I have always had a passion for games. I have intense vivid memories of board and yard games from my youth that still bring a smile to my lips. Today, with more than half a century of life behind me, games are still an important and vital pastime.
As I sit here composing this missive, I can look up from my desk straight to my board and card game shelving, and to the right of that my bookcase with numerous Role Play Gaming books. Continue reading
Thanks to a friend of mine I am now watching the HBO series “Game Of Thrones.” I must
your host warming the iron throne
say that when HBO pulls out all the stops it can kick ass on lavish production that rival any big screen theatrical film. (Due tot he same friend I became a fan of HBO’s “Rome” which was another kick-ass series, but not fantasy.
I have not read any of the books, nor am I really planning to. It’s not that I have a disdain for the books, if I did I wouldn’t be watching the series. (It took me three years to give the show Buffy The Vampire Slayer its day in court because I had such disdain for the film.) Rather my reading time is very limited and I have to chose quite carefully what ti read, because otherwise I’ll read too much and write too little.
Tomorrow marks the last day of year 2001 and it has been an interesting period.
I’m not going to discuss the grand world-shaking events, either you know them or you’re not interested, but rather I’m going to look back on this year for myself and what I had hoped to achieve. Continue reading
The last week has been both good and bad. It was a good christmas with my sweetie-wife surprising me with a couple of gifts I did not expect her to pick-up for me. (HALO: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition & Ben-Hur 50th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray) I had good time with my sweetie-wife, friends and even squeezed in a decent movie on Christmas morning. (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. A good film but not a movie for you if you expect all your spy films to have lots of action, chases, and scantily clad babes.)
It’s been a bad week arthritis-wise. It started badly A week ago Monday and got progressively worse through the week. By the weekend my fingers hurt constantly and I could’t play the new video game I had received for Christmas. By Sunday night thanks to the weekly dosing of my meds, I was feeling better. However my fingers, stressed after a long hard day at work will not let me spend 90 minuets writing tonight. Which is a shame because I have finally figured out the plotting to my next short story, a story that is a commitment to my writer’s group project.
So over there on the right side of the page you’ll see I added a link to the website, Darths and Droids. It is a web comic satirizing Star Wars as a loosely run RPG.
This web comic is not for everyone, but man I have found it hilarious. I was pointed towards it by my long time gaming buddy Tom. (not my brother Tom, or my nephew Tommy, or my brother-in-law Thom, or even my other gaming buddy Tom.)
If you have done a lot of RPGs, and I mean table top not on a computer screen, and have endured the Star Wars prequels, then this web comic is likely to hit your sweet spot. This fictional RPG game actually make much more sense than the prequels ever have.
If you decide to give it a spin it really is best to go to the archives and start from the beginning. I did and in two days I burned my way to current.
This past weekend here in San Diego we had a fine little SF convention named Conjecture. Our Guest Of Honor was SF Author Allen Steele. This was a rather different experience for me than other local smaller cons as I was on five panels during the three days of the convention, three on friday afternoon and two On Sunday afternoon.
I had a blast. I moderated one panel and while my lack of knowledge on the subject could have doomed the panel, I had some great panelist, including Hugo award winning author Verner Vinge, and they saved my bacon. I must say that being on a panel in many ways is much more fun than watching a panel. When the odd idea or random connections occurs to me because of the conversation of the panelists I don’t have to hold back, or hold my hand up to offer a shortened thought, now I can speak my mind. (yeah I know that is a dangerous thing.)
Today I managed to get back into the swing of writing too. Nearly 1000 words on a new short story that I had failed to launch three times before. If I can get it into shape in time this one might go to the Writers of The Future now that I am no so mad at them anymore.
After finishing Love & Loyalty I kind of took a break from writing in general including my blog. This will not last long, writers have to write even if no one reads it.
I’ve started a short story called The Old and The Dead which is a zombie story set in a retirement home. The initial 750 words seemed to go over well last night at the writer’s group.
My anthology Horseshoes & Hand Grenades: Tales of technology and terror has begun shipping to the major ebook retailers. In about two weeks I’ll make the official announcement that it is ready and you’ll be able to purchase it from the major retailers for just 99 cents.
I still have not taken my post novel treat. I was very seriously leaning towards the Vegas trip, machine-guns and Manilow, but without a bird to keep her company I know my sweetie-wife would get very lonely, so I’ll defer that trip to the distant future. (like six or more months.) So now I am leaning towards the Universal Studios Trip. That would be just a day trip.
After a stint of short story writing I plan to return to the Nationalized Space setting for another Seth Jackson novel, m,ost likely Command And Control. (Wow, something about my titles lately run to the & format.)
Even though I have a spot of back pain today has been a fairly pleasant afternoon. My sweetie-wife and I watched a 60′s caper/comedy called Gambit. It stars Michael Caine and Shirley MacClaine, though we were more amused by the three supports all who had appeared as guest stars in the Original Star Trek series. So the caper/Comedy had a god like alien, a mass murderer, and a swindler as supporting cast.
Now I am off to a Sheena Easton concert here in San Diego. Good night all.
…to a good night or violent board and card games.