Beneath the Ginko

Game of Thrones play date

2011-12-01T10:53:00.004-06:00

Looking at a date of Sunday, December 18th for a Game of Thrones game day. In the KC area and want to join the treacherous fun? Email wolvenwood@hotmail.com if you are interested.

EDIT: Still two chairs open for this one. There will be lemon cakes...

Game of Thrones is here!

2011-11-28T21:59:00.005-06:00

Yep, I have the new Game of Thrones board game goodness all set up in front of me and it's one gorgeous production.

As far as gameplay goes, I would say it is on the same order of complexity and time requirement as Dune. So, not too bad once you've played a few rounds. It has the same f-your-buddy potential of Diplomacy, in that players pre-order their units and can support (or not) other player's actions. As there is no allowance for allied victory, as in Dune, treachery is almost guaranteed. Complications come in the form of supplying your armies, ship transport, and Wildling attacks. Combat is similar to that in Dune, in that no dice are rolled. The armies on the board and a hand of "House Cards" are used. As troops are hard to come by and to keep supplied, troop losses are low, but always of major consequence.

For Song of Ice and Fire geeks, this game reeks theme. Many of your favorite (or despised) characters make an appearance, as does the Iron Throne, a Valyrian sword, and a big ol' Raven. The houses players can lead are Baratheon, Greyjoy, Stark, Lannister (boo, hiss!), Tyrell and Martell (damn, those Sandsnakes are hot!)

For more info, go to the Fantasy Flight page for the game, or check it out on BoardGameGeek.

I am really hoping to get a game of this in before things get too holiday-crazy. It plays 3 to 6, but of course, I'd love to have a 6-player game right off the bat. As usual, KC area folks can note their interest in the comments.

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Mouse Guard RPG.

2011-11-21T10:37:00.002-06:00

My lovely wife, the magnificent Spyder, gave me a wonderful 50th birthday present: the Mouse Guard Role Playing Game, Boxed Set. Yep, a pen-and-paper rpg based on a bunch of cute little mice. Except these mice have swords and axes and other edged and pointy weapons, and are sworn to their duty to protect their mousey civilization. There is great danger and great adventure, all in a patch of wilderness where humans never appear.

Based on the award-winning comics by David Petersen, the Mouse Guard rpg uses the Burning Wheel game system, and from what I've read so far, this is no D&D. For one, it is far simpler. For another, the emphasis is placed on challenging and testing the characters' beliefs and goals.

So, I am looking for folks who would like to be patrol leaders, or guards or even tenderpaws. Interested?

Rainmakers Shows

2011-11-18T16:11:00.003-06:00

So my Dad, a rock connoisseur, is coming into town for Thanksgiving week. The Rainmakers are doing two shows Thanksgiving weekend at the Record Bar. This should be good.

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Sailing Away

2011-11-02T13:54:00.003-05:00

So this might be my last trade for a while. I gave up "Dust":

which is basically Risk in an alternate WWII world, with some pretty hot chicks sprinkled among the artwork, for this:

Yeah, I know, but the boats and the board are kick-ass, and the rules do a good job of recreating America's Cup style races, as least like back in the old-school days before the new multi-hull monstrosities took over. (Damn you Larry Ellison!)

One good thing is that this will be a good two-player game, which I am kinda shy on.

So here's a few more pics of the Race the Wind. I should have it in a few weeks.

Giants is here!

2011-11-01T08:58:00.001-05:00

I have the Giants game now and it is as impressive as I hoped. I'll try to get it worked into the rotation soon!

Scored some Giants

2011-10-20T11:38:00.006-05:00

I am not a huge fan of the "Euro" style of game, maybe because I come from the old-school Ameritrash tradition: Avalon Hill wargames and games with lots of plastic guys on maps, like "Warrior Knights," "Axis and Allies" and "Fortress America."

But now and then a Euro catches my eye because of components or theme. Problem is, most Euros paste a theme on an abstract just so they can have a pretty box. I tend to play games for the story they can tell. Universe knows I don't play because I'm addicted to winning, because I generally lose most of the time.

So I'm goofing on BoardGameGeek, and I mess with the Trade function they have on there. Long story short, I get a trade accepted for my old but premo copy of AH's Civilization game, which I have never gotten to play. It's got collector cred, but a more playable "Advanced" version is still out there, so I felt ok with putting it up for trade. So the trade I made is for an in-shrink-wrap (ie mint) copy of this:

Giants is a "worker placement" game, where players are Easter Islanders trying to build the most valuable Moai they can. There's some wheeling and dealing, auctions, and other stuff, and the game gets generally good reviews, other than some complaints of going a couple rounds long. (The designer included some tips for that issue.)

Anyway, the game is beautiful, and is full of these guys:

The entire production is just gorgeous, which always adds to my enjoyment of a game. Also, as you know from my love of Conquest of Paradise by GMT Games, I am a total sucker for anything Polynesian. Here's a good pic of the entire game:

It will probably be a few weeks before it gets here, but as always, if this game interests you, let me know. (KC area and all that.)

New Game of Thrones rules

2011-10-14T12:30:00.003-05:00

The rules for the new edition of the Game of Thrones board game are up! Take a look here to see if this is something you might want to try. If you can handle Dune or BSG, you should be fine with his one. I should have the game in my grubby little hands in early or mid-December. Winter is coming, and I can't wait.

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Warrior Knights

2011-10-04T09:07:00.006-05:00

Long ago, some old SCA friends and I used to spend a day playing the original version of Warrior Knights. Every game was a great experience of politics, war and fate. It was (and still is) one of the most evocative games of the Middle Ages ever made. The game usually went for over 4 hours, but the time always flew by, as the game was so involving. I still have the game and cherish that old set, but it is time worn and the components don't hold a candle to modern standards.

A few years ago, Fantasy Flight put out a re-vamped version, and it is stunning. They made some major changes to how the turn is structured and how randomness is handled (cards now, no dice,) but all the basics that I loved from the original are still there: the voting in the Assembly, where you vie for offices, concessions, and other goodies; the razing of cities, the sieges and battles; sending expeditions off to the Spice Islands and other places, gambling on a big score by your merchants.

I bought the new version several years ago, but have not had a chance to play it. And then I bought the expansion, "Crown and Glory", which lets you add cool things like missions, town levies, mercenary leaders, and garrisons.

Really, this game does have it all, if a group is willing to put in a solid afternoon and evening to give it a try. If you are interested, take a look at this great review, which explains the game better than I ever could and has terrific pics.

So yeah, I'm begging you, if you live in the KC area and want to be a warrior knight, let me know in the comments.

Battles of Westeros

2011-09-26T16:28:00.003-05:00

My latest game acquisition is a two-player war game loosely based on the mechanics of Battlelore (see last post.) Battles of Westeros (BoW) is wrapped in the Song of ice and Fire theme, and allows players to command the armies of the Starks and the Lannisters. Here you have commanders like Rob Stark and Tywin Lannister, and in an expansion, the unforgettable Tyrion Lannister. The game is played in scenarios, many of which re-enact some battle from the series. It's a great looking game, with tons of troops and banners flying, and terrain tiles for rivers, hills, roads and buildings. I have added the nicer flags and the four expansions currently available. I've had one short game session, just to learn the rules, and it was a helluva lot of fun. Here are some pics from BoardgameGeek:

Mega Score at the Recruits Con

2011-09-13T09:15:00.010-05:00

This weekend I spent a great time at the Recruits game convention. I took a bunch of underplayed games and sold most all of them, then turned around and scored these gems:

Battlelore:

Medieval wargame with some magic thrown in. Gorgeous art, a gazillion minis, and dozens of colored banners. Screams PLAY ME! I had to grab this one because the base game is out of print and won't be back. The seller also threw in two expansions, one of which is a second board so that you can fill a huge table with medieval mayhem. A steal at $75.

Monsters Menace America:

Not in the mood for a heavy brain-banger? This should fit the bill. And I scored it for a cool $10.

Death Angel:

Can't afford the new $100 Space Hulk reprint, so I went with this. It's a co-op game, y'all win or y'all become Genestealer food.

Diplomacy:

I already have a set of this one, but the version with the cardstock pieces. I won this in the silent auction for $15, and the reason I bid on it was the gorgeous metal pieces! So now I have a hybrid set with the bigger, less-garish mapboard and the awesome metal pieces. Life is good.

Feudal:

A blast from my teen-age days. In great condition, all pieces present and accounted for. Someone should redo this one.

Regatta:

Another honorable and ancient one. There is a lot of strategy in sail racing, so this might be fun.

So, I succeeded in getting new stuff without having to find new stowage space. I also made a trade for one of the Battles of Westeros expansions and bought another one, but I'll show those off after I get my paws on the Battles of Westeros base game, which should be this week sometime.

In addition to selling and buying, I also commanded a platoon of Indian colonial troops against a horde of Arab slavers in a Heart of Africa game run by a good friend. On Sunday, I was fortunate enough to play the hilarious gangster themed Ca$h 'n Gun$ bluffing game, which is hilarious and soooooo un-PC. Yep, the players actually do point foam guns at each other. Kinda unnerving, but a great take off on the Resevoir Dogs stuff. It's on my buy list now:

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Just putting this out there

2011-09-01T11:20:00.003-05:00

I am thinking (just thinking right now) about running a Song of Ice and Fire role-playing game, starting early in 2012. If you are in the KC area and are interested in such a thing, pipe up in the comments. (I use a home-grown generic RPG system I call KARMA, and it has done a decent job with over the past five years in both the Dune and Firefly settings.)

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I Danced With Dragons

2011-08-24T14:40:00.003-05:00

Well, I have finished A Dance With Dragons. GRRM delivered the goods again, but now he needs to bring this crate in for a landing. He's been doing loop-de-loops and barrel rolls for the last two-thousand pages, and it's been a great show. Now it's time to line up on the airfield and start the descent, then hit the runway and pop the air brakes. This IS GRRM, so there will be plenty of turbulence on the way down.

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Sad time

2011-08-22T10:01:00.001-05:00

Spyder's brother died suddenly earlier this month. I'm home holding the fort, while she is in Calgary taking care of her brother's affairs. Miss you, babe.

If we don't find this kid a job, the Chinese will

2011-08-12T15:00:00.001-05:00

This 22-year-old is using his noggin to take an old tech, the flywheel, and apply it to new problems. Watch:

Good look at the new Game of Thrones board game

2011-08-11T12:34:00.003-05:00

Here's a YouTube video from GenCon 2011. Good detail look at the components of the new game. I am really looking forward to this one. I am thinking that we do it up right, with some medieval-style food, mead, ale, fire in the fireplace, the whole bit. Whose in?

Back to Storm of Swords

2011-08-04T08:44:00.002-05:00

OK, so I took a break for a day after the Red Wedding. Back into it now. Just as crack-addicty as before...

Game garage sale

2011-08-02T21:50:00.004-05:00

It's time to cull the cardboard herd, so here's a list of games that I would like to find new homes for. I have checked my prices against BoardGameGeek and Ebay, and undercut them by about about $10 or so. All games are complete and in "good" or better condition. The link to the BGG page is included for quick lookie-loos. Email me at wolvenwood@hotmail.com if anything here tickles your fancy. The prices are, of course, negotiable.

Science Fiction Themed Games:

Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition $45

Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition, "Shattered Empire" Expansion $20

Risk "Halo Wars" $25

Cosmic Encounter (Avalon Hill version) $15

Frontiers (Asmodee) $10

Imperium 3rd Millenium (Avalanche Press) $20

Zombie State: Diplomacy of the Dead $25

Others Themes:

Stone Age $30

Battleship (Milton Bradley) $10

Blue Moon by Reiner Knizia $18

Blue Moon Expansion Packs $5 each:
The Aqua
The Mimix
The Flit
The Terrah
The Pillar
The Khind
Emissaries and Inquisitors: Blessings
Emissaries and Inquisitors: Allies

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arrrrrggggggg!

2011-08-02T17:27:00.003-05:00

I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so big spoiler warning: Just read the wedding chapter in Storm of Swords. Holy crap. No one is safe in this series.

There's crack in my Ipad

2011-07-31T11:52:00.002-05:00

I have the first four books of George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series on the Ipad and it's like there's e-crack in there. Every free minute is just consumed with these books. I'm into Storm of Swords now. Good thing it's too damn hot to do anything outside.

So who wants to be Lannister?

2011-07-29T22:02:00.004-05:00

I pulled the trigger tonight and pre-ordered the 2nd edition Game of Thrones board game. The price at Thoughthammer was around $50 with shipping. Hopefully the 4th Quarter 2011 delivery date will hold. We could be fighting over Westeros before Christmas.

So, I have a new rule (of thumb,) and that is that a major game purchase should be accompanied by a sale or two from my current collection.

I think it's time to move along my Twilight Imperium (3rd ed.) It's a great game, but kinda huge and plays best with a huge crew and an entire day. I also have the Shattered Empire expansion, which fixes a couple issues with the base game.

Another sale candidate is the Blue Moon card fighting game, with almost all of the expansion packs. Pretty stuff, but I just never got into the card game thing.

The other one that may interest folks is Stone Age, a really beautiful Euro game. As I'm more of an Ameritrash gamer, this one could go in trade or sale mix too.

All the games are in good shape, only a few plays for any of them, with no missing stuff. If you are in the KC area and interested in any of these games, just comment with a way to get hold of you and I'll get you the details.

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Playtesters wanted

2011-07-29T10:36:00.003-05:00

While I'm on the subject of board games, I want to put a call out to any KC area folks who would like to playtest a couple games I have designed. One is an abstract board game that includes elements of Go and Chess, with an oriental theme. The other is a board game set in the Fur Trade era of North America. If you are interested in helping me fine-tune these designs, just comment on this post and we will work out a time and place for some testing sessions.

Game of Thrones Board Game, part 2

2011-07-26T09:00:00.003-05:00

Well, just cruised over to FantasyFlight.com and what do I see? A 2nd edition Game of Thrones board game, updated and playable by six, due out in October. It's available to pre-order here. So I say we wait on that re-issue as it include stuff from the expansions and plays up to six. Should be a fun way to while away a winter evening.

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Game of Thrones Board game

2011-07-21T12:16:00.002-05:00

Well, I don't have cable or HBO, so I have not seen the GOT series, but I read the first book on vacation and got really hooked. I'll be Netflixing this one as soon as possible. Of course, there is another way to get into the world of Westeros, and that is by gaming.

Back in 2003, Fantasy Flight put out a board game and some expansions based on the series. The reviews are generally positive, and I think that this might be a good one for our BSG and Dune folks. It does seem to convey the political flavor of the books, although there do seem to be some consistent game balance quibbles. There is a problem, though...

The game has been out of print for a few years, and with the popularity of the show, the price for mint condition copies out on the www is kinda steep. So here's my thought: if you folks in the BSG/Dune group are interested, we could go in as a group for a copy.

Here's a link to the FFG site for the game, and go here for all the stuff on Boardgamegeek.

Also, there is a GoT card game, also by FFG, that is still in print and more affordable.

Anyway, if you are in the KC area and interested in Game of Thrones gaming, let me know.

Back from Quebec

2011-07-20T09:00:00.003-05:00

Home now, and had a great time in the far north. There was kayaking on some fairly easy rapids, a fishing trip where I landed a decent-sized pike and some pickerel (or walleye.) Had a wonderful time, although the bugs are still pretty thick this time of year.

NY, NY

2011-06-26T20:35:00.003-05:00

I'm really proud today that I am a native New Yorker (born a bunch of decades ago in Utica.) Now my brother has all the same rights I do when it comes to the old ball and chain. Here in Missouri, not so much, for now.
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I guess I'm not the only one.

2011-06-21T08:43:00.003-05:00

I wrote my big downer we-are-killing-the-planet post yesterday. Then today I go over to PZ Meyers blog Pharyngula and I see this. That cartoon says everything I meant to say, but way much better. Yep, Mama. We won't be missed at all.

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Basically, I don't see any hope...

2011-06-20T19:23:00.005-05:00

...environmentally, that is. There's a report out today that the oceans are headed for--if not already undergoing--a mass extinction on a par with those that have occurred naturally over the last few billion years of Earth history. There are huge dead zones caused by the outflow of rivers like the Mississippi filled with fertilizer runoff. There is a warming trend in the world's oceans, undeniable no matter what punks like Inhofe say. And there's acidification occurring at levels we see in the geological record coinciding with die-offs.

If you remember your middle school earth science class (if you went to a school where the fundies had not killed science education) you know that the oceans are the basis this planet's biological, hydrological, and atmospheric systems. And we're screwing that up big time, according to the report out today.

I know that the righties will call this more sciencey-liberal scare tactics, that we don't have that kind of power over God's creation, yadeeblahdeeblahblah. Screw them. Their ignorance is the main reason we won't do anything to even try and fix things.

But you know what, I tired of arguing with folks who think legitimate science is a commie plot. Now I just say fuck it, do what you want with the planet. It'll be a decade or so until the shit really hits the fan, and I'll be a senior citizen by then. So long as I have Spyder and a few good friends with me, I'll be content. Because I have realized that humanity is on the same course as the Easter Islanders were 500 years ago. We are on an isolated island in the middle of a huge space-ocean and we have no concern for the planet that sustains us. The Easter Islanders killed their forest for canoes and logs to roll their massive statues on, and bred like rabbits. The island could not support the population and its crazy religious statue cult, so they ended up in endemic inter-clan warfare, barricading themselves in caves, living in Mad-Max-land, only without the cars.

There really is no force on the planet that is going to stop what's coming, because we will never give up our cars or supermarkets or electricity, and billions of other humans on the planet will do everything they can to get what we have. Even if we have some great scientific energy breakthrough, nothing will beat our dependence on fossil fuels. Our species will strip this planet bare in the next century and then fight over the scraps, and that will be an ugly day. It'll be global Lord of the Flies and there's really nothing anyone can do to stop it.

But I'm not all down about this, just resigned to it. After we do ourselves and a gazillion other species in, Mama Earth will scour the shit we leave behind in the blink of a geological eye. Erosion, sedimentation, continental drift, vulcanism, and evolution will rebuild her, and it will be like we never existed. She will shake us off like a fever and become a bright blue ball once again. So there, see, I'm an optimist after all.
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Phishing trip

2011-06-15T11:41:00.002-05:00

I just got back to town from a mini-vacation in DC. My Dad is an old concert maven from way back (took me and my brother to our first show, which was Bruce Springsteen on the Born to Run tour.) He's been going to Phish concerts since the 90's and deems the band one of the best live act ever. So we got in the ticket lottery and ended up with seats for Saturday night and lawn for Sunday, at the Merriwther Post venue in Maryland.

And Dad was right. Phish is an amazing live band. There was no warmup band. They just took the stage and amazed me for three hours each night. I was a total Phish virgin, had only listened to a live cd once or twice. The virtuosity of each player was truly impressive. And they can pretty much play anything. There was even a ZZ top cover, and "Thus Spake Zarathustra", which belw the door off (go figure.)

The other cool thing was the audience. There was such a nice peaceful hippy vibe from everyone. They seemed just joyous that their band was up there playing, and they were admirably generous with their weed. (I passed the dozen times I was offered, outgrew that stuff decades ago, but I appreciated their willingness to share.)

So yeah, Phish. I'll do that again any time.

We did some other stuff. I had never been on the Metro, but we took it down to the Capitol. I was suitably impressed. We took in the new visitor center and did the Captiol tour, which just whisks you through the Crypt, Rotunda, and statue hall, but still cool. On Monday we headedup to Congrssional Country Club and walked some of the course where the big tournament is this weekend. It's pretty impressive, and we watched some pros practice off the tees and on the greens. That 10th hole is a tricky sumbitch!

So I had a fun quickie vakay, but I missed the heck out of Spyder and the pups, and our satanic black cat, Kato. It's good to be home.

Guys, about your junk...

2011-06-09T13:37:00.002-05:00

The Anthony Weiner deal got me to thinking that I might impart a nugget of hard-earned wisdom to all the crank-pic senders out there, so listen up:

The vast majority of women on the planet think that male genitalia should be covered up at (almost) all times. If your sig other once told you that she thought your pecker was "cute" or some other thing, she was either lying to make you feel good or she was momentarily blinded by love or something similar.

I think the reason women invented clothing (what guy would do a thing like that?) was to cover up those unruly, ugly guy-parts. The only time they are remotely interested in your junk is whan they are horny or want to get pregnant. At all other times, keep that stuff under wraps. (The same pretty much goes for your beer-gut, hairy upper body, etc.)

So if your get-laid strategy includes tweeting you massive manhood to an SWT, think again. Or at least, think of Anthony Weiner.

If you can't go to the South Pacific....

2011-06-02T09:48:00.004-05:00

...let it come to you. I'm in a South Pacific frame of mind, and really jones-ing to play Conquest of Paradise. It's a light civ-building game, takes about a half-hour to learn the rules, and really is evocative of the theme, which is the expansion of the Polynesians throughout the South Pacific. I've only played it once since I bought it, and that was two-player. It plays up to four, so if you're in the KCMO area and would like to try it out, just leave a comment or email me at wolvenwood@hotmail.com and we'll arrange a game. Here are some pics from the Geek.

The box back gives a bit of overview of the game:

Herb Kane, RIP

2011-06-01T15:36:00.003-05:00

One of the cultures that has always fascinated me is the world of the Polynesians. These folks launched the equivalent of the modern space program from their Western pacific islands, but they went one better than us (so far,) because once they launched, they did not stop until they had colonized every usable scrap of land in the South pacific and Hawaii. Only in the last few decades has this accomplishment been recognized by Western scholars as the dazzling achievement it was. And a double-hulled voyaging canoe called Hōkūle‘a proved beyond a doubt that it was the skill of Polynesian navigators and gutsy colonists that peopled the Pacific, not just fishing canoes being blown about by random storms. (Not to mention blasting to shreds the nonsense of Thor Heyerdahl and his Kon-Tiki.)

Herb kane, one of the men behind the revival of Polynesian pride and culture, passed on a couple months ago. Kane was an artist who trained on the mainland, then made a career working in various areas of commercial art. He also used his artistic skills and talent to re-introduce his people's culture to the world in print and through art. Whenever I find one of his books on line or elsewhere, I snap it up. Kane's work puts you right in the world of the ancient pacific.

I also appreciate that Kane did not gussy up the less appealing aspects of Polynesian life. He did not skirt around the violence and slavery that Polynesians practiced. The social system of tapu was harsh, and usually enforced by smashed skulls.

Herb Kane was the driving force behind the building and sailing of Hōkūle‘a. Here's how he describes getting the project off the drawing board (literally) in his book, Voyagers:

I knew now how the old canoes had been built. What if we actually built a full size replica of a canoe incorporating the functional design features most widely distributed throughout Polynesia? Putting such a canoe to an actual test would test as well the accounts of Polynesian navigation. An actual sailing would provide data that might settle this long dispute. Even more intriguing to me was the thought that recreating the central object of the ancient culture and taking it to sea might stimulate the growing interest in a cultural revival.

The idea attracted others. We incorporated as the Polynesian Voyaging Society and recruited members. I drew a preliminary plan for such a canoe, then made a painting. Feeling altogether foolish, I found myself flashing the painting around Honolulu, asking for money. Hundreds of volunteers came forward to contribute time, talent, and substance, and the canoe got built. We launched it in 1975...

If you want to see more, check out Herb's gallery.

Here's one of my favorites of Herb's, The Discovery of Hawaii:

My friend's brother

2011-06-01T10:47:00.002-05:00

Here's a story in the Carthage, MO paper about my friend's brother. I never met him, but from everything I've heard I would like to have.

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Hitting Home

2011-05-26T09:34:00.002-05:00

My friend Carole lost her only brother in the Joplin tornado on Sunday. This all during the week that her husband was hospitalized with a life-threatening stomach infection. She has had a ton of help from friends, so I guess I'm just writing this to vent a little. Carole is one of my best lifelong friends, and it just hurts to see life mess with her like this.

We live in a physical universe that is totally uncaring. It leaves that whole caring thing up to us.

RAINMAKERS!!!!!! What a show

2011-05-16T09:02:00.002-05:00

The Rainmakers put on a great show at Knuckleheads last night. They rocked so hard that you could barely hear the locomotives on t he other side of the fence. Bob Walkenhorst puts a bunch of today's slackers to shame on stage. That man is an amazing performer.

The set was all of the first Rainmakers album, including Big Fat Blonde and Government Cheese, a couple songs Bob's matured beyond, but still crowd favorites. (I actually think BFB has a kind of feminist vibe, when you consider that the singer wants a big powerful woman "to keep this skinny boy from blowin' away in the wind...")

The second part of the show was a mix from their new CD, "25 On," and other Rainmakers stuff. The encore was incredible, with a cover of "Burnin' Love," accopella version of "Turpentine," and the most rockin' song of the night "Go Down Swingin'."

The Rainmakers are back, and they are bringing the Missouri rock with them.

So this is what the GOP is up against.

2011-05-10T13:18:00.003-05:00

I heard an article on NPR about a new book about Barack Obama's mother. She was quite something. The University of Hawaii in the '60's was a cultural blender. There she met Obama Sr., married him and conceived Barack, probably not in that exact order, (but wrgaf?) After that marriage ended, she married again and moved to Indonesia. Here's where the insight about just who the GOP is up against comes in.

The author researched and interviewed folks who knew Obama's mother during the Indonesia days. One of them recounts the following incident: As she was accompanying mother and son on a walk through town, a group of local kids began taunting and teasing Barack for his dark skin and frizzy hair, then they began throwing rocks at him. The future president walked on as if the kids were not there, totally ignoring the attacks. Horrified, the friend asked his mother about this. "He's used to it," is what she is reported to have said. In fact, at that time, Indonesians seemed to have allowed all sorts of bullying, and expected their kids to learn to take it. The really interesting thing about this is that at that time Barack Obama was NINE YEARS OLD.

It kinda floored me. And then it explained a lot. Before he was nine, Obama had learned to focus his mind through some pretty vicious bullying, a lot of it racially based. This focus is what enables him to carry on with the usual Presidential duties while guiding the operation to take out bin Laden. It's what will enable him to make totally unelectable whatever pipsqueak republican wins the Tea Party primaries. Compared to Barak Obama, the GOP's got nothin'. And the smart ones know it.

New Dune Game Build

2011-05-03T11:08:00.012-05:00

Well, after a bunch of evenings of modifying and printing and painting and gluing, I have a spanking new version of the old classic Avalon Hill game "Dune." I may be biased, but I think it's the most beautiful game I own. The art is by Ilya77 from Board Game Geek. You can see his BGG gallery here, and his DeviantArt page here. The guy did a huge job on this, drawing 36 character portraits for the leader disks, designing several decks of cards, and all sorts of counters, etc. My additions are the Sandworm sculpts and players shields made from a sci-fi game terrain kit. I also simplified Ilya's board, as I found the background line work a little distracting from the main map.

The game had it's first trial last Saturday, when Nuke, Princess of the World, Matt, Aaron, Kristy and me played two games with it. (I'm still asking myself how Kristy and Princess beat us in the second game with as much wine as they had on board...) Here are some pics. They are best viewed large, so click on them to embiggen:

The Board (with the background modified:)

The Board and samples of all the pieces:

Closer on the board:

And the board in action at Saturday's Dune game day:

I am really wanting to use this set as much as possible, so if you are in the KC area and want to play one of the best board games ever invented, leave a comment and lets see what we can arrange.

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Bin Laden is dead.

2011-05-01T22:03:00.002-05:00

The first thing that came to mind when I heard the news was "Saul has killed his thousands, David has killed his tens of thousands."

I am proud to call Barack Hussein Obama my President. Well done, Sir. And huge props to the US military and intelligence forces whose bravery and skill got the job done.

Vegemite

2011-04-18T11:28:00.002-05:00

So Spyder found a sealed jar of Vegemite in the cupboard. I instantly made a snack of Vegemite on wheat crackers and it was just as good as I remembered. I know it's weird for an American to like the stuff, but it's what I grew up on in Sydney as a kid.

Oh, and the "Best Used by:" date on the jar: April 2000. No problem. That stuff just can't go bad. If you have a nuke shelter, stock it with Vegemite. I like to think that if the Klingon empire has MRE's, they gotta have something like Vegemite in there.

The not-so-Grand Old Party

2011-04-12T14:07:00.003-05:00

How's this for the utter shredding of Lincoln' s legacy:

From CNN.com:

"Republicans were also most likely to say they admired the leaders of the southern states during the Civil War, with eight in 10 Republicans expressing admiration for the leaders in the South, virtually identical to the 79 percent of Republicans who admired the northern leaders during the Civil War."

Eight in ten GOPers admire the folks who fought to keep slave markets open. Wow. I guess you could admire the military skill of Lee or Forrest, but the cause they fought for was plain evil. I have always thought that after Atlanta, Lincoln should have sent Sherman west all the way through Texas and cleaned out every rebel town. Reconstruction would have worked and we'd be a more cohesive nation now.

As it is, our political parties are just cover for the two distinct cultures we have in this nation. Maybe we should just face up to reality and split into two countries before we go to war again.

Margaret Atwood is one hell of a writer

2011-04-12T09:31:00.004-05:00

I'm reading the novel she's most famous for right now, 'The Handmaid's Tale.' I'm only a few chapters in but it is one of the greatest lessons in the craft of fiction I have ever read, and a lot of it is written in present tense, which usually drives me nuts. There are passages in this novel that I read over several times in a row, just to savor them.

As for the theme: I think all young women in the west should read this book just to be reminded their freedom as women is not guaranteed, and that religious fundamentalism of all stripes has at least one common thread: the repression of women. Re: Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Alabama, Mississippi, etc.

Other Atwood books I've read lately: Oryx and Crake, and Year of the Flood.

PS: Like my wife Spyder, M.A. is Canadian. They grow great women up there...

Republicans have no understanding of cities

2011-04-06T08:38:00.002-05:00

It's no secret that yesterday's anti-etax votes in KC and St. Louis were brought to us by rich Republicans. These guys live in gated golf-club communities in McMansions and think that the entire world should live in the some leafy white-bread suburb. Their only experience of cities are in the downtown business areas, where they drive on freeways straight to parking garages, then get in an elevator to get to their swanky office suites.

The anti-tax folks live in areas where the population density is far less than it is in Brookside or Hyde Park or Troostwood. They have no notion of what it takes to keep an urban area livable. They have removed themselves so long from cities that they have no idea how urban voters think. That's why a Missouri Republican cannot get elected dog-catcher west of 435.

These bozos are so city-clueless that they think it is entirely reasonable that urban voters would agree to get rid off e-tax revenue with nothing but the mythical hand of the free market to replace it. Until Republicans come back to the cities full time, urban areas will remain an archipelago of urban blue in a sea of rural red. My hope is that they stay locked away in their little suburban enclaves and leave decent city folks alone.

Stray thought

2011-04-01T16:20:00.002-05:00

I was at the gym today and wondering about the evolution of human speech. Now there's a suite of cognitive and physical adaptations involved, but I wondered if our far distant ancestors sang before they spoke. Music seems to be so deeply innate. Hey Dr. Ken, this is your bailywick. Any thoughts?

RAINMAKERS!!!!!!

2011-03-18T09:42:00.003-05:00

Bob Walkenhorst has gotten the band back together! (Well 3 out of four, anyway.) There's a tour in the works, and a kick-ass new cd. Jeff Porter is stepping in on lead guitar, and it's a great fit. Go here to get the poop. And also here for an article in the Star about the band's reboot.

This so totally rocks. I wonder if anyone has told Stephen King?

Read an e-book month.

2011-03-04T19:41:00.003-06:00

So this month is Read an E-book Month, and Smashwords encourages its authors to get in a discount mood for a week of it. In that spirit, my fantasy action novel Scarp Stonebreaker: Hammer of the South will be discounted 75% from March 6th to March 12. That means it'll be going for $1.25 during that week. Just sayin...

Roku love (more)

2011-02-24T17:00:00.002-06:00

One of the things I love about our Roku is that it makes getting news form foreign sources really easy. Instead of seeing news that is totally USA-centric, I now regularly watch news shows from India, Europe, Africa, and (gasp) Aljazeera. Right now, the level of detail you can get about the Libya rebellion and other uprisings is so much more on AJ than any US source except maybe PBS.

As time goes by, I am beginning to see how blinkered we in the US are to other cultures and foreign politics. There are about 7 billion people in the world who see the world in very different ways than we do.

Anyway, another plus from the Roku. Now, back to the world.

Another story on Smashwords

2011-02-21T08:49:00.002-06:00

So I was cleaning up a thumb drive a week or so ago and I came across a story (around 10,000 words) that I wrote back in 2003. I remember that back when I wrote it I was just curious to see if I could write something that would fit a Frank Frazetta painting. The result was a sword and sorcery yarn about a fellow I named Kaimak Kor. The dude is everything a teen age boy dreams of being (nope, I'm never growing up.) He's big, tough and expert with a sword and bow. I patterned him off the Scythian warriors of the late Bronze Age. And oh, yeah, one of his forefathers was one of those angels in Genesis who decided to come down and do the nasty with Earth women. So he has a past...

I made the cover myself from a copy-right free photo, and I think it gets the job done. Anyway, I put Kaimak up on SW for free. Go here if you want to check him out:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/43317

If you want to get Kaimak from Sony, Apple, etc., the story should be out there in a week or two, after it gets on Smashword's premium list.

ROKU and Aussie Rules.

2011-02-15T09:20:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago we cut the cable and hooked up the ROKU. Until recently I've been too busy to play with it much, but I found early on that I can watch games and highlight of the AFL, which for me has long meant the Australian Football League. That's the league of clubs that play professional Australian Rules football, or "footy." This alone makes the Roku worth every penny.

For my money, Aussie Rules is the most exciting, beautiful version of football ever devised. The game is played on a cricket pitch, so it is mucking huge. Each side has eighteen players on the field, and the rules are much more simple than any other version of the game. The ball looks like a rugby ball with snub ends, and the players actually bounce it on the ground at a dead run. There is no "passing," except what's called a "handpass" where the player punches the ball from his palm. Toss the ball and the ref gives it to the other team. The most spectacular part of the game is what is called the "mark." When a player catches a kicked ball that has gone a minimum distance and has not bounced, he gets to stop play, back up, and take a punt from the spot where he caught the ball. Or he can just "play on" which is more common these days.

The object of the game is to kick the ball through two main goal posts for 6 points. There are two shorter poles to either side of the main posts. A kick inside this area is a "behind" and is worth one point.

Back in the ninties I played on a local KC team for a few years, for the Kansas City Power. It was a blast, but the travel and time commitment became too much and I moved on to getting the History degree and other stuff. I can still kick the ball pretty well, and a I have a Sherrin football signed buy Paul Roos, who taught a clinic in Chicago. Roos is one of the greats of the modern game.

The other things I love about Aussie Rules are that like soccer, the game does not stop for a huddle every 30 seconds. Unlike soccer, Aussie Rules has tackling, handpasses, and lots of scoring. Like soccer, there is no fat allowed on the footy field. Every player is in iron-man condition, and everyone must be able to leap, catch, run, tackle, and kick. There are some specializations, but they are mainly for tip-offs (like in basketball.)

Anyway, if you've never seen the game, here's a AFL promotional video:

More Scarp news

2011-01-22T10:27:00.002-06:00

Well, my kooky fantasy novel, Scarp Stonebreaker: Hammer of the South, is out on all the major e-book distributors but Amazon, and it should go there once Smashwords gets its upgrade of their conversion software--Meatgrinder, they call it--done. I am writing a new Scarp story that will go up for free, so folks can get a taste and hopefully get interested in the book. This new tale is about how Scarp became King of the Junja Coast pirates, and of course he will have to deal with a sexy femme fatale along the way.

To keep the book moving in the meantime, as a Valentine's Day expression of love, I have put up a new coupon at Smashwords.com, this time for 50% off. So, for a few bucks, you can treat your honey to a tale of magic, swordplay and totally irresponsible nookie. The coupon is good from now until February 20, 2011.

Just go to https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/31801, buy the book, and use this coupon code for 50% off:

GU63D

Thanks and now back to your regularly scheduled blog about board games, miniatures, etc.

Furious Vikings

2011-01-11T10:07:00.004-06:00

I was very fortunate to have Average Jane, Dr. Ken, and the lovely and talented Nichole join me last Friday night for a game of Viking Fury. After a few slow learning turns, and a couple early mistakes (like leaving a city marker in North America, doh!) we got down to brass tacks. Dr. Ken got out to a rousing start, raiding and trading all over western Europe. AJ played cautiously at first, but did smack Nichole early with a nasty Rune card. Nichole did well trading, and then earned big points completing Sagas that sent her from the Caspian to the Arctic. I worked the Russian rivers, and got mentally stuck trying to settle Kiev, as did AJ. We both had terrible dice rolls and wasted a couple turns on that one.

Dr. Ken and Nichole got out in front and stayed there, and it looked like Ken had the game in the bag after he raided Rome. But when the final scores were tallied (which is a bit of a chore; the only knock on the game is the laborious end-game scoring procedure) Nichole had taken a commanding lead, followed by Dr. Ken by about 20 points, then myself and AJ.

We all agreed that the game was fun, and that we'd like to try it again. What I found is that it did have some strategic depth, mainly in trying to time your actions so that you got to complete the sagas (that's who you get those valuable cards for big end-game points) before your opponents did. It also has some great screw-your-buddy Rune cards, a cool theme, and a bit of dice rolling.

Thanks again to AJ, Dr. Ken, and Nichole for helping me test out the game.

For my regular gaming crew: If there is a day when we're not in the mood for a heavy game like Dune or BSG, I think Viking Fury would be a really enjoyable alternative.
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Big news, no cable

2011-01-09T20:20:00.002-06:00

The tragic news this weekend had me grabbing for the remote to check out the cable news channels, but I had just gotten rid of cable, so Spyder and I went to the internet and Roku for the news. Through this weekend I realized just how addicted I had become to cable news product. There is really no need to watch ANY story minute by minute, when all you get is talking-head speculation for hours on end. As happened this weekend, hard data comes in every few hours, rarely minute by minute. So even though my instinct was to go to CNN or MSNCB (never Fox!) and just immerse myself in the horror, I find that I prefer going back to getting the digested story on one of the networks.

My conclusion: The 24-hour cable news industry really does nothing to add to the national good, in fact, quite the opposite. Good riddance, I say.

Tucson

2011-01-09T15:55:00.003-06:00

Having been politically active for the last six or seven years, I can just imagine the scene at yesterday's event in Tuscon. I can picture the Congresswoman, her aides, the constituents who care enough about civics to want to hear and speak with her. Most of all, I know from experience just how vulnerable these events can be. There is no security to speak of. After yesterday, that is likely to change forever. At the very least, private security will be hired for each event, and the presence of armed guards will become commonplace at meet-and-greets, fundraisers, and town-halls. In certain districts, especially those that are split red-blue like AZ-08, staff members will be very touchy about strange mail, phone calls and emails.

I would not be surprised if Congress appropriates money for federal elected officials to use for additional security. Sad that we go to places like Iraq in the hopes that we can make them more like us, and we are acting--politically at least--more like them.

Note: I was going to make this post a screed about Fox Noise, Palin, Hannity, Limbaugh, Beck, etc. But you know, those boys are just a symptom. If we had a thinking electorate, those dudes would be ranting at the newspaper in impotent rage. If...

Cutting the cable

2011-01-07T09:42:00.002-06:00

Well, we did it. Spyder just called our local cable provider and after a pretty hard sales pitch to keep the entire bundle, we have cut out cable TV. We still use them for internet and land-line, but cutting cable saves us about $45 a month. So that means about $540 a year, which is about half of what it costs to feed this guy anually:

This was mainly my idea, and Spyder went along with it pretty sweetly. My main reason for the change was noticing that we now spend many evenings with the TV off, and when it is on, we are usually watching Netflix through the Wii. Most of our electronic entertainment comes over broadband and is accessed through laptops and the Ipad. The only shows I watched regularly were MSNBC and The Daily Show, and I can get both of those online if I want. I will not miss things like Discovery (especially since they gave that woman her own show,) I don't need cable sports stuff, and anyway, instead of watching TV I should be writing Scarp stories, designing board games, and doing other creative things.

That's not to say we don't have a TV alternative. We spent about $50 bucks on a TV antenna (indoor) and a converter box (our TV is pre-HD) so we get the network stuff, PBS, and a few other things like ION and Create. Spyder can still see Castle, and I can watch football when I decide to be lazy on a Sunday. To up our options, we followed the lead of some friends and got Roku, which is a pretty effective way to stream HUlu and other internet stuff to the TV.

I'm sure this change will take some getting used too, as we have had cable for decades, but I think internet options will just increase over the coming years, so why give the cable fat-cats any more bucks than we absolutely have too?

It's Viking Raidin' Time

2010-12-29T19:18:00.003-06:00

My awesome wife took a not so subtle hint and got me a new game for Christmas. This one looks like fun. VIKING FURY. Sounds exciting, eh? Each player is the captain of a Viking ship, and you get to tool around a map of Europe, raiding, trading and generally making life hell for the French. The game is put out by a tiny English outfit, so the components are on the shall we say thrifty side, but you have just got to love the huge cloth map that you play on:

And you'll be shocked, I know, but I am spending way too much time making some gussied-up stuff for it, just 'cuz it is a tad plain.

All the reviews I've read are generally favorable. Most say that it's a tad light on the "Fury" part, but there are some options available that can add screwage.

This game has an interesting side-note: A few years ago the French game company Asmodee took the game and made it just a flat-out work of art, and called the English version "Fire and Axe." There were also French and German versions. Exact same game as Viking Fury, but utterly gorgeous production. Once the run sold, that was it. I missed getting it back then, and now it sells on Ebay for an ungodly amount, like over $300. Go here to see just what a good game-design team can do.

But thankfully the Ragnar Brothers sell their original version, so the raiding will conrtinue.

If you are interested in an evening of Viking frolics, let me know through the usual channels.

And remember, for you space nerds, I'm also looking for brave souls to try out High Frontier. Dr. Ken and I gave it a whirl and it was worth the effort. There's a lot of game there...

Thanks, Tara!

2010-12-29T19:07:00.002-06:00

The lovely and talented TaraCuda has posted a review of the novel on the Smashwords page. Wow, someone actually read it. Brave woman! Especially since Scarp was written for guys like me who refuse to grow out of their teenage obsession with sex and campy adventure stories. Here's what Tara had to say, and I must completely concur with her opinion:

3.5 Stars if it would let me- the book was a little too "guy" for me. Not a failing, just a matter of taste.

Scarp is like Pepe le Pew cavorting around a sword and sandals epic. And he careens from misadventure to fortune with dizzying, bawdy frequency.

I had a great deal of sympathy for Frog, Gussa and every other woman who found herself frequently wanting to smack him but nevertheless liking him. Sometimes.

I didn't mind Scarp's unabashed cowardice. But boy could he miss the forest for the trees. Or perhaps the bush... Scarp had his moments of being really, really dense.

"Really, really dense." Spot on! If he can't "romance" it, drink it or hit someone with it, Scarp is usually at a loss. Well, they say "write what you know." So thanks, Tara. I really appreciate the time you took to read the thing, and to tell other folks what you thought.

They say it pays to advertise...

2010-12-13T16:18:00.002-06:00

Warning: Shameless self-promotional blog post ahead.

So a couple posts ago wrote about how I put my fantasy novel out on the Smashwords.com e-book site. Well, there's some good news on that front. So far, 27 people have downloaded the free 50% sample, and one person (thanks, Mom!) has actually bought it. Today the book made it through the vetting process for what they call their "Premium List," which sets the book up for distribution to the big e-book retailers. It also has its own ISBN number, which is another detail Smashwords helps with. When the book becomes available beyond Smashwords depends on the retailer, (some within a week of shipping, while others take up to two months) but it should ship out in the next week and be available on B&N, Kobo, Deisel, Sony and Apple early next year.

Another thing Smashwords has set up is a coupon system, and that's where you come in. At the end of this post there is a cryptic looking code. If you would like to help me move this thing along, here's what you can do: Go to the Smashwords page for Scarp Stonebreaker, Hammer of the South by Andrew Lyon, and buy the book. Use the coupon code, which will get you the book for free. That's right, free. Then here's what I hope you'll do for me: spend a few evenings of your precious time reading the story, and then post an honest, no critique-barred review of the book on Smashwords. So no, the book is not totally free. I'm asking you for this because in the vast sea of the e-book world, books with reviews tend to move more than books without.

Please comment here if you have any questions, or just want to let me know that you're reading (or hating or enjoying) the book.

Here's your coupon code: PC92N

Next Week: Nerd Vana

2010-12-03T22:47:00.005-06:00

So I just ordered the most nerdy game (and the expansion!) that I have ever seen. It's called "High Frontier" and it's by a guy named Phil Eklund, who is an actual rocket-scientist. In addition to rocket-science work, Mr. Eklund runs Sierra Madre Games, which is known for high-complexity "we're gonna lean you something" games. For example, "Origins" is about the last 120,000 years of homind evolution, and part of the game involves brain maps. Don't have it yet, but it's getting hard to find so I will be adding it soon. But before that, I got this:

This is a game where the players have to figure out how to get space vessels into places in the Solar System in order to build space factories before their opposing factions do. And the factions are folks like the Chinese, the UN, Big Biz, Big Labor, and one other I forget right now.

To get an idea about how intimidating this game seems, just check out this pic of the board. (Only Phil Eklund would call this the "Basic" board:)

If you want to see more, go to the BGG page, or go to the Sierra Madre games page here.

And if this looks like something you'd be willing to spend a winter's day on some weekend, let me know. We can totally get our nerd on with this one.

Back to the blog, oh, and self-publishing a novel.

2010-12-01T09:19:00.005-06:00

Well, as you can see, I took a big break from blogging. It's been a crazy summer/fall, and I gotta admit to being kind of bummed by the (totally predictable) election results. The race I worked on was worth the effort, but the environment and the district was tilted way to the right this time around. So other than the monthly local meeting, I'll be working on other stuff until '12.

One of the things I've been doing is polishing up a novel I wrote many years ago. (It all began when Spyder and I jumped into the personal computing world with the purchase of a Kaypro 2x. Yep, I wrote a 96,000 word novel on it...) It's a bit of a knock-off of the old 'Flashman' novels by George MacDonald Fraser, but set in a Howard-esque fantasy world. Lots of sex and action, which is pretty much my definition of good fantasy. So I polished it up this summer and last night put it out at Smashwords.com, which is a pretty cool service. Smashwords converts your .doc file book (or short story, or novella or non-fiction work) to all the most popular e-book formats and then hosts the book. You price it, they take a cut of any sales, and then they send on your chunk of change each quarter.

Also, if your format and book cover art is up to par, they have a deal that gets your work out to Amazon, Sony, B&N, Apple, and a few others. Your cut of any action is not as big, but your stuff gets in front of a lot more eyes. (My brother Roo did the cover for me. Thanks, Bro!)

If you want to check it out, a 50% sample of the book is available here for free.

The book is titled "Scarp Stonebreaker, Hammer of the South" and it is meant to be a just-for-fun escapist romp. But more importantly, it's been sitting around the house for a few decades now, and I just wanted to get it out in the world and see what happens. I'll let y'all know.

Well, that was humbling

2010-08-27T11:03:00.004-05:00

Last night I went to the Borders where the local Go folks meet to play. I told them that I had played a little decades ago, and they took that to mean I was stronger than I am. So I played a high-school kid and we decided I needed a three-stone handicap. Well, that was entirely too optimistic. The kid trounced me at the beginning, while doing his history homework. I bucked up and did better in the second half, though it was entirely too late. I resigned after the corners and sides filled up and we did not bother scoring. I read somewhere that the best thing a beginner can do is play 100 games as quickly as possible. Ninety-nine to go.

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iPad and Go

2010-08-25T15:20:00.002-05:00

So the two things I think about lately other than work and nookie with Spyder is my new iPad and the ancient Asian game called Go. Fortunately, the two go together beautifully. I hate to gush over a tech item, but the iPad is the most enjoyable piece of electronics I've owned since my Kaypro 2x back in the eighties. A year ago I was thinking Kindle or Nook, but nope, the iPad is worth all the extra dineros. I have been downloading tons of free stuff, and have bought about $30 worth of apps, including "The Ancient Game of Go," a pretty decent Go program. I also have a iPad version of the hit board game SmallWorld, which I liked okay in physical form, just not $50 worth of like. The app version is pretty frickin' cool, even if at present it only plays two, or one person and the AI player. And the AI is pretty strong.

As for non-virtual Go, I have a set of stones from way back when I first got into the game, but the home-made board I put together was not the best, and it was 2" oak and just a big honking thing which dried out an split a few years ago. So I used some side job money to get this,

which at around $55 (that includes shipping) is an awesome deal. If you want good Go stuff, I can recommend Yellow Mountain Imports. Fast, well packaged, and the board is just gorgeous. I got the two-piece one so that I can store it on a shelf, but maybe someday I can get something like this:

Only $1000 bucks.

Anyway, if you are interested in playing Go, let me know. It's a beautiful game.

Really? A whole freaking month?

2010-08-11T08:35:00.004-05:00

Holy crap. I thought when I'd finished the degree I would have more time. But here's a partial list of the stuff that's happened since the last post:

The biggie is that Spyder and I celebrated 25 years married on July 27. I'm good for 25 more, babe. You?

The next biggie is the new kitchen floor. That involved a weekend at Dr. Ken's house helping with a bunch of landscape work as part of our hard-labor trade pact. The next Friday, he came out to my place to provide the know-how and skilled labor to put down the slate tile in our kitchen. I spent every evening before that prepping the old floor (two layers of linoleum squares) and laying down the hardy backer. We also stripped the old wallpaper and prepped the walls for paint. The tile job went well, and by Saturday afternoon we putting in the grout. We used this really expensive eurathane stuff that is supposed to never crack or discolor. (At nearly $100 for nine pounds, it better not!) On Monday night I started sealing the tile, until we had four coats of shiny goodness that really brought out the variations in the natural slate.

After that, I sanded down the skim coating I had done on the walls, and then primed and painted. That took a little extra time because the lovely Spyder decided that the warm goldy-yellow we chose (and I had cut in once and rolled on once)was to be replaced by a warm coppery-orange. After that was done, the next weekend was spent re-doing the baseboard and door trim to replace the cheap crap that we'd lived with for ten years. Then a final coat of gloss white and the job was almost done. Still to do: finish the poly on the oak door transitions and then grout the gaps between the tile and the wood.

During all this, we found that the outlet under the sink was really dangerous. It was ungrounded, and both the disposal plug and the dishwasher plug had had their ground prongs clipped off. (I found this out when I went to remove the dishwasher so we could tile under it. Ten years in the place and I never knew...) To make things even more scary, the prongs of the dishwasher plug had melted plastic around them. Not good. We replaced the outlet and grounded it using the "ground-wire clamped to the copper cold water supply pipe" method. I also replaced the plug ends of the appliances, and re-hooked the ground wiring inside the dishwasher, because some bozo had taken that loose too.

So after that project, I got back on the campaign trail for Theresa Garza Ruiz and Crystal Williams, which ended happily on August 3rd with victory for both candidates. All I did was put literature on doors and man a polling place on e-day, but that's something.

This last Sunday I spent at Princess of World's house, tearing out and rebuilding the window in her garage, which had a badly rotted sill and sadly has to be replaced. We also rehabbed the old style attic vent on the same side of the house.

Other stuff: I got my Ipad, which I dearly love. Spyder calls it my girlfriend, and teases me because I always take it to bed with me. I also got a bluetooth keyboard for it, which is really fun.

A week or so ago, PoW, Nuke and I played the Dune board game. Dune really needs 4-6 players, but we had a good time, and Nuke did a great job as a new player. He has the Harkonnen thing down, I think...

Anyway, that's the catch up. I'll try to post pics of the floor soon.

2010-07-08T14:30:00.002-05:00

Yep, the above is a pic of a 70's era game about the "thrill" and "hazards" of off-shore oil drilling. Note the BP logo in the upper right. One of the hazard cards is sadly applicable, if you up the cost to the player by a factor of 100: "Blow-out! Rig damaged. Oil slick clean-up costs. Pay $1million." And I love the (low viz) tag line at the bottom of the pic: "An exciting board game for all the family." Awwww, how cute life was back in the 70's.

It's official: REPUBLICANS HATE BLACK PEOPLE

2010-06-28T21:07:00.003-05:00

I listened to the Republican senators make their statements at the Kagan hearings today. Do they really think that the African American community is deaf to their total and repeated dissing of Justice Thurgood Marshall? Do they just not care that they are permanently alienating about 20% of the American electorate? It was just amazing to hear a bunch of white guys with southern accents repeatedly call Justice Marshall, for whom Kagan clerked, an "activist" jurist and "results oriented." That's code for someone who decides against crackers and corporations, which is what the base of the GOBP has eroded to. Just amazing...

Wii is Us

2010-06-15T13:06:00.003-05:00

So we finally got a game machine, yesterday. I am not a video-game person, but I have always thought I might like the Wii because you can play games that require you to get on your feet and move. Also, you can swordfight on the Wii. The reviewers are saying good things about the sword fighting in Red Steel 2, so I think I might have to round that one up. I bought this, but it might be going back because the reviews were less than stellar.

So I got it all set up last night. Another thing we like about it is that it's a small machine, and everything is wireless. We got the black one so that you barely notice it in the cabinet. So tonight I want to get it hooked to our DSL so that I can stream Netflix shows to it. What a world we live in.

PS: We had time for one game of bowling last night. Spyder kicked my butt.

"Zombie State" post game report

2010-06-01T09:45:00.008-05:00

I was really lucky to have three folks join me to try out my new Zombie game last Friday night. My old SCA buddy Jimbob joined Taracuda's hubby Mark and Average Jane to try it out. As with any new game there was a learning curve. As I said in my last post, each player takes a section of the world and tries to keep it Zombie free. AJ had Central and South America, Mark had North America, Jamie had Africa, and I had Europe/Middle East.

It was amazing how fast the Zombies piled up after the initial outbreak. It was everything we could do to keep our heads above water as region after region was swamped by more and more Zombies. We each used our resources to gain technologies or abilities to help stem the tide, and called up the military as much as we could, but man, that hardware is expensive. Mark did well on the tech, getting his nukes on line and wiping out huge numbers of Z's, but they took him down to a tiny remnant as he did so. Africa was almost totally swamped, but Jimbob figured out the "Quarantine" tactic and kept some people and resources in play. AJ had HORRIBLE die roll luck when testing new tech, so she had almost no defenses as the Zombie tide swept over her region. Having to rely on un-enhanced military units proved far too costly and underpowered. In my section of the world, I relied on a mix of tech and military, and was very lucky that my resource areas were not hit by Z's until late in the game.

One of the game-end conditions was met when South America had no population remaining. I was lucky enough to see that coming (well, we all saw it coming) and use one of my techs to up my population in a couple areas. The player with the most people left wins, and in this case it was me, with 18 points, followed by Jimbob with 8 (9?), then Mark with 3 or 4. Poor AJ (and South America) triggered the endgame, so all of those Rio babes were now rotting zombies and AJ had no population points left. (Did I mention she had HORRIBLE die roll luck all evening?)

I really enjoyed the game, and it does have a great "holy crap, there's gazillions of 'em" feel to it. We did not have much player interaction, though I was able to arrange things so that the Z's in my southern area headed into Africa, not Europe. We were all so busy trying to stay alive that we did not have much umph left over to mess with other players. Maybe the next few games will be a little more co-op or cutthroat, or both.

Anyway, much fun. I am thinking about taking it to Tabletop this Thursday evening. DM Spyder if you'd like to join me there and give it a whirl.

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WWZ in a Board Game

2010-05-25T09:45:00.006-05:00

I love the modern board game industry. This little Mom and Pop outfit (and I mean that literally) has just put out their first product: "Zombie State: Diplomacy of the Undead." While I think the game title a little unwieldy, the game itself is one I could not pass up, especially since my friends Banky and Thundabolt gave me a gift certificate to the Funagain game store as a graduation present.

The game is for 2 - 5 players, and each player is responsible for a section of the world, which is being overrun by zombies. As the zombies feed, they convert people into more zombies, while you feverishly work to develop technologies to keep them from taking out your entire population. The "Diplomacy" part of the title is a little deceptive, as it seems the most diplomatic thing you can do is figure out ways to drive zombie hordes out of your territory and into your neighbors' regions. Anyway, the game does seem to have caught the spirit of Brooks' book "World War Z," even though there is no mention of the book in the game at all, for obvious legal reasons.

The game arrived yesterday, so I have had a chance to look it over. The components are of good quality, actually excellent, although the cards are a tad thin. Also, the art is a bit on the amateurish side, but it is OK and gets the job done. The map board is colorful, and each player has a large board that lays out all the technology options and other useful game info. The rule book seems well laid out and easy to follow. All-in-all, a good buy, especially for a first product.

Anyway, this one looks like 2-4 hours of zombie-killin' fun. Let me know if you want to sign up. And thanks Banky and Thunda!

Well, that's done

2010-05-18T20:59:00.003-05:00

Last weekend was the culmination of a decade or so of work. I was so fortunate to complete the course and be awarded a bachelor's degree. My mother was here for the ceremony, as was my father and sister-in-law. The whole thing is like a dream now, but what I know was not a dream was all the well-wishes of my co-workers and friends. I'm going to brag a little because, well I feel I earned it. Dean's List, Magna cum laude. Doesn't suck. But hell, I still had to sit through a webinar and check over some code and actually work for a living today, so nothing much has changed, except for me, I guess.

We had a really cool party that evening, too. Lots of blogger/tweeters, work friends, some of my professors, and even a few local political candidates came for a non-political evening. From the blog world, we had Dan from Gone Mild, who brought along a couple of his awesome brews. Some other notables who came out: CodeRigger, Hoocheemama, Taracuda and her hubby, WellHellMichelle and her hubby, and Princessofworld who gave me a wonderful gift. (Taracuda and her guy gave me a pair of awesome nerf broadswords. I challenge thee, XO!)

Speaking of gifts, because I have such wonderful friends and family, I made out like a bandit. Cash gifts alone came to enough to get me half way to my goal for an Ipad.

Anyway, I am now a college graduate, and I can now spend some time on fun stuff like minis and models. Yay, me!

Frank Frazetta 1928-2010

2010-05-10T13:11:00.005-05:00

A while ago I noted the passing of Ellie Frazetta, wife and manager of the extraordinary fantasy artist Frank Frazetta. Well, today Frank died.

Thanks, Frank, for this:

And this:

And of course, this iconic Conan:

Here's hoping you and Ellie are tearing it up in the afterlife.

The light at the end of the tunnel...

2010-05-05T13:34:00.003-05:00

...is not an oncoming train. This semester is almost over. I have one last paper to finish tonight, which also counts as my final exam, so I am officially done with my undergrad work after I hand it in this Friday afternoon. Woooohhooooo! I started this whole thing in the early eighties, then life got in the way. I had a ton of help achieving this goal: Spyder supported me, nagged me to study, and put up with me spending long evenings in class or the study. Love you babe.

My supervisor at work was really understanding, letting me schedule afternoon classes with no hassle, or skip meetings because of class. And of course, the liberal tuition remission policy of my employer (the university I am getting the degree from) means I come through this deal with no loan debt. Total bonus!

After almost a decade of classwork, I have collected a stack of miniatures and models that I might have some time to get to now. And this summer I am going to learn how to use my airbrush. It's going to feel strange for a while, not having a paper or test or chapter reading due in a few days. I think I could get used to it though.

Back to normal

2010-04-14T10:00:00.004-05:00

So, after that last anti-GOP rant, I'm going back to my normal repertoire of blog stuff: home projects, model kits, board games, and pets. I'm sure that the teabaggers will give me another travesty to vent about this summer, but until then:

I JUST GOT THIS KIT:

Yep, it's the Viper from BSG, in stunning 1/32 scale! And there's a photo-etch detail set that's just a side-job away from joining it. I think I'm gonna do this one up as Starbuck's bird.

That is, after graduation, which is just a few weeks and one term paper away. Those of you who know my secret ID are invited to my place on May 15, 7:00 pm, for a Graduation blowout party.

Another reason why I hate Republicans.

2010-03-20T17:25:00.003-05:00

They spat on my rep today in DC. Even if you don't like his politics, that's no reason for this kind of crap. Cleaver is one of the most civil people you would ever meet. For good measure, they also used the n-word at Rep Clyburn, who walked with MLK back in the day, and called Rep. Frank faggot, and not in a fun way. The GOP is beholden to these jerks and thinks they are the way back to a majority. I try to be more reserved than this, but today I say: fuck the GOP and all its supporters. I have no use for them.

Da boys

2010-03-17T10:02:00.004-05:00

Xander and Trooper. What mugs.

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Dune, revisited.

2010-03-10T19:34:00.003-06:00

This Sunday, a group of us got together and gave the old Avalon Hill game "Dune" a try. The players were Dr. Ken, the VP from my department at work, and a former colleague from the office. The game lets players take on the persona of one of the main characters of Dune, the great SF novel by Frank Herbert. As we had four players, we chose to use the Harkonnen, the Atreides, the Fremen, and the Emperor. The Spacing Guild and the spooky Bene Gesserit nuns stayed in the box.

I got to be the evil (and perverted) Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. This game is similar to BSG as each player has special abilities, which gives the whole thing a great asymmetry. As Vlad, I excelled in all things treacherous. As the turns went on and we got comfortable with the mechanics, the alliances started to form. The Fremen and the Emperor (Dr. Ken) decided to throw in together, which left Houses Atreides and Harkonnen no choice but to ally, (going totally against the novel.) The turns were tense, and the game was almost dead even for several turns, with bloody battles sending many troops to the Bene Tlielaxu resurrection tanks.

It looked like the Emperor/Fremen alliance was going to hold out for the win, but the sleazy Baron and the goody-two-shoes Atreides had some great luck with the storm. This gave us a one-shot opportunity to take the final stronghold, and we went for it. Between the Atreides ability to see the future and my use of poison to assassinate Fremen and Imperial leaders, control of Dune was assured.

We had a great time, and found a game that has incredible potential for strategic depth, diplomacy and treachery. And today, my VP told me that he has spent the last couple evenings reading up on the game on the web and analyzing his play. Looks like I really need to get another session together soon.

For a game that was published in 1979, Dune holds up brilliantly. If you want a set, you will probably have to build your own, as the game is long out of print. Copies sell on Ebay for between 100 and 200 bucks. Fortunately, you can build your own set from files on BoardgameGeek.com. I got my copy as a gift from a friend, who knew I was a huge Dune fan. It needed a few fixes and replacements, and I laminated the flimsy original cards.

So right now I have a new favorite game. Wanna play?
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Minor day of celebration at my house

2010-03-01T14:08:00.002-06:00

Well, Spyder's been wearing her red Canada mittens (yep, those mittens) and her red Canada beret and her red Canada scarf for two solid weeks. I guess it helped, because the Canucks had a great games. And I got hooked on curling, partly because I got all infatuated with the steely look of this lady:

That's Cheryl Bernard, who also graced the cover of the "Women of Curling 2009" calendar:

And you thought curling was boring.

Minor day of mourning at our house

2010-02-22T10:36:00.004-06:00

Because the US beat Canada in hockey yesterday. Spyder was rooting for CA because, well, she's Canadian. I was rooting for Canada because, well, Spyder's Canadian. That's just how we roll.

Miss my girl.

2010-02-18T17:33:00.002-06:00

It's been a year today that Spyder and I spent our last day with Willow, our lovely Dane. She was such a beautiful, fun, loving, silly girl. She loved her stuffed toys and to sit an neck with me on the living room floor. She brought us so much joy. Willow will not be forgotten by us for as long as we both live. She was a special girl. We miss you something awful, sweet girl.

This guy is my hero!

2010-02-16T09:52:00.003-06:00

Instead of just railing against the craziness of the religious right, Bart Centre figured out a way to make the crazies pay him some of their hard-earned money! As you know, a bunch of fundies believe that any day now they will be raptured away to heaven. But their theology demands that their pets, who cannot have souls, will be left with us heathens to their certain doom. Well, ol' Bart figures that if they believe that, they may just buy into his BRILLIANT program. What he's done is put folks like me, who don't believe in the rapture and therefore would presumably miss the bus on that event, with fundies who have pets. For a small fee, Bart guarantees that an unbeliever will gather up and care for the fundie-pet during the tribulation. Over a hundred of these simple folks have bought into the program. How utterly brilliant. The web site for the program is here.

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Back on the program

2010-02-15T08:40:00.003-06:00

A few years ago, my Canadian sister-in-law turned me on to the "Three Hour Diet," which is the weight loss program promoted by a guy named Jorge Cruise. I gave it a whirl, and in the next three months went from 220 lbs to 190 lbs. Over the next few years I kept to the basic guidelines of the program, and kept my weight around the 190 mark. I'm 6'1" and of medium build, so this seemed about right for me. I got back on an exercise program around the same time, so I'm sure that had something to do with keeping in my target range. I still had some belly fat, and knew there was room to improve, but with my blood chemistry back in range and my bp under control, I kinda coasted.

Well, this winter has been a bit of a wake-up call. Last I stepped on a scale, it was 195.5. The reasons: I have class three lunch-times per week this semester, so my workout schedule is more constrained. But the main thing is that I have let my portion sizes creep up. When I got on the program, I didn't go nuts counting calories, but I did limit my self to one plate at dinner, no seconds, and if there was desert, only half of what I would eat in the old days. Also, I would never eat after dinner, which I think played a huge part in my initial success.

So, today I make a few modifications. I am not in a panic, I just need to tweak. First, a new weight goal: 185 lbs by the middle of April. Next, the way to get there:

1. Back to the 1-plate dinner rule.
2. Back to the nothing-after-dinner rule.
3. When I'm bored, have a no-cal drink instead of eating.
4. Up the workout sessions by one per week.

I'll use this blog as an accountability tool and let you know (if you care) how I do.

It's Time for Mr. Deity again!

2010-02-12T14:55:00.002-06:00

You really should take the time for this!

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In praise of geeks

2010-02-08T09:14:00.002-06:00

I am a geek. I love nothing more than to sit down in the company of other geeks and talk about science fiction, fantasy novels, movies, books, hisotry, rpg's, and board games. I work in the IT field, but strangely enough, I am not a computer gamer, MMOG'er, or first person shooter. I knwo that those things have a social side, but I think the filter of the computer makes that sort of geekdom less my bag, man.

And another thing, geeks come in all shapes, colors, sexes and political preferences. You can sit down with a stark raving birther, but when the subject is geeky, like a game of Twilight Imperium or D&D, that stuff usually fades away and the important thing is the new world you are creating together. (Although I will say that most of the geeks I know are more often politically moderate-to-liberal than conservative. That could be me self-selecting for social comfort, though.)

One thing you will find few of in the geek world is many religious conservatives. Those subcultures seem to dissuade folks from developing active imaginations, for whatever reason. Their loss.

Dune, Arrakis, Desert Planet

2010-02-06T09:09:00.004-06:00

Back in 1979, Avalon Hill put out a board game based on the Dune universe. The game is a masterpiece of subterfuge and treachery, and is highly sought after on that big auction site. A decade or two later, a French company put out a version with all new art and several expansions included. Well, a few years ago, a friend of mine, who knew I was a massive Doonie, gave me the copy that had been languishing in his closet for years. Score!

Now, the game had some damaged pieces (someone spilled some sort of chocolate shake, I'm guessing) and a few missing spice counters, but in general, everything else was there and in good shape. I have just spent the last week or two of evenings putting together a hybrid set, replacing, fixing or just creating stuff to make the game whole again. The web is full of stuff that fans have created, even files for entire homemade version of the game. (It has long been OOP.)

So, here's the thing: this game is best played with six players. Five is doable, but with six, you could have the Bene Gesserit player scheming out a win by bending the game to meet her pre-game prediction, or the Spacing guild using its monopoly on space travel to frustrate the other factions' goals, or the Fremen using their desert ways to call worms down on the evil Harkonnen.

I think that if you like the skullduggery of the BSG game, you will probably like Dune. It is the grand daddy of dagger-in-the-back games. As far as the time commitment goes, I think that the first few games should allow for an entire evening, but experienced players can generally have a game done in a couple hours.
Here are a few pcs of the game from Boardgame Geek:

The Board:

An example of the leader counters:

If you want to see more of the components or read the rules, this is a great site for all that.

And if you are interested in getting in on a game, just leave me some safe way to get a hold of you in the comments. (I almost never remember to check the email for the blog, sorry.)

Comment spam

2010-02-05T10:08:00.003-06:00

Well, I had to add the deal that forces folks to type the code word to comment. Too much spam on my tiny little blog. The things these a-hole spammers spend their time on...

Mr. Deity and Genocide

2010-02-04T13:54:00.003-06:00

This episode of Mr. Deity is a slashing attack on the vengeful OT deity. Spot on, dark humor. My favorite line: "I know, I'm ridiculously competitive." Check it out here.

Blinky Bill

2010-01-21T09:07:00.004-06:00

I spent some of my most formative years living in Sydney, Australia. Went to public school, wore the uniforms with the little gray shorts, and practically lived on Coogee Beach. When I got sun-burned, a kindly neighbor lady would cut a tomato in half and rub it on the burn. Doesn't sound smart, but it felt great. I guess it was some kind of Aussie home remedy.

My Mom is by nature a diligent person, and her boys were going to read early if she had anything to say about it. We had labels on the furniture from the time we could see straight, and even though money was never in any comfortable supply, we had access to books and were encouraged to read. I did not need any pushing on that front. One of my earliest reading memories is of a series of books about a Koala named "Blinky Bill." So I was happy to stumble across the ebook page for some of the Blinky stories. Bill was a Koala who had all sorts of bush animal friends. Even for stories written in the 1930's, the books have a conservation theme, and you can tell that the author, Dorothy Wall, had a strong stance against cruelty to animals. If you have kids just getting into reading, maybe the Blinky Bill tales would be something they might enjoy. Here's the Amazon page for BB stuff.

To crush your enemy...

2010-01-20T15:58:00.003-06:00

This weekend I was able to play a 3-player game of "Age of Conan" and was not disappointed. It went a little slow at first, as it was a learning game, and we only got through 2/3's of the game due to one player's time limit, but we got the hang of it. I really liked the game, and feel that a couple more plays will only help me enjoy it more. Like BSG, there is a learning curve, as there are several things going on. But the "feel" is spot on. The game does a good job capturing the spirit of Robert Howard's Conan tales, and the big barbarian can really play havoc on your territories. So a thumbs up of AoC, and let me know if you'd like to join me for a game if you live in the KC metro.

Avatar: A really happy surprise.

2009-12-31T18:29:00.002-06:00

Loved it, even with the 3D glasses. So the story was a tad predictable, it was still competently told. This is the best movie imagining of an alien world ever done. The plants and animals, while truly weird, are wonderfully fitted into an entire ecosystem. I was astounded by the richness and variety of the jungle in this movie. There will be details to discover after ten viewings. And the blue folks were just beautiful to watch. It is a BIG effects movie, but it does not assault you like a Transformers flick. I saw it on IMAX, and it was worth the extra four bucks. Anyway, for once a big movie lives up to the hype.

By Crom!

2009-12-23T10:14:00.005-06:00

I will be pushing a new game this year. It was my honor to introduce some local folks to the BattleStar Galactica board game, and I was surprised and pleased to see it become so well liked among my blog/tweet friends. This next one might not have the same broad appeal, but I am hoping to hook a few folks on it.

It's called "Age of Conan" and it's for 2-4 players. Each player controls one four kingdoms from R.E. Howard's great pulp-fiction Conan stories. Conan is the wild card in the game, adventuring and buccaneering across the land. Players can profit (or the opposite) from his adventures, gaining points for the gold, sorcery and women Conan encounters. (Yep, in keeping with Conan's similarity to Tiger Woods, in this game women are just another way of keeping score...)

The game comes to me via UPS today, and I will be pestering folks for a get-together ASAP. Here are some pics from the BoardGameGeek site:

The game box art:

The game board:

The Conan figure:

Some of the other pieces:

UPDATE: It's here, by Crom, and it's gorgeous. Let me know if you're in the KC area and want to play.

Yay, for real.

2009-12-21T07:56:00.002-06:00

So grades are on-line (we no longer send paper grade reports out at my soon-to-be alma mater) and I kept up the GPA by scoring A's in both classes. So barring any major life hurdle, I will take one more upper level history class this Spring semester and wear the funny flat hat in May. It's my school's 100th anniversary commencement, so the pageantry will be ON.

I started taking college credit classes in around 1983, I think. When I started, I was living on my own (OK, with a woman about 12 years older than me) and I had no idea how to budget my loan money. I burned through a year's worth in one semester. Like a dummy, I went onto other stuff, but got a great real-life education working on survey crews, home construction and commercial remodeling. My hope is that the combo of learning how the world REALLY works and the head-learnin' lead to even more interesting things in the future.

The current notion is to start work on a Masters in Education, because what do you do with a History degree? Why, teach, of course. Then I can be one of them evil librul elites ruining the nation's youth. I think I could handle that.

And here's Adam

2009-12-11T15:59:00.003-06:00

We've seen Eve, and a few weeks ago we met Adam on the Mr. Deity show. Enjoy.

Mr. Deity and The Creation of Eve

2009-12-10T13:59:00.004-06:00

It seems that even the Deity has trouble keeping up with the female of the species...

YAY!!! (almost)

2009-12-10T13:55:00.004-06:00

This semester is in the bag, and I think I'll get A's in both classes, unless I bombed term papers and/or finals. So this means one more class in Spring--History of Modern China and Japan--and tadaaaaa!!! a little baby bachelor's degree. I started taking college classes in 1983 or so, so yeah, it's been a slog. But now I have about a month off to paint minis and build models, play board games, and of course do love-work around the homestead for Spyder.

Thought XO would like this

2009-11-19T08:53:00.003-06:00

The pic above is of a 1/48 scale model created by a guy named B.P. Taylor. It's a what-if scene of a cargo shuttle at a lunar science base, off-loading stuff. This is not a kit. Nope, this is 99% scratch-built with a few kit parts (called "greeblies" in the hobby) added on where they make sense and help add to the model. The technique was heavily used in the original Star Wars movies. Anyway, you can read the whole story of this phenomenal build here. And oh, yeah, Taylor wired it for lights too. Check it out:

Fun but disturbing fact about the State of Mississippi

2009-11-16T21:02:00.004-06:00

Did you know that the State of Mississippi did not ratify the 13th Amendment until...1995!!!! WTF? Mississippi waited 130 years to agree with the rest of the country that slavery should be outlawed? To me, that makes the phrase "President Obama" even sweeter. I bet the average blood pressure in Jackson is about 30 points higher these days, and will stay that way until 2016...

Layout change

2009-11-16T10:14:00.002-06:00

I went to the simple layout today to make it easier to post pictures. I had to keep chhanging the pic size in the old one.

Got me some chariots

2009-11-16T09:35:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago, I found this old Tamiya kit for $10 at a local model show. It's the Israeli Defense Forces Merkava.The tank's name was intentionally taken from the Hebrew word Merkabah, which is used in Ezekiel (1:4-26) to refer to the throne-chariot of God. The tank was designed in Israel by a team led by a brilliant tank officer. The Israelis realized that their most precious commodity was not the tank, but the crew that fought in it, so they designed it so that all the heavy gear, like the engine and even the fuel tanks, surrounded the crew compartment. The newest Merkava is the Mark IV, which looks a lot different from the Mark 1. Here's a pic of the model kit and then the real thing:

My next Chariot brings back memories for me. It's the vehicle used by the Robinson family in Lost in Space. This is a pretty good kit by Moebius, in 1/24 scale. I'm not crazy about the tracks that came with it, as there is a lot of detail missing. I had to get this thing though. When I was a kid on a long car trip, I always pretended that we were the Robinson family and the old Humber Hawk (google it) was the Chariot, and the Sydney suburbs were some strange distant planet. So this was purley a nostalgia buy for me. It's not going to be an easy build though, what with all that clear plastic to be careful with. Here's the kit box art:

Wrong side of history

2009-11-13T15:23:00.003-06:00

I broke my rule about politics on this blog last time, so what the hell, here goes another one. Here's my thesis: Both major parties are on the wrong side of MLK's arc of history (which he famously noted "bends towards justice") on a major social issue. For we Democrats, it's abortion. For the Republicans, it's gay relationships. First, the Democrats and abortion:

For the last few years, polls have shown that Americans, and in great part young Americans, are more and more uncomfortable with totally unfettered abortion rights. The reasons that are usually cited are sonogram technology and the political arguments of the pro-life movement. I think the new tech has more to do with the change than do the bible-thumpers, but the significant reason is really a major liberal cultural triumph: the slaying of sexual stigma. In the last forty years, the nation has matured in its acceptance of human sexuality and its variety of expression. So long as the activity is consensual and between adult humans, we are growing up about the whole thing.

Because of this social maturity, the shame formerly endured by unmarried pregnant women is evaporating. There is little need anymore for homes for suburban parents to shuffle off their knocked-up daughters to. In the case of Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol, it wasn't the pregnancy that caused the scandal, but her mother's hypocritical political posing about abstinence. We may gossip about the pregnant teen next door, but she no longer is tattooed with a scarlet letter that ruins her social and economic life. The main prod for a women seeking abortion--social disgrace--is a much less powerful force in the 21st century, and young folks know it.

There is an aging segment of Democratic activist women who live and die by Roe, because they came of reproductive age in the coat-hanger days, and they saw horrors that roused them for the rest of their lives on this issue. They sincerely believe that they are making sure we never go back to that time. These are heroic women who have given many years of their lives to a fight they believe in with all their hearts. I know and deeply respect many of them. They see today's ambivalent young women and go white with fear that we will go back to the bad old days. These older women are a strong part of the Democratic coalition, and it will be a while before their influence fades.

So what do I recommend for my party on this issue? Inclusiveness. In the long term, the dumbest thing we could do is to reflexively shut out voices in our party who are part of the growing national consensus of unease on abortion. We should always be seen as a party that is on the side of women and their choices, but we should shift over time to encourage the choice of childbirth and adoption over abortion. The culture is heading that way, and so should we.

On gay relationships, the Republicans are also on the wrong side of growing national consensus. While they are reveling in recent (slim) electoral victories, the numbers show that the nation is reaching accommodation on this issue. As the elder base of the GOP leaves this mortal coil, the Republicans will find this issue to be another one that makes them vulnerable to further erosion of youthful voters.

The largest driver of the anti-gay right movement in the GOP is its Southern, rural, white, religious Christian core. Sadly for those folks, the fastest growing religious group in the country is "no religious affiliation" and the slowest growing ethnic group in the country is white people. Rural populations are dying on the vine. As the nation becomes less tied to Christian religious dogma, its view of gay relationships will continue to liberalize. Huge numbers of younger voters have gay friends and relatives, or even cultural icons, and they see no reason why people they love should be legally held apart.

My advice for the GOP is to totally ignore the opinion of the culture and younger voters on this issue. Trust completely in folks like Dobson and Limbaugh and Palin. Keep using gay folks as bogie-men and fund-raising tools. Play to your shrinking rural white fundamentalist base like your life depends on it. Please. As a Democrat, I believe it's the best thing you could do for your country.

I usually avoid politics on this blog...

2009-11-09T19:40:00.005-06:00

...but I just re-read this brilliant screed that came out after Bush won his second term. It is just as spot on now as it was five years ago.

I am seriously getting to the point that if South Carolina and Mississippi and Texas and the rest of Dixie voted to secede I would happily say "see ya." From the founding of this nation we have been forced to kowtow to these regressive bozos and I am really sick of it. The only way the forefathers of these southern troglodytes would join the revolution was if Congress allowed them to keep the slaves they were banging back in the slave cabins while their lily-white wives tried to pretend their mulatto serving girls didn't look a thing like their husbands.

The South switched from Democratic to Republic because the GOP capitalized on Southern racism and resistance to civil rights. Racism is still endemic in the South, which is having a regional conniption with the election of a mixed-race president.

The most intolerant religious atmosphere in our nation is centered in the South. Think about it, the vast majority of far-right religious whackos have southern accents. I know one thing for certain: if someone ever targets me for evangelism, they had better not have a drawl, because that's a deal-breaker from word one. (Fortunately that's really not much of a worry, because for all the talking those folks do about evangelizing, very few of them actually have the scrotum to actually do it face-to-face. So that's a blessing, anyway.)

See why I try to keep politics off this blog? I do go on.

I usually avoid politics on this blog...

2009-11-09T19:40:00.001-06:00

This got to me

2009-11-03T13:08:00.002-06:00

This episode of Mr. Deity really asks some pretty heavy questions about 9/11 and God, really about God and suffering. If you're a believer (not that there's anything wrong with that,) you might have some 'splainin' to do after watching this.

Falke Cart

2009-11-02T19:14:00.004-06:00

I have not had much time for modeling lately, but for a half-hour or so while I turn on The Colbert Report and dink around with plastic and glue. A while ago I posted my new Falke kit, an SF fighter craft put out by Hasegawa. I have decided to do a dual basing for it. That way I can have the same model either flying (cockpit buttoned up) or down in the maintenance shop, with the cockpit open and maybe an access panel or two. So for the maintenance dio, I am building a cart that the techies use to haul their bird around the shop with. (It has no landing gear. Who needs it when you have an anti-grav system? Like I said, it's a sci-fi kit.) Anyway, I envision the cart to have been welded together in the shop from found metals and parts. I think I'll paint it hi-vis yellow with some wide black striping bands. Here are some in-progress pics:

This one shows the "truck" that hooks to the front end. I imagine there's some sort of little tractor that hauls the contraption around:

This is the cart with the bottom half of the Falke and the "truck" in place: