An extra wingman, as I have discovered, can be a very handy item.

The Attack/Maneuver/Response cards are very similar to their WW2 cousins. Cards can be Red (attacking or maneuvering) Blue (responsding to an attack only) or Red/Blue (a combination card that usually can do either an attack or a response of some sort). The elegance of the Verssen tactical system is contained within the interplay of these cards, and I could not detect a situation where they were overbalanced one way or the other.

I have played four dogfights so far (dogfights are all one can do with this game until you buy the expansion box), and have been delighted with it. I've noticed the stipulation about Leader Kill Victory leads to short and bloody games where Wingmen are used to syphon off cards from leaders, leaving them weak for the counter punch from the Leader card. In this instance, an extra wingman can be a handy thing. Other than that, I found the system well design, fun and interesting, and well worth the money I paid for it. Good replay value!

One Thumb to Rule the All

2008-12-01T08:00:00.003-05:00

A pretty nifty little snippet on Mike Phillips, a disabled gamer who has found new movement, of sorts, through the outlet of massively multiple online gaming (MMORGs) such as Warcraft and Second Life. Mike will soon be featured on the THIS AMERICAN LIFE radio program.

Santa's Trigger Finger, a Reliquary

2008-12-01T07:54:00.003-05:00

Santa's Trigger Finger, and many other very clever post-modern reliquaries executed by Al Farrow. See his exhibit HERE for a weird frisson of religious ecstasy and psychological weirdness. All the pieces in this exhibit were made from pieces of weapons and ammunition.

Art: "Santa's Trigger Finger", copyright 2008 by Al Farrow

New Teasers for 2009 (and final) season of Battlestar Galactica

2008-12-01T06:51:00.002-05:00

The previous (half) a season transpired while I was in a bit of a sojourn from blogging. I thought Season 4.1 was great, albeit flawed in places. Me, I would never, ever, ever have entered into any kind of allegiance with Cylons, but then again, I'm not writing the show.

The teaser looks very interesting. I'm delighted that Earth is as messed up as it is, but the teaser seems to indicate that this may or may not be "the place". Make you say hmmmmmm...

Top 10 celebrities who play World of Warcraft

2008-11-26T15:45:00.001-05:00

Out of more than 11 million players worldwide, some of these people have got to be famous. So here, in no particular order, is a top ten list of Warcraft-playing celebrities.

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The bailout now costs more than anything else ever.

2008-11-26T15:34:00.002-05:00

There’s not much I like more than a good info graphic. With words like “billions” & “trillions” crowding the headlines lately, this one puts thing in perspective. And that's not a misrepresentation, either, but a rather conservative look.

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Okay, if you're impatient, THIS is the juicy information graphic this post pertains to..

MeetSee, a virtual workplace

2008-11-26T14:06:00.005-05:00

There's a gazillion ways to collaborate on the web these days. Chating, IRC, Web Forums, and last but not least MeetSea.

In their words, Meetsea is "your own personal virtual office filled with rich ways to communicate, share content, collaborate on documents, and build rapport with co-workers. With Meetsee you can:

* Create and personalize your own virtual office, avatar, and profile.
* View rich presence so you know when to connect with co-workers.
* Share files, presentations, and even webcam in a virtual meeting room.
* Integrate with your existing tools and services"

That sounds like a lot of hokum at first, as the means to collaborate is out there already (think: Yahoogroups, Flickr, Googlepages, Igoogle, Youtube, etc.). What MeetSea does nicely is create a loosely aligned network of virtual spaces that can link together for meetings and information sharing. A MeetSee office doesn't offer much more than a central point where two collaborators using a lot of existing web services (Yahoo, Facebook, Youtube, Flickr, etc.) can be in the same place simultaneously, with the capability to view shared information in real time. I'm only using the basic (free) offering at the moment, but if you would like to visit, click here:

Get your free Meetsee virtual office at: http://www.meetsee.com.

Given that this is a hobby blog, for the most part, you may be saying: "Hey, Nizz, what's with the technobabble? How does this apply to me?" If you can't see the application to gaming, take another look. Imagine having this set up next to a game of Vassal, or Virtual Battlefield, or Cyberboard. Hell, imagine any of those embedded into the application for everyone to look at simultaneously. It has potential.

You have to hand it to a Greyhound

2008-11-24T13:09:00.001-05:00

You can dress them up, paint them, put silly make up on them, hey, it's all good, man, they seem to say...

I lost Nixon earlier in the year-- this picture from my friend Alana's blog is quite poignant to me.

Source: Gallery 141 blog, Lancaster, PA

Her other blog is: Our Flying House

The 6 Most Lethal Aircraft in History

2008-11-11T16:38:00.001-05:00

Popular Mechanics took a look back over the history of single-engine planes, fighters, bombers and attack helicopters and picked out six of the most lethal fliers of the past 100 years, based on their dominance during the years they flew.

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What I did on my Fall IN Vacation

2008-11-10T07:15:00.005-05:00

FALL IN! 2008: It was a good time!

FALL IN 2008 has come and gone, and I have to say I'm really enjoying this show these days, maybe more than the others-- it's mellow, laid back and the crowds aren't overwhelming like they can be at HISTORICON. I showed up late on Thursday, but early enough to schlep tables with Andy Turlington. I was volunteering for this one, and had been assigned a nice enough task-- working the front desk at the exhibitor's hall. One nice part of this job is that you get to see EVERYONE at a convention if you work a dealer's hall. Less nice, is you seem to be "away from the action" most of the time. So it goes. Me, I liked it, but I like schmoozing with people.

I don't know beans about attendance numbers, how well we did with the money, etc. So I can relate only the anecdotal stuff.. Bob from RLBPS told me he had his best Friday at FALL IN, evah! I saw some new dealers present, from the puzzling "I'll renovate your basement" guy to a couple new boardgame dealers. The folks I talked to seemed very pleased with the amount of business they were doing. Another BIG intangible-- you couldn't find a parking spot at the All-Star on Saturday for love nor money, unless you went way back in the back forty to a "lot B" I had no idea existed. That's a first.

I did some judging for Pete Panzeri, for the GM awards. I had to join in giving the AUSTERLITZ game I saw run in the All Star one more in the fistfull of awards it received; simply lovely old fashioned 15mm Napoleonic goodness. Reminded me of Borodino 92 (remember that one?).

I participated in the Society of Daisy's OFF THE TABLE MODELING and OFF THE TABLE PAINTING contests-- I didn't really think I had much of a shot at it but it's a worthy effort, worth supporting. So I entered my "Steampunk light armor company" made entirely from kid's toys and castoff junk. I submitted my "Clockwork Hussars" in the painting contest-- with very little hope of a prize. Let's say I "paint for utility". Sure enough, none of them won first prize, but one of them (can't figure out which) won THIRD prize.. hey, ten bucks. That's a beer and a half!

Jim McGaughey ran an HMGS-sanctioned painting contest too, it was supposed to transpire on Saturday in the All Star, I think-- I couldn't find it. I hope it went well.

I got asked to run FALL IN, during the course of the weekend. I said I was interested, but thought Andy Turlington was in line for this job, and wouldn't make any kind of strong case for myself if he wanted it-- Andy's a great candidate for the position, and I really don't have any ego about being a Big Chief or lil' Injun after doing the COLD WARS job for four years. Fortunately Andy took the job and I think he's the best man for it.

Got into a great game Friday night, BIPLANES AND BATTLESHIPS, based upon the Hector Bywater "Great Pacific War" scenario. I sacrificed my light cruiser squadron, but the Americans ultimately won with heavy losses. Yay! Liked the rules system, the historical era, and the scale (1:6000th). I may pick this up and try it some time.

Here's a Travel Montage:

I didn't end up buying out the store. I got some Historical Products 20mm Spanish Civil War stuff (for use with Russian Civil War armies.. they adapt well). Mostly these were "anarchists" and troops with the Adrian Helmet, plus a few guns. I picked up some WW2 naval infantry at Dave Markley's recommendation, from Pegasus models. These will make dandy Russian Civil War Naval Infantry troops, if I ignore or convert the ones with machine pistols. I have some Naval Infantry from IT FIGURES painted up already, but I like the poses on these guys-- more aggressive and more detailed. I also got another Pegasus set of Russian log houses, a Whippet tank, and a Scout car.

I didn't get into the cubicle zombie game, Saturday night.. I was out having dinner and didn't get back in time. It sure looked funny. It's a great idea, but I'll just wait for this chap to run it again. :-D

So, instead, I hung out, drank beer and played boardgames. The first attempt was BETRAYAL AT HOUSE ON THE HILL. This proved a tad complex to the fellows assembled. Since the "Traitor" guy showed up fairly early the game ended after I'd gone the grand total of one room in to the mansion. Somewhat anti-climatic.

John C's excellent dramatic reading of the events paragraph (captured on a period authentic Edison Kinescope) was the highlight of this game.

SEE THE VIDEO, bottom of the page.

I wanted to get in on the game of Mall of Horror nearby.. but it was full up. Sigh.

Since Betrayal lasted.. oh.. five minutes or so, and most of the rest of the company present were passed out, we pulled out a recent purchase, COWBOYS: THE WAY OF THE GUN, by Worthington Games. Mostly as a learning experience.

Scenario: Bust Our Pard out of the Jail

Citizens cleared the streets when Stinky, Paco, Snake Eyes and Jeb rolled into town.

The Sheriff was there to greet us. "Por Favor, Sheriff, might I inquire.." (BANG! "Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!") Clearly the local law facists don't care for Mejicans.. Paco was shot in the stomach before he and the sheriff could exchange greetings. Stinky, Paco, and Snakeyes duked it out the local law dogs, while Jeb rode round the long way.

The ensuing gun battle was a fracas. Paco and Stinky were riddled with bullets, enforcing my low opinion of this town's tolerance for both hispanics and the unwashed. The Sheriff and his deputy ceased to exist. However, that was the signal for the uprising of citizenry. Every other turn, a new citizen popped up to activate and start blasting away with shotguns and rifles. Paco and Stinky rode hard for the outskirts of town, but ended up getting killed right on the edge of the map. Sigh. Victory was so near.

We rather liked COWBOYS. Like GUNSLINGER, without all the detail work and fine level of granularity.

Sunday was anti-climatic as it usually is. I flea-marketed a bit, for the first time. I made some money! James Mattes ran the raffle for prizes in the dealer's area.. it seemed to have gone over well. I went home not exhausted, as usual, but pretty energized. I had a great time and will definitely attend more FALL INs in the future.

Howard Whitehouse commenting on Wargames' Foundry new ZULU WARS release, FALL IN 08, Gettysburg, PA

2008-11-09T17:12:00.002-05:00

HISTORICON 2008.. a fantastic time

2008-07-29T13:05:00.002-04:00

I've been away from blogging for, oh, six months or more, for that I do apologize. A series of life changes has kept me fairly busy during that time, and I've had precious little time for gaming.

I went to HISTORICON last week, from Wednesday to Sunday-- alas, no pictures are contained with this narrative, but I assure you somebody out there will be posting some soon. I will give credit where it is due and link to other photos where needed-- just pass a mouseclick over the photo.

HISTORICON was my first HMGS convention since FALL IN! 2007, where I had been turned off of miniatures gaming for quite some time after the collapse of TRIADCON from within. In summary, I have to say HISTORICON was an EXCELLENT convention, a wonderful time from start to finish, and I thoroughly enjoyed the efforts of Bob Giglio and his crew of stalwarts: Neil Brennan, Frank Preziosi, Duncan Adams, JT Thomas, Wilbur Grey, Jeff and Monica Hobbs, Kathryn Plamback, Don Perrin, Jim McWee and many others should be singled out for their contributions to a wonderful show. Not to mention the on site staff that were up to their normal high standard of efficiency and helpfulness.

Having arrived in the afternoon on Wednesday, my activity was limited to visiting with friends, kibitzing, and solving the heady problems of philosophy in the lobby lounge with Bob and Cleo Leibel, Otto Schmidt and the occasional stalwart that drifted in and out of our wine-soaked conversations. "Sitting around and BSing with other learned pals" might be my favorite convention activity of all time, so I rate this evening as among the highlights of the convention. The next day started out late-- a wine soaked 230 AM bedtime will do that to you. I wandered about for a while, having grabbed a ticket for an evening game, whining my way into a boardgame (zombies), visiting the painting area and then showing up for dinner (late) with Otto, Bob, Cleo, and a family of adoptees that Otto had coerced to the convention. A most engaging supper, and off to my first "formal" game of the con, the battle of Ulsan. this was a fairly even contest between Japanese and Russian pre-dreadnoughts, using the wonderful Old Glory Shipyards Dreadnought line (the ship models weren't 100 per cent accurately representing the battle line, but the Japanese 'stand-ins' retained the flavor of the ships they were to represent).

I was in the role of the Russian Admiral, Jessen, flying the flag of the ROSSIYA. From the commencement of the battle, the Rossiya was under heavy, continuous fire from multiple ships. In an odd reversal of historical roles, it was the ROSSIYA that suffered a fate similar to the RURIK, the weakest ship in our line. I kept rolling "Special Damage" which ended up with a Captain dead.. the ship went through 8 captains during the course of the fight. The running joke was that by the time the battle was over, the laundry officer was running the ship!

The Russians won decisively, having no ships immobilized (this was close, though) and the Japanese were down to one ship left afloat. I had a wonderful time with this game, and commend the GM Mike Miller (as well as my fellow players on BOTH sides) for making this a fun time.

Friday dawned, I did some local things, and did my first big trawl around the dealer area. I got pigeonholed by Howard to help with his big pulp game (unexpectedly held on a FRIDAY, not a Saturday, harrumph). I promised I'd try, but got their late due to other commitments. Sigh. He really didn't need me, anyway. :-D One interesting acquaintance made in the dealer's area was a man named William, clearly a Mennonite, who had started a miniature gaming company in his community, and was selling Age of Reason/Seven Years War figures. Yes, he had heard about the Amish Rake Fight, and he thought it was hilarious, which shows you that should never assume anything. I promised I'd send him some photos, so please, if you got his card, get in touch with me.

Having been released from obligations to Howard, I did some more shopping, had some conversations, painted a bit, and then grabbed a ticket for the evening game. This was for CALLIOPE, a game that has always intrigued me, but alas, I was charmed when I saw FUPRIKT'S ALESIA or HOW TEDDY ROOSEVELT SAVE RURITANIA, and had to weasel my way in there. This was a giant GASLIGHT BATTLES game in a very small space. I played Victorian Germans with their giant spider walker, three companies of troops and flesh golems. You know, the typical troop mix. I slaughtered the Ruritanians in front of me, but it was to no avail, we couldn't advance through the densely packed town nearly fast enough. We lost but only by a narrow margin. I sat in on some friendly (and UNfriendly) banter about the "big subject", moving HISTORICON to Baltimore. This was much discussed in the evening, at the bar.

The next meeting was the membership meetings, which I did not avoid. I was rather touched to receive a very nice Saint Petersburg trophy for my years as a con director, and a HMGS lifetime membership, complete with secret recognition coin.

I got into Pete Frechtling's excellent A DAY AT THE RACES, LEONARDO? which may have been my favorite game this convention. This is a very silly game, featuring Renaissance era tanks racing each other with a little bit of sabotage from the sidelines. Reminds me of the old Le Grand Cirque games. I lost in dramatic style, trying to ram the guy who tore the guts out of my steam tank from behind.

I had time for a quick meal, and then got to sleaze my way into THAT'S A BUNCH OF BOLSHEVIK: SOMEWHERE IN RUSSIA, 1920. Great fun indeed, when you can squeeze a Russian Revolution game somewhere into the mix. The Rules were RED FURY, a sort of variant of BLITZKRIEG COMMANDER for the RCW. They played very well and could be condensed into two pages.

After being THOROUGHLY defeated by a very good opponent, I ambled upstairs and got involved in the bar room convos about the HISTORICON move. I avoided being too argumentative, and had a fun time BSing with people I rarely see.

Next day I packed up, did a final run through flea market and vendor area, and thus pointed my nose southward. I had a great time-- one thing I noticed was the stress level has greatly receded in the last year, and there are many changes. People are friendlier and more mellow at these things, which is EXACTLY the convention I wish to attend. Good show, my fellow enthusiasts, I am proud of you.

Amazing plant life - ancient seed sprouts after 2,000 years

2008-06-13T14:11:00.001-04:00

Forget cryopreservation – hot and dry conditions might be all you need to awake far into the future. A date palm seed some 2000 years old – preserved by nothing more than storage in hot and dry conditions – has germinated, making it the oldest seed in the world to do so.

read more | digg story

Americans in the Spanish Civil War

2008-06-13T11:23:00.001-04:00

During the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), 2,800 American volunteers took up arms to defend the Spanish Republic against a military rebellion led by General Franco and aided by Hitler and Mussolini. To the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, which fought from 1937 through 1938, the defense of the Republic represented the last hope against international fascism.

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Superconductor Electric Vehicle

2008-06-13T11:03:00.001-04:00

Sumitomo Electric has developed what is being called the world’s first automobile powered by a superconducting motor. The electric passenger sedan (a modified Toyota Crown Comfort), which is powered by a 365-kilowatt high-temperature superconducting motor cooled by liquid nitrogen, was unveiled in Osaka on June 12 and will go on display at the Hokk

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Move things with your voice: VOIP communication opens way up

2008-01-20T17:56:00.001-05:00

Parsec, an open souce project now in Second Life, enables users to move objects and control music with their voice. Seismic ramifications of this Brian Eno-ish sounding "fun, collaborative mash-up" of voice and virtual interactivity include content creation, musical integration, therapy, and ultimately the control any parameter in virtual worlds.

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A Sad Day for Flashman Fans

2008-01-07T17:44:00.000-05:00

It is with great sadness that I observe the passing of a true literary great, Mr. George MacDonald Fraser, last Wednesday. Fraser, of course, was the author of the Flashman novels, which I have read and reread faithfully since the age of 12. I grew up with Flashman, and dare I say it, Mr. Fraser was a role model of sorts. His death is a sad loss for literature and humorous writing.

I quote, verbatim, a particularly good obit from the International Herald-Trib that I received in a passalong email. The author is Margalit Fox and the source link is cited.

George MacDonald Fraser, 82, author of 'Flashman' novels January 3, 2008

By Margalit Fox

George MacDonald Fraser, a British writer whose popular novels about the
arch-rogue Harry Flashman followed their hero as he galloped, swashbuckled,
drank and womanized his way through many of the signal events of the 19th
century, died Wednesday on the Isle of Man. He was 82 and had made his home
there in recent years. The cause was cancer, said Vivienne Schuster, his
British literary agent.

Over nearly four decades, Fraser produced a dozen rollicking picaresques
centering on Flashman. The novels purport to be installments in a
multivolume "memoir," known collectively as the Flashman Papers, in which
the hero details his prodigious exploits in battle, with the bottle, and in
bed. In the process, Fraser cheerfully punctured the enduring ideal of a
long-vanished era in which men were men, tea was strong and the sun never
set on the British Empire.

The Flashman Papers include, among other titles, "Flashman" (World
Publishing, 1969); "Flashman in the Great Game" (Knopf, 1975); and, most
recently, "Flashman on the March" (Knopf, 2005).

The second volume in the series, "Royal Flash" (Knopf, 1970), was made into
a film of the same title in 1975, starring Malcolm McDowell as Flashman.

In what amounted to an act of literary retribution, Fraser plucked Flashman
from the pages of "Tom Brown's School Days," Thomas Hughes's classic novel
of English public-school life published in 1857. In that book, Tom, the
innocent young hero, repeatedly falls prey to a sadistic bully named
Flashman.

In Fraser's hands, the cruel, handsome Flashman is all grown up and in the
British Army, serving in India, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Now Brigadier
General Sir Harry Paget Flashman, he is a master equestrian, a pretty fair
duelist and a polyglot who can pitch woo in a spate of foreign tongues. He
is also a scoundrel, a drunk, a liar, a cheat, a braggart and a coward. (A
favorite combat strategy is to take credit for a victory from which he has
actually run away.)

Last, but most assuredly not least, Flashman is a serial adulterer who by
Volume 9 of the series has bedded 480 women. (That Flashman is married
himself, to the fair, dimwitted Elspeth, is no impediment. She cuckolds him
left and right, in any case.)

Readers adored him. Today, the Internet is populated with a bevy of Flashman
fan sites. Flashman's exploits take him to some of the most epochal events
of his time, from British colonial campaigns to the American Civil War, in
which he magnanimously serves on both the Union and the Confederate sides.
He rubs up against eminences like Queen Victoria, Oscar Wilde, Florence
Nightingale and Abraham Lincoln. For his work, Flashman earns a string of
preposterous awards, including a knighthood, the Victoria Cross and the
Medal of Honor.

Fraser was so skilled as a mock memoirist that he had some early readers
fooled. Writing in The New York Times in 1969 after the first novel was
published, Alden Whitman said:

"So far, 'Flashman' has had 34 reviews in the United States. Ten of these
found the book to be genuine autobiography."

The son of Scottish parents, George MacDonald Fraser was born on April 2,
1925, in Carlisle, England, near the Scottish border. His boyhood reading,
like that of nearly every British boy of his generation, included "Tom
Brown's School Days."

In World War II, Fraser served in India and Burma with the Border Regiment.
His memoir of the war in Burma, "Quartered Safe Out Here" (Harvill), was
published in 1993.

After leaving the military, Fraser embarked on a journalism career, working
for newspapers in England, Canada and Scotland. He eventually became the
assistant editor of The Glasgow Herald and, in the 1960s, was briefly its
editor.

Tiring of newspaper work, Fraser decided, as he later said in interviews, to
"write my way out" with an original Victorian novel.

In a flash, he remembered Flashman, and the first book tumbled out in the
evenings after work.

"In all, it took 90 hours, no advance plotting, no revisions, just tea and
toast and cigarettes at the kitchen table," he said in an interview quoted
in the reference work "Authors and Artists for Young Adults."

His other books include several non-Flashman novels, among them "Mr.
American" (Simon & Schuster, 1980); "The Pyrates" (Knopf, 1984); and "Black
Ajax" (HarperCollins, 1997). With Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson,
Fraser wrote the screenplay for the James Bond film "Octopussy," released in
1983.

Fraser's latest book, "The Reavers," a non-Flashman novel, is scheduled to
be published by Knopf in April.

Further Reading:

Obituary, the Times

George Fraser, OBE

In Response to Napoleon the Little..

2007-12-31T11:23:00.000-05:00

I sometimes get such a good comment that it's a shame to bury it back in the comments section, next to the obits and car sales. This one was from Otto, concerning the recent piece on the move to get Napoleon III's remains back to France.

(Dear Mister Nizz)

The question turns on this. Is this"amour propre" or forgiveness.

If the latter, one must ask at what point is forgiveness given or witheld. Let us remember that Hitler restored German self-confidence, sparked, the economy, and made the trains run on time. He loved kids and dogs too-- and his mother loved him.

Louis Napoleon in addition to his architectural and city planning triumphs of Paris, also inaugurated the "institutionalized corruption" that has troubled France ever since- his comment to his supprters "Enrich yourselves" was of course at the expense of the public till. He did create a police state and he not only exercised remarkable ineptness in the Franco-Prussian War, but involved France in the expensive and embarrassing imbroglio in Mexico.

But beyond that, one must ask if the desire to return the remains to France involves an almost "Orewellian" rewriting of the history of Napoleon the little.
In either case if there is to be forgiveness than it cannot be at the price of that, and it must be forgiveness in full recognition of his shortcomings. How he got to be in an abbey chapel in England is part of that history.

To return his remains to France and recraft a legend around his revamping paris and making it the tourist capital it was, and ignoring the devastating effects of his regieme is an exercise in "Never-Never-Landism" that would make even the Illusionists of Disney Cringe.

It would however be an exercise in "amoour propre" entirely fitting for Louis Napoleon who if he was anything was the poster boy for "amour propre."

Otto

By the way, he made those broad boulevards and straight streets not for aesthetic pleasure or future tourist viewing- he did it so that artillery could command the streets of Paris and shoot down Frenchmen who tried to revolt. That's one reason he macadamed the steets too! To do away with the cobblestones that the Parisians threw up as barricades in revolt.

SF Sounds

2007-12-31T11:22:00.001-05:00

	I received 85 credits on The Sci Fi Sounds Quiz How much of a Sci-Fi geek are you?
Take the Sci-Fi Movie Quiz canon s5

The Story of Stuff, a tutorial on the Materials Economy

2007-12-26T11:35:00.000-05:00

Annie Leonard has put together a wonderful, easy to follow flash tutorial about the start to finish chain of of the materials economy. I found it alarming, but not patronizing, and never shrill. Since I was a little boy, I have often gazed at the junk around me and wondered "Where does it go when I'm done with it? If I throw this away now will it be here ten years from now?". It's all about a sustainable economy in a finite world. How the hell are we going to accomplish that before we rape the planet to death? Whether or not you think she has an agenda, it is worth a watch. See it here:

http://www.storyofstuff.com/video/

Joyous Holiday Greetings, 2007

2007-12-22T10:04:00.001-05:00

From me to all of you that stop in here regularly. Thanks for dropping in. I hope we can spend some time together in 2008.

Fantastic news: Eon Products get the Fantasy Flight Remake Treatment

2007-12-19T17:33:00.001-05:00

http://files.boardgamegeek.com/audio/FFG_CP_Interview.mp3

Excellent news from Boardgame Geek! Aldie reports in a quick interview with Christian Petersen of FFG that DUNE (rethemed), COSMIC ENCOUNTER, and BORDERLANDS will soon be reprinted by Fantasy Flight Games! Fantastic!

War of Words over an Emperor's Bones

2007-12-12T14:14:00.001-05:00

It's good to know that in these modern times, the French and the English can still squabble over symbols from the past.

Napoleon III was the last monarch of the French people and first president of the Modern French Republic, yet his remains have laid in an English Abbey for 120 years, largely forgotten by his people. . Stunningly, that has recently changed.

Born in Paris in 1808, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte was the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, and lived a colorful life.
After a number of foreign adventures, including supporting the disasterous Imperial adventure into Mexico in the 1860s, his army was crushed in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, prompting him to flee with his wife, Empress Eugenie, to Chislehurst, Kent, where he remained in exile until his death in 1873.

The Emperor died on January nine, 1873, during a multistage process to break up a bladder stone -- the actual cause of death being kidney failure and septicaemia. He was originally buried at St. Mary's Church in Chislehurst. However, after Napoleon III's son also died in 1879 fighting in the British Army against the Zulus in South Africa, Eugenie decided to build a monastery to house monks driven out of France by the anti-clerical laws of the Third Republic, which would provide a resting place for her husband and son.
Thus in 1888 the bodies of Napoleon III and his son was moved to the Imperial Crypt at Saint Michael's Abbey in Hampshire. Eugenie, who died many years later in 1920, is now buried there with them.

After lying ignored in a crypt in an English abbey for 120 years, the exiled emperor's ashes are suddenly the subject of a French ministerial delegation intent on repatriating them to the republic he helped bring about.

Christian Estrosi, the French secretary of state for overseas territories, said: "This trip will be for me an occasion to send a clear message to the British, to thank them for all they did for the imperial couple in exile, but also to remind them that we have some rights over them."

He may be in for a nasty surprise.

In a statement to the French people, Abbot Cuthbert Brogan, who runs the abbey, said:

"Unlike the English, who are very interested in the memory of your last emperor, not a single French person comes and meditates at the crypt where his remains lie.

I hope that your overseas minister is coming to ask for forgiveness. It's the least he can do in terms of politeness because you, the French, attach great importance to politeness."
Commenting on Mr Estrosi's intention to spend 10 minutes in silent reverence by the tomb, the abbot went on: "Ten minutes for a silence of 120 years! They are not interested in the remains at all!

What do you think of someone who has shown no interest in someone for much of his life and who suddenly claims, more than a century later, that the body belongs to him?"

Despite the ignominy of his later years - especially the crushing defeat by the Prussians at the Battle of Sedan - France owes much to Napoleon III. He had a huge hand in turning Paris into the elegant city so loved by tourists today - he replaced its unhygienic medieval streets with wide boulevards, created sewage systems and built parks and impressive apartment blocks for the masses.

The French, who want to reunite Napoleon III with his uncle's body in Les Invalides, in Paris, can also thank him for their railway network, and for creating a modern economy modelled on that of Victorian Britain.

Sources: Daily Telegraph, Daily News and Analysis, Wikiepedia.

Empires in Arms finally released, on Mister Nizz's Xmas List

2007-12-06T14:15:00.000-05:00

After 3 years of waiting... countless hours of testing.. and many false leads...

In a surprise move, Matrix Games just announced EMPIRES IN ARMS IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR SALE!

Quiet, please... (sob).. this is such a beautiful moment... I want it to last for a bit. You can find it online here

In any event, I am asking Santa for this one. He will probably shun my humble request, but one can hope.

BRPD 1 Heathcliffe Round 4 Categories

2007-12-06T14:05:00.000-05:00

KEYWORD is QUARTZ

1) An Old Testament Prophet
2) Famous Computer Utility
3) He won the Tony Award
4) He opposed Napoleon
5) One of the Big Ten Colleges
6) A Car Brand

Vio Con Dios, you crazy, crazy man.

2007-12-05T13:40:00.000-05:00

When I was a kid, Evel Knievel was the archtype of cool. Seems like he was in the news all the time back in those days.. the days of jumping semi trucks, and Las Vegas, and even that Gawd Awful Snake River canyon jump..

Evel passed from this life last Friday, dying relatively painlessly, which is ironic considering the life he led. The man that boasted of having broken nearly every bone in his body ended up dying of natural causes.

In the late 1990's, Knievel's health began declining steadily. Knievel had a life saving liver transplant in February of 1999 as a result of suffering the long term effects from Hepatitis C. He contracted the disease after one of the numerous blood transfusions he received prior to 1992. In 2005, he was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable and terminal lung disease that required him to be on supplemental oxygen 24-hours a day. In 2006, Evel had an internal morphine pain pump surgically implanted to help him with the excruciating pain in his deteriorated lower back, one of the costs of incurring so many traumas over the course of his career as a daredevil. He also had two strokes since 2005, but neither left him with severe debilitation.

He died at Clearwater, Florida, on November 30, 2007, aged 69 years. He had been suffering from diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis for many years. Longtime friend Billy Rundle reported that Knievel had trouble breathing while at his residence in Clearwater, but died before the ambulance could reach the hospital. "It's been coming for years, but you just don't expect it. Superman just doesn't die, right?" was Rundle's reaction. In his last interview, he told Maxim Magazine, "You can’t ask a guy like me why I performed. I wanted to fly through the air. I was a daredevil, a performer. I loved the thrill, the money, the whole macho thing. All those things made me Evel Knievel. Sure, I was scared. You gotta be an asshole not to be scared. But I beat the hell out of death."

A lot of childhood icons have passed this year (do a sort on the obit label some time), but Knievel was one of the most memorable. So long, you crazy man. May your eternity be without a single twinge of arthritis pain.

BRPD 1 Heathcliffe, Round 3, Results

2007-12-05T13:05:00.000-05:00

Not a bad round, for fans of bannanas, The Andrea Doria, and Mickey Mouse!!

Categories posted soonish.

Recent bargain purchases

2007-12-03T10:42:00.000-05:00

Sales, Sales, Sales...

1. Taking advantage of the Matrix Holiday Sale

And having grown up a Cold War baby, I thought I'd pick up FLASHPOINT GERMANY as it was going for fairly cheap, like 26 bucks for Digital Download. Surprsingly, it's a pretty good little game for the price, and the AI puts up a fight. I've played two scenarios so far; one a West German recon unit blundering into a Soviet Advance (as the Sovs) and one as a Nato Armored Cavalry unit trying to stop a Soviet Armored advance (just getting started, see below).

Admittedly, I haven't tried the manual yet, but it seems pretty intuitive. There is a lot of micro management going on in this interface, so I wouldn't care to play a large scale game with tons of units (you can move units by the stack or by the unit, but it usually works out as by the unit).

The interface reminds me strongly of a very similar game, TAC OPS, put out by Arsenal, then Shrapnel. The same grid map, similar unit icons (slightly better done in Flashpoint, IMO), and a similar drill-down interface. Of the two, right now I prefer Flashpoint. It's far easier to figure out-- of course, that could be the shock of the new talking. We'll see how I feel after repeated plays. Right now, I'm somewhat impressed.. this game has a real "old SPI game" feel to it, circa early 1980s. I like it!

2. Treasure of the MEI Micro Center budget bin...

Also on deck is a 7 dollar purchase from the budget bin at MEI Micro Center. Normally, I absolutely loathe real time shooter games-- I think they don't reward creative thought, and foster violant responses. However, I've always been something of a sucker for the old ROGUE TROOPER series from the U.K.'s old 2300AD comic book publications. Sure, JUDGE DREDD got the covers, and the movie, and the games and the lion's share of the merchandising, but his strip wasn't nearly as well written, thoughtful and interesting as the saga of the lone genetic infantryman, Rogue Trooper, trying to work his way around the perils and pitfalls of Nu-Earth, fighting the forces of Nortland and supporting his Souther buddies. So, when I saw it hit the seven buck mark.. I thought "meh, it's almost disposable at that price".

The game installs well on a XP and I had no problems running it with a CD. Graphically, the developers at Rebellion (contracted to Eidos, who distributes ROGUE TROOPER) got the look and feel down pat. One DOES get the feel that he is on Nu-Earth, in the middle of a major altercation, with some very heavy ordinance being laid down in his direction. The core of the game itself is a third-person, primarily action-based title, that sees you following a relatively conventional structure of pursuing mission objectives and shooting lots of enemies. I haven't played much, if any, games in this genre but it would seem that the mission structure is fairly ho-hum from the reviews I've read. Even so, the game evokes (visually, at least) the milieu perfectly. Alas, from what I can see so far, the enduring plot of the comic isn't much in evidence. The traitor General responsible for the Quartz Zone Massacre (a very important element in the source comics and Games Workshop board game that was based upon the series) seems to be part of the game, according to the documentation, but I have a feeling he will be a big end of game buggaboo. We've seen this before.

In sum, visually stunning, great graphics and sound, but no long term legs. Worth seven dollars, easily!

Salvo! gamebox for Minden Games latest

2007-12-01T13:57:00.000-05:00

I like postcard games.. and I like naval games. I was quite taken with SALVO!, the recent postcard game included in my copy of PANZER DIGEST. The combat is quite abstract, more reminiscient of UP FRONT than COMMAND AT SEA, so I thought I'd make a gamebox to incorporate all the ships of the series (Salvo! and Advanced Salvo!). Why make one for a solitaire game, right? Well, it's easy to play, the rules are small and containable, and this is a game I can load on a USB data stick and play anywhere, without cutting out counters or bringing dice along, that's why!

This is what I have so far.

I think I'll be changing the map, though, to keep it in line with the example in Panzer Digest.

Seems to work as advertised!

Last minute shopping suggestion..

2007-11-30T06:43:00.000-05:00

And the centerpiece of that snippet, the Hand Grenade itself, is now available from THINKGEEK DOT COM.

The perfect gift accessory for the 2007 Christmas Season! Just click on the Grenade, and count to 5, no 3, and go to ThinkGeek to get one for yourself.

BRPD Heathcliffe, Round 3 Categories and Keyword

2007-11-28T11:11:00.000-05:00

Keyword AMBUSH

Category One:Napoleon's General
Category Two: An Ocean Liner from the past
Category Three: One of Uncle Walt (Disney)'s creations
Category Four: A UNIX command
Category Five: A tropical fruit
Category Six: An 80s TV show

Have fun, and GOOOOOD LUCK!!!

Dripping with Sincerity...

2007-11-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

I had a bad experience with an online vendor of a certain sort of product some years back. (Shrug) It happens. The thing is, it was one of those "It'll be a cold day in Hades before I do business with that guy again" kind of things. That is solely my own opinion, based on my experiences. I won't name the guy's business, as it is pretty much a one-man band kind of thing. I don't wish the guy ill, I just choose not to do business with him.

So, the vendor puts me on a mailing list and I get his annual clearance email once a year. I pretty much made it clear that I would never do business with the guy again after our last transaction, and when I got the first email, I asked to be removed from his mailing list. Dunno if the email got lost or ignored intentionally, but once again, I would get the semi-annual emailing from the guy. I don't believe I ever bothered to repeat the request again-- I just deleted them out of hand. That is, until the recent mailing.

My request was courteous enough, I thought:

At 11/XX/2007, you wrote:

May I be removed from this list, please?

Thanks,

(Nizz)

To which I get this response.. it starts off somewhat corporate-smarmy but the real zinger, in my point of view, is the last sentence:

(Nizz),

While we hate to lose you as a subscriber, we have unsubscribed you from our services. You'll not receive any further emailings from us except in reply to something you send to us.

I'm sorry that we could not be of greater service to you. But by all means please think of us should you be looking for a game of some form, whether new or used.

Thanks, (Nizz), for your one order three years ago. (emphasis mine -- MrN)

(initials)

Now, he did what I wanted and I no longer care, but I do find this really funny as a response. It sings to me.. "What, you bought ONE FREAKIN' ORDER from me and you have the temerity to not want to be on my little email list that generates two emails a year?? How dare you!" Yes, I'm reading into things here but my original dealings with this vendor give me a firm foundation to speculate about the intent.

Now, if it were ME at the other end of that, I might be asking something like.. "Hey, (Nizz).. you only ordered ONE order from me three years ago, and you seem to have had such a negative reaction about it that you've: A) never ordered anything again, and don't even wish to hear from me one or two times a year. Is there anything I can do to regain your future custom? Was it price? customer service or the lack thereof? the website? my e-commerce model? TALK TO ME, (Nizz)!!!"

But hey, he is he and me is me.. It's a funny old world. Perhaps I'm just reading too much into it.

BRPD 1 Heathcliffe, Turn 2, Results

2007-11-27T12:14:00.000-05:00

A Good Round IF...

... you were fond of the Amazon River, Robert E. Lee, the movie Braveheart, and York Peppermint Patties.

Categories for Round 3 tonight.

BGG publishes a gift guide for 2007

2007-11-26T16:59:00.000-05:00

Boardgamegeek recently published their GIFT GUIDE FOR 2007, featuring boardgame recommendations for all ages and tastes. This list is certainly geared towards the family or euro game customer, primarily, but if that interests you, have a look

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Board_Game_Gift_Guide_2007

I would find it useful if I were looking for an easy entre into the boardgaming hobby (say, beyond the Parcheesi, Monopoly, and Checkers).

Enjoy!

A new WW2 tactical card game playable by Java

2007-11-26T14:57:00.000-05:00

First of all, I didn't realize that YOUR MOVE GAMES, the guys that make the excellent BATTLEGROUND: Fantasy Warfare had made a world war 2 era game. The game is called The Battle for Hill 218, and it looks to be a quick filler type thing, playable with cards, within 15 minutes or so. BGG Reference. Even cooler than that is that a fellow named Andrew Gross has made a Java version that can play solitaire OR hotseat on just about any platform. The Java version can be found at Andrew's home page.

Here's a screenshot (click for more detail):

Remember EAST FRONT TANK COMMANDER and LAST CRUSADE? It strikes me that both of those could be easily converted to similar applications.

From Eli Roth, in honor of the holiday

2007-11-26T01:04:00.001-05:00

(warning: contains sequences not intended for children or office spaces)

There's nothing like that holiday feeling.

Secret Santa Target Assigned

2007-11-21T14:13:00.000-05:00

Woo-HOO! I am once again participating in the Secret Santa club on Boardgamegeek. The premise is very simple. Once a year, the denizens of BGG get together and virtually put their names in a hat and shake it up, then dole the names out to strangers, and the strangers buy them a present, usually anonymously. Now, me, I blew it last year and revealed my gift to my "target" I promise I wont' repeat that mistake. Secret Santa is far more entertaining when you give in secret.

I view the process as a sort of pay it forward... my target fellow is a younger guy, maybe not with a lot of funds, and he clearly likes a lot of stuff I do. I'm hoping I can make his Christmas happier.

BRPD 1 Heathcliffe, Turn 2, Categories and Keyword

2007-11-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

Round Two

The Keyword is BAILEY

Topics:

1) In a classic mystery plot
2) Seen at a computer trade show
3) An American Civil War general
4) Won an Academy Award for Best Picture
5) A Great Big River
6) A Confection

Good Luck, Chaps! And Chappetis!

Empires in Arms from Matrix Games

2007-11-19T23:09:00.000-05:00

Saints Alive.. It might almost be here.

Check out this demo game on an after action report page!

That looks pretty functional to me! Mayyyybe (fingies crossed) by Christmas.

After Action Report Page here

We'll see...

BRPD 1 Heathcliffe, Turn 1, Results

2007-11-19T11:37:00.000-05:00

And they are OFF! Karen and Peter C. are in the lead, with Gloire, Bill, Eva and Jason snapping at their heals.

Obviously, if you were on the Elvis, Nagashino, or Microsoft Office Bandwagon this turn, you were going to score high.

Attached is a graphic of the game spreadsheet.