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September 14th, 2008
10:00 pm - people at an exhibition
I went the Santa Barbara Museum of Art for the first time today. (I've lived here for eight years now? Sheesh.) While I enjoyed most of the permanent collection and I loved the current exhibition Made in Hollywood: Photographs from the John Kobal Foundation, the real treat for me was the people-watching. Sunday is free admission day at the museum, which apparently brings out all sorts of interesting folk, including the beefy-looking guy in his mid-twenties wearing a suit that was clearly two sizes too large for him.
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August 6th, 2008
04:05 pm - this is not a cry for help
I have become a Twitter addict.
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July 22nd, 2008
03:18 pm - four word review of the dark knight
More like this, please.
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July 21st, 2008
09:44 am - dear lazyweb: geek edition
Two questions for the assembled brain trust:
First, for the D&D-inclined: Any recommendations for dungeon-based battle map alternatives? I've looked at some of the dungeon tile-type things out there, and I'm curious which ones are good. Bonus points for usefulness in running the dungeon parts of Keep on the Shadowfell.
Second, I'm scheduled to see The Dark Knight this evening, but I haven't seen Batman Begins (heresy, I know). Is this going to be a problem?
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July 15th, 2008
12:32 pm - Introducing...This Just In From GenCon
I'm pleased to announce the newest collaboration between Tomorrow The World! Games (Ryan Macklin) and Gameslinger Enterprises (myself): This Just In From GenCon!
Ryan and I will be doing twice-daily live shows from GenCon, Thursday through Sunday, at 11 AM and 5 PM, recorded in the Westin's Congress meeting room. We're also doing several preview shows, the first of which is available through iTunes and via RSS at http://feeds.feedburner.com/ThisJustInFromGencon. You can also download it from our sponsor, DriveThruRPG, at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=2417. We're excited about doing this, and we encourage anyone interested to come by our recording sessions in Indy. These events are open to the public and are on the GenCon schedule.
As for the introductory episode:
This Just In From GenCon 01On this introductory episode of This Just In From GenCon, Paul & Ryan talk about what they're planning on doing with this live, twice-daily show -- 11a & 5p every day at GenCon. They'll be publishing these episodes after recording them, so folks at home can get a taste of GenCon and find out what's going on, while folks at the show can stop by to see what they might be missing and to say hi to their friends on the air.
Paul & Ryan close off by talking about two places they're looking to hit up early on: Paizo Publishing & Fantasy Flight Games.
Running time: 5:32 / File size: 3.8 MB
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July 11th, 2008
10:31 am - how about universal philosopher of absolute reality?
Before our Burning Empires game this week, the idea was floated that I change my ULC title to "Space Pope" before ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) jackshandy's wedding. Fortunately for his betrothed, they don't currently offer that title.
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July 1st, 2008
02:12 pm - goals for the month: july
Another month gone. Here's looking backward and forward.
Writing
I'm going to spend 30 minutes a day, six days a week working on Penny. If I can't commit to that, I shouldn't have a writing item on this list.
Podcasting
I fell down on getting Paul Unscripted out this month (only one), but I rocked out on everything else. I'm really happy with the new process for the Voice, and I feel like we're really hitting our stride. Now that the regular run of HG,WT is finished, I'm going to try for a short show (either FaFGM or PU) each week. I also need to work with macklinr to get out Sekrit GenCon Projekt off the ground.
Gaming
This was a rocking month for gaming, though Origins and PaulCon certainly helped. I wrapped up the session summaries for phase 1 of our Burning Empires, and we're now two sessions into phase 2. I played fewer board games at Origins than I expected to, but between playing more of them at PaulCon and having the West Coast Meeple Fest at the end of July, I'm not worried. I do want to continue to push for a board game each week, and we should get four more sessions of Burning Empires done this month. Also, I'm stoked about ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) codeindigo ,and I'm hoping that takes off.
Exercise
Again, a month of two halves. Not surprisingly, PaulCon and Origins interfered with my routine and my progress (I got to 60%, instead of 75%), but I did so well in the first part that I'm ok with it. This month I'm shooting for that 75% number again. I'm also making a slight change to my morning routine and switching over to a 5BX-based workout, starting at the bottom of chart 2. The goal there is to make it to at least the eighth row of that chart by the end of the month.
Improv
Behind here, for the same reasons as exercise. I only did one show and two workshops, which isn't enough (though I did finish Acting on Impulse). I'm shooting for three and three again.
Media
While I'm not completely caught up on podcasts, I'm close enough that I can start listening to current stuff again. This month I want to completely eliminate my backlog. I'm also going to check out The Middle Man, a show that princeofcairo has me curious about. (I would take on more, but I need to leave time for writing.)
Web
I should be able to finish off the VIC project this week. That will leave some space for a reworking of the Gameslinger Enterprises site, which gwentevis has volunteered to help with.
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June 24th, 2008
09:59 am - origins gamers?
I'm looking for a fourth player in an off-schedule game of Grey Ranks that I'm running for Peter Adkinson at Origins. If you're interested and available at 2 PM on Friday, please let me know.
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June 10th, 2008
03:56 pm - la chambre du bourgogne
Origins is rapidly approaching. This, of course, makes me think of my annual pilgrimage to the Burgundy Room. I know Messrs. Hanrahan, Tidball, and Hindmarch won't be at the show and thus unable to join me. What of my other past companions? drivingblind? righteousfist? princeofcairo? Others I have not yet had the pleasure of dining with?
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June 4th, 2008
04:45 pm - gaming everywhere
The esteemed robin_d_laws has commented on two occasions about the game-like nature of the Democratic primary process. Now, this article on the Obama campaign's primary strategy makes me want to play 1960: Making of the President.
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June 1st, 2008
10:53 pm - goals for the month: june
Is it really June already? Let's have a look at back at May.
Writing
Ok, ok, I'm a slow writer. Penny is limping along. June's goal is modest: let's do another turn on this manuscript.
Podcasting
Another not great area in May. The Voice went fine, but I only did one episode of HG,WT. Granted, that episode was twice as long as a usual episode, but still. This month, two of Have Games, two Paul Unscripteds (which were absent last month), as well as the Voice.
Gaming
Now we're getting somewhere. I still need to finish the session summaries for Burning Empires, but we did get in our three sessions of In a Wicked Age, and I was pleased with the amount of board gaming I snuck in. I'd like to play a board game a week, as well as pushing along the second phase of Burning Empires.
Exercise
This was a classic month of two halves. The first half rocked, the second half barely existed. Still, this routine appears not to require me to express virtue all the time. This month's goal is slightly different: make Rung 14 and walk or jog 75% of the days in June.
Improv
I skipped what would have been my third workshop to spent time with gwentevis, which seems reasonable. And my third show of the month was canceled due to poor attendance, so that's not precisely my fault. More importantly, this seems like the right balance.
Media
I finished Queen & Country and got current on both BSG and Escape Pod. I only finished the first half of Acting on Impulse, but that's because I unexpectedly ended up reading another book for work. In June, I'm going to finish Acting on Impulse, read another book for work, and get current on all my podcasts.
Web
The Gameslinger Enterprises project is done until my logo designer gets back to me. I made good progress on the VIC website in the last few days, and my goal is to finish it by the end of June.
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May 16th, 2008
12:11 pm - dear lazyweb: magical storytelling
I was having lunch with schlafmanko the other day, and she planted in my brain the idea that some pagan traditions use the concept of "magical storytelling," where the process of a telling a story is a transformative act not only for the audience, but for the storyteller as well. She said she'd seen reference to this sort of thing, but couldn't remember anything concrete.
As those of you who know me might expect, I was utterly enraptured by this idea. Anyone out there got any good starting points for me?
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May 14th, 2008
03:14 pm - rabbits and thieves
Scott Burkun is one of my new favorite writers; his Making Things Happen is a tremendously good book on the practicalities of management. I haven't read his most recent book, The Myths of Innovation, but I do follow his weblog, where he often posts about creativity and invention. Today's post had this gem which resonated strongly with me (emphasis mine):
If you talk to most writers or artists they’ll tell you about specific influences for specific pieces. Picasso said “bad artists borrow, great artists steal”. We’re pretty sure Shakespeare based Hamlet, and many of his plays, on stories and plays he’d heard before. Reading Joseph Campell or Karen Armstrong on mythology reveals the incestuous nature of stories: they breed like rabbits and steal like thieves, and to claim any creative work as Sui genesis (means, roughly, something uncategorizable) usually means there’s a kind of ignorance at work about that particular kind of art, or a lack of imagination about what a category is.
Yeah. Anyone who has gamed with me can tell you that's pretty much how I roll.
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May 6th, 2008
10:36 am - note to self: make better notes to self
I have a terrible memory for certain things. These lapses in memory are centered around things I'm supposed to do, like updating this journal. To counteract this, I make a lot of notes to myself. Sometimes, however, I leave out important details. For example, today I found a note reminding me to post about "the ten percent rule."
I have now fulfilled the letter, if not the spirit, of that note.
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May 1st, 2008
05:46 am - goals for month: may
Good morning, May. So, how did I do on my April goals? Pretty well, actually.
Writing
In some ways, I made the least progress here. The Penny manuscript continues to move along, but I really fell down on the playtests and the fiction. Finishing Penny is my top priority for May.
Podcasting
Things were better here. The Voice still isn't "caught up," but there's some changes going on there that make me feel better about it. Did put out two episodes of HG,WT (both of which I was pretty happy with) and three of Paul Unscripted, and I'm going to try to do so again this month. Oh, and I recorded a story for PodCastle, which was fun.
Gaming
The Reign game is no more, sadly, but we did finish the Infiltration phase of our Burning Empires game. It was rough at points, but I'm happy with how it turned out. We're taking a break between phases to play a few sessions of In a Wicked Age, which ought to be fun. I need to finish the session summaries before the next phase starts. I'd also like to play some boardgames, and not just at Mark's event in two weeks.
Exercise
I hit both of my goals here. This month, I want to turn at least two of weekly walks into jogs, and I want get to Rung 9 by the end.
Improv
Three workshops and three shows a month was just right, so I'm shooting for that in May as well. I also want to re-read Acting on Impulse.
Media
I finished both of the music history courses, and I enjoyed both of them. This month I want to catch up on my podcast backlog (especially Escape Pod). I've only got 150 pages remaining of the second Queen & Country novel, so that needs to get done. I also managed to finish off the third season of BSG, and I should be able to get current on the series by the end of the month.
Web
Among the new projects that popped up this month were the helping out with the VIC web site and setting up my own for Gameslinger Enterprises. I need to finish both of those off by the first of June as well.
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April 26th, 2008
12:54 pm - more useless family details
My sister has been hoarding all of the recessive traits. My mother let me know yesterday or so that Laura, who is pregnant right now, found out that she has a negative Rhesus type. (My impending nephew is Rh+, so she get gets take RhIG shots.) She keeps doing this to me! First, she gets the blonde hair (mine is brown), then the blue eyes (again, brown) and now this ( I'm A positive). How come I get stuck with all the dominant genes?
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April 17th, 2008
05:04 pm - today's quote of the day
Overhear in a design review today:
"It's okay to pull some numbers out of our experience."
"Is that what you're calling it now?"
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April 8th, 2008
03:32 pm - gordon joseph tevis: 1908 - 1979
My Grampa Tevis died when I was about year old. I have no memory of him at all, and my family never talks about him. Today, my father emailed me and let me know that last Wednesday would have been his 100th birthday. My father said,
He was likeable, relatively quiet, not exactly driven, fairly short -- about 5' 6". He was built like his mother. His father was tall and slender. However, he played on Lawton's H.S. boys team that went to the state tournament. He was one of the middle children in the family. And during the depression, he milked cows on the County Farm along the old highway 141. Jobs were hard to come by. He farmed the farm after my grandfather Burns retired from farming.
Among other things that I didn't I realize: My father, the eldest child in the family, was born when his father was 39.
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April 1st, 2008
05:12 pm - goals for the month: april
I mentioned previously that when it comes to goals, I work best on a moderately short-term basis. These, then, are my goals for April
Writing
I need to get the manuscript for A Penny For My Thoughts ready for beta playtest, which I really would like to start in May. (This requires finishing off the three PBeM playtests that I've still got going.) It's certainly doable, as the current draft is close to where it needs to be. I'm also getting the itch to write some fiction again, along the lines what I did for Finis. I'd like write at least two pieces of micro-fiction this month.
Podcasting
I'm way behind with Have Games, Will Travel. I've even recorded one version of the next episode, but it was crap, so I'm redoing it. This month is about getting back on the horse and getting two episodes out. The Voice has also been behind schedule. I promise, this month the April episode will come out in April (along with the March episode). I released a new episode of Paul Unscripted two weeks ago, and it felt good. I've got a backlog of content for that, so I'm going to shoot for three this month.
Gaming
Delays in Burning Empires have be killing us, but we're going to finish the Infection phase this month. I'd also really like to get our new demon-hunting pirates Reign game going on Wednesdays.
Exercise
The walking has been good, and I want to keep doing it at least four times a week. I also want to get to Rung 5 on the Hacker's Diet Introductory Ladder by the end of the month. I did Rung 1 this morning, and I think it will fit right into my schedule.
Other
On the improv side, I'd like get to at least three workshop and perform in at least three shows. I want to finish listening to the two music history courses on CD that I've been going through. I need to ramp up the event submission process for Gamex. And I want to re-read the Queen & Country series of graphic novels (plus Gentleman's Game), because I just got number eight and can't remember what all has happened.
Will it all happen? Tune in May 1 to find out!
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12:51 pm - west texas by way of minnesota
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