The movie "Downfall" about the last three days of Hitler's life is a fantastic movie. In fact you should watch it just to get an idea of the emotion portrayed in this parody and it will make this all the more fun to watch. The best line in this... the line referring to all the 4th Edition players to get out of the room.
Here it is... Hilter's D&D character dies
Showing posts with label Games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Games. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Glowball....
Glowball. Mention glowball to any of my friends from my childhood and you will see a huge grin appear on their face. Glowball was an invented game that took place only on certain nights. My parents had to be gone obviously, but it had to be dark, and had to be at my parents house. Why? First because my parents house had a floor plan that allowed you to run from one room to another without having to open any doors or stopping to turn sharp corners. And it was filled with all kinds of things to hide behind. Secondly, our house had very few outside lights to shine into the windows, therefore making it very dark if you turned out all the lights inside the house. It was required that you play Glowball in as dark an environment as possible and well, my parents house fit the bill perfectly.
What was Glowball? Think hide and seek and tag mixed together but you tagged a person who was hiding by hitting them (as hard as you could) with a small, hard plastic ball that could only be found in the box of cereal called QUISP. (Anyone remember QUISP?!?!) It was a molded glow in the dark ball that was actually a replica of the moon, and if you held it under a light long enough it would glow for like 10 minutes. Longer than any other glow in the dark object we had ever seen. And since it was a solid ball, it would not break apart if it hit anything hard. (Bodies, including heads, are not hard, by the way)
What you did was you got a bunch of bored grade and high school boys together and picked someone to be the "robot" who held possession of the glowball. No one else could touch it, or you would be "it". The rest of the boys would turn off all the lights and go hide around the house. Any place in the house, excluding the basement and attic, was considered a legal place to hide. The "robot" would then place himself in the bathroom and "charge and blind" himself by placing the glowball on a light bulb thereby "charging" it, and at the same time, staring at the light buld in order to "blind" the "robot" once he left the bathroom in search of hiding victims.
The robot would go out in search of victims, usually stumbling around for about a minute as his eyes would re-adjust, all the while making silly robot or creepy noises to put the hiders on edge. Often, it was so dark that the robot would walk within inches of the person hiding, so the tension level was quite high and sometimes would result in normally "tough" boys squealing and laughing like little girls! The robot would go about the house looking for his victims by searching in all places with eyes and hands and feet.
Hiding spots were quite creative. I know of boys hiding on top of the stove, refrigerator, under couches (not just cushions, but the whole damned couch)and standing on the top of chair backs while balancing against a wall. No place was unrestricted unless it would not hold your weight.
Once the victim was found, one of two things happened.
CIRCUMSTANCE ONE: If a victim was found and said victim was out of arms reach, the glowball was thrown at the victim in an attempt to hit the victim with it and thereby making it the next robot. Often though, the throw would go wide and the would be victim would scream in terror, jump up (or down)from the hiding spot and flee around the house, slamming into, falling over, and climbing up things around the house, all while the robot tried to retrieve the glowball and follow in pursuit. The pursuit usually flushed out a few other hiding victims and so the robot would numerous possible targets, all running this way and that in hopes of avoiding the smack of a plastic glowball in the back, the legs, the head or nut sack.
CIRCUMSTANCE TWO: If a victim was found and said victim was within arms reach, the robot would, in an attempt increase his odds of hitting the victim with the glowball, deliver a mighty blow to the hiding victim. This was usually delivered to the gut or legs in an attempt to stun and immobilize them so that the glowball could be delivered with full force to the stunned victim, thereby making him the next Glowball Robot!
(Imagine the feeling of a hard plastic ball connecting with your body from a distance of about five feet, after it leaves the hand of an adrenaline crazed teenage boy, who finds a helpless victim to throw it at. Add to it that there is no recourse for the victim. He signed up for this game. Take the hit like a man, or leave the house. If you can imagine this, then you can understand the level of pain involved.)
For me, the best memory was one of my times as the robot. I came out of the bathroom, blind as a bat, looking for someone to throw this ball at. I circled the house at least once, and came back to the main living room. Still slightly blind, I did manage to perceive what I though was someones head sticking out from behind a chair back. Rather than check further, I chucked the ball at the "head" and was rewarded with a loud "THWOK!" and the glowball bounceing directly back at me as if it had hit a brick wall. I also heard a body hitting the floor and a moan of pain come from my buddy Mike, and a string of curses from him, followed by hoots and howls of laughter from everyone else hidden in the room. I admit I am not a great thrower of objects, but in the low light conditions and diminished eyesight, I must have let instinct and luck have free reign and I tagged him square in the forehead and nearly knocked him out. Someone turned the lights came on and we made sure he wasn't dead, and then proceeded to laugh ourselves silly for the next 15 minutes over his pain and my grand effort!
Thinking back on these games, I am amazed that nothing got broken in my parents house. Or nothing got broken to the point where it could not be fixed and made to look whole again. We always cleaned up after these games and it seemed as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened in the house. We must have done well, because my parents never said anything about it. Ever. We got lucky.
I found the glowball many years ago while attending college. Looking at it, I was overwhelmed with nostalgia that this little piece of plastic produced. I don't know what ever happened to it since then, but I am glad I have lost it. If not, I would be sorely tempted to have shown it to my kids and explained what glowball was. And then, glowball would be played in my house. And that would not be good. This is one game I think that is best left in the past and resurrected in story form only.
What was Glowball? Think hide and seek and tag mixed together but you tagged a person who was hiding by hitting them (as hard as you could) with a small, hard plastic ball that could only be found in the box of cereal called QUISP. (Anyone remember QUISP?!?!) It was a molded glow in the dark ball that was actually a replica of the moon, and if you held it under a light long enough it would glow for like 10 minutes. Longer than any other glow in the dark object we had ever seen. And since it was a solid ball, it would not break apart if it hit anything hard. (Bodies, including heads, are not hard, by the way)
What you did was you got a bunch of bored grade and high school boys together and picked someone to be the "robot" who held possession of the glowball. No one else could touch it, or you would be "it". The rest of the boys would turn off all the lights and go hide around the house. Any place in the house, excluding the basement and attic, was considered a legal place to hide. The "robot" would then place himself in the bathroom and "charge and blind" himself by placing the glowball on a light bulb thereby "charging" it, and at the same time, staring at the light buld in order to "blind" the "robot" once he left the bathroom in search of hiding victims.
The robot would go out in search of victims, usually stumbling around for about a minute as his eyes would re-adjust, all the while making silly robot or creepy noises to put the hiders on edge. Often, it was so dark that the robot would walk within inches of the person hiding, so the tension level was quite high and sometimes would result in normally "tough" boys squealing and laughing like little girls! The robot would go about the house looking for his victims by searching in all places with eyes and hands and feet.
Hiding spots were quite creative. I know of boys hiding on top of the stove, refrigerator, under couches (not just cushions, but the whole damned couch)and standing on the top of chair backs while balancing against a wall. No place was unrestricted unless it would not hold your weight.
Once the victim was found, one of two things happened.
CIRCUMSTANCE ONE: If a victim was found and said victim was out of arms reach, the glowball was thrown at the victim in an attempt to hit the victim with it and thereby making it the next robot. Often though, the throw would go wide and the would be victim would scream in terror, jump up (or down)from the hiding spot and flee around the house, slamming into, falling over, and climbing up things around the house, all while the robot tried to retrieve the glowball and follow in pursuit. The pursuit usually flushed out a few other hiding victims and so the robot would numerous possible targets, all running this way and that in hopes of avoiding the smack of a plastic glowball in the back, the legs, the head or nut sack.
CIRCUMSTANCE TWO: If a victim was found and said victim was within arms reach, the robot would, in an attempt increase his odds of hitting the victim with the glowball, deliver a mighty blow to the hiding victim. This was usually delivered to the gut or legs in an attempt to stun and immobilize them so that the glowball could be delivered with full force to the stunned victim, thereby making him the next Glowball Robot!
(Imagine the feeling of a hard plastic ball connecting with your body from a distance of about five feet, after it leaves the hand of an adrenaline crazed teenage boy, who finds a helpless victim to throw it at. Add to it that there is no recourse for the victim. He signed up for this game. Take the hit like a man, or leave the house. If you can imagine this, then you can understand the level of pain involved.)
For me, the best memory was one of my times as the robot. I came out of the bathroom, blind as a bat, looking for someone to throw this ball at. I circled the house at least once, and came back to the main living room. Still slightly blind, I did manage to perceive what I though was someones head sticking out from behind a chair back. Rather than check further, I chucked the ball at the "head" and was rewarded with a loud "THWOK!" and the glowball bounceing directly back at me as if it had hit a brick wall. I also heard a body hitting the floor and a moan of pain come from my buddy Mike, and a string of curses from him, followed by hoots and howls of laughter from everyone else hidden in the room. I admit I am not a great thrower of objects, but in the low light conditions and diminished eyesight, I must have let instinct and luck have free reign and I tagged him square in the forehead and nearly knocked him out. Someone turned the lights came on and we made sure he wasn't dead, and then proceeded to laugh ourselves silly for the next 15 minutes over his pain and my grand effort!
Thinking back on these games, I am amazed that nothing got broken in my parents house. Or nothing got broken to the point where it could not be fixed and made to look whole again. We always cleaned up after these games and it seemed as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened in the house. We must have done well, because my parents never said anything about it. Ever. We got lucky.
I found the glowball many years ago while attending college. Looking at it, I was overwhelmed with nostalgia that this little piece of plastic produced. I don't know what ever happened to it since then, but I am glad I have lost it. If not, I would be sorely tempted to have shown it to my kids and explained what glowball was. And then, glowball would be played in my house. And that would not be good. This is one game I think that is best left in the past and resurrected in story form only.
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Courtesy of Wil Wheaton
This was suppose to be posted to the blog BEFORE I went to Gen Con, but apparently, Blogger was not cooperating... so I post it now...
From the introduction of his "gaming Chapbook" which will be on sale at GENCON this weekend. I hope to get one. (and I did)
It sums up alot about what is good about gaming and why I do it. Thank goodness there is someone like Wil, (whose character I really did not like on Star Trek the Next Generation, but I really like as a person in real life.) who is a advocate for gamers and can put into words, those things the rest of us gamers feel.
"Of all the things that make me a geek, nothing brings me more joy, or is more important to me, than gaming. I am the person I am today because of the games I played and the people I played them with as I came of age in the 80s.
This is a small collection of stories about gaming in its various forms, from cards to dice to computers to our beloved tabletop RPGs. Most of these stories were originally published in 2009, when my son Ryan was away at college, and my son Nolan was 17.
Keep playing games. Games are important. Games matter. When you play a game - any game - you’re using your imagination to bring a world to life, and that’s truly special, because while all destruction is essentially the same, when you create something, it’s different every single time. When you create something together, you’re building bonds with your fellow gamers that could last for your entire lives. The Venn Diagram of my best friends, my gaming group, and people from high school I still hang out with is one perfect circle. I suspect that for many gamers of my generation, that’s equally true ... and I know that my kids will be saying the same thing in 20 years about people they’ve never met face to face, but interact with almost every day in an online game that will make Call of Duty look then like Pong looks today."
Roll 20s,
Wil Wheaton
August 3, 2010
Later... Game on! Coming soon, pictures and review from GenCon!
From the introduction of his "gaming Chapbook" which will be on sale at GENCON this weekend. I hope to get one. (and I did)
It sums up alot about what is good about gaming and why I do it. Thank goodness there is someone like Wil, (whose character I really did not like on Star Trek the Next Generation, but I really like as a person in real life.) who is a advocate for gamers and can put into words, those things the rest of us gamers feel.
"Of all the things that make me a geek, nothing brings me more joy, or is more important to me, than gaming. I am the person I am today because of the games I played and the people I played them with as I came of age in the 80s.
This is a small collection of stories about gaming in its various forms, from cards to dice to computers to our beloved tabletop RPGs. Most of these stories were originally published in 2009, when my son Ryan was away at college, and my son Nolan was 17.
Keep playing games. Games are important. Games matter. When you play a game - any game - you’re using your imagination to bring a world to life, and that’s truly special, because while all destruction is essentially the same, when you create something, it’s different every single time. When you create something together, you’re building bonds with your fellow gamers that could last for your entire lives. The Venn Diagram of my best friends, my gaming group, and people from high school I still hang out with is one perfect circle. I suspect that for many gamers of my generation, that’s equally true ... and I know that my kids will be saying the same thing in 20 years about people they’ve never met face to face, but interact with almost every day in an online game that will make Call of Duty look then like Pong looks today."
Roll 20s,
Wil Wheaton
August 3, 2010
Later... Game on! Coming soon, pictures and review from GenCon!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Time to play... a game!
You all know I am a big gamer, but often it can be a struggle to get others interested in games and gaming in general. Here is a great idea to try and break open the barriers to getting more people into gaming.
Check it out HERE
Check it out HERE
Monday, July 12, 2010
Gamer Gurl...
As many of you might know, my family and I are big gamers. We play games of all sorts and attend a few gaming conventions throughout the year, GenCon being the biggest and the best. I love it. I love having a family that games with me and yesterday was no exception, EXCEPT, that yesterday my daughter joined a D&D game that was a trip back to the past for me, and a new experience for the rest of the group. The adventure, or module as it was called in the 80's was White Plume Mountain, probably one of the best D&D adventures ever created. It was a killer adventure in the 80's when I played it, but it has been toned down a bit for the current version of the game, but it is still a very lethal bit of imaginative gaming. But this is not about the adventure, this is about my little girl, who will be 12 soon, playing in a game that I was so excited to host, and then to find out, that despite having never read the core rule books, and having only played one other time before, she nails this portion of the adventure with original ideas, useful and helpful comments and a real desire to be part of the group.
With her help, the first part of this adventure went a little more easily on the players than I remember it from the past, but it was still fun and I think that my players really had to think and act smartly in order to be successful. I was proud of her and how she comported herself during the game. I have both of my kids playing the game I grew up with and they certainly seem to like playing with me, or at least I hope so! But I was really proud of her. She says she had a lot of fun, and I hope she did. She still has alot to learn about the game, and so far, no one seems to mind helping her with some of the more intricate rules and methods of game play. And, in time, I hope she will be able to stand on her own in a game where she is kind of an outsider, but for right now, I like having her as part of my gaming group.
Say what you will about the game Dungeons & Dragons, but in my experience, this game has been nothing more than a positive experience for me, and I hope to be able to make it the same for my kids and the rest of my gaming group. I know what it did for me, and I am interested to see what it will do for my kids.
later!
With her help, the first part of this adventure went a little more easily on the players than I remember it from the past, but it was still fun and I think that my players really had to think and act smartly in order to be successful. I was proud of her and how she comported herself during the game. I have both of my kids playing the game I grew up with and they certainly seem to like playing with me, or at least I hope so! But I was really proud of her. She says she had a lot of fun, and I hope she did. She still has alot to learn about the game, and so far, no one seems to mind helping her with some of the more intricate rules and methods of game play. And, in time, I hope she will be able to stand on her own in a game where she is kind of an outsider, but for right now, I like having her as part of my gaming group.
Say what you will about the game Dungeons & Dragons, but in my experience, this game has been nothing more than a positive experience for me, and I hope to be able to make it the same for my kids and the rest of my gaming group. I know what it did for me, and I am interested to see what it will do for my kids.
later!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Okay... this is really geeky....
As you all know, I am a big fan of the author, Robert E. Howard and especially his Conan character. As you also know, I am a big D&D gamer. Well, now, if I wanted to, the two different things can come together. Someone has done the work for me and mashed the two together and has come up with interpretations of how Conan would be as a D&D character at different points in his life, according to the stories written by R.E. Howard. If you are at all interested, the site is HERE
And if that were not enough, he went on to make character stats for other Characters from the Conan stories. With imagination and time, a enterprising DM could come up with an entire adventure campaign devoted to the world of R.E. Howard's Conan for D&D! Not gonna happen with me.... I got to much other stuff going on...
Anyway. Enjoy if you are geeky enough!
Later!
And if that were not enough, he went on to make character stats for other Characters from the Conan stories. With imagination and time, a enterprising DM could come up with an entire adventure campaign devoted to the world of R.E. Howard's Conan for D&D! Not gonna happen with me.... I got to much other stuff going on...
Anyway. Enjoy if you are geeky enough!
Later!
Friday, April 02, 2010
Don't Touch My DICE!!!!
Many gamers are said to not bathe, brush, or follow regular hygene routines.... but not anymore!!
DICE WIPES!!!
DICE WIPES!!!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Gamers and Gunners
This is from one of my favorite gaming websites... if you are a gunner, or a FPS gamer, or both, you really need to read this. Even if you are not, it is an excellent piece on the discussion behing the theory of video games affecting how people act in the real world.
The article is HERE
The article is HERE
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Old Friends, meet the new friends.
It has been a while without much to say in this blog but I think the drought is over.
Recently I have been reading some memoirs of gamers, most notably "Gamer Geeks and Fantasy Freaks" and "The Elfish Gene: Dungeons and Dragons and growing up strange." In these books, the authors recall their experiences with D&D and gaming and how it affected their lives. Both authors seem to, if not regret their gaming experiences in their younger years, they certainly don't look back on them with great fondness. They seemed to have a love/hate relationship with gaming and what it did for them, or maybe too them as an adolesent or teenager.
That is not the case for me. My gaming days have served me well. They fed my need and hunger for a fantasy world that I could partake in, not just read about. It fired my interest in western mediaeval history which in turn led me to long love affair with re-enacting. And I think it made me a better and more voracious reader, and in many ways, a bit more outgoing when I finally got into college. All together, I am fond of, and proud of my gaming days as a kid. Hell, I am still a gamer, and have brought my whole family and many friends into the gaming world because of my love of gaming.
Recently I was upstairs in the attic of the house looking for something and just for kicks I decided to look in the big blue tub that has been sitting there for years and years. I knew it contained all my old D&D stuff from years gone by, but I never really bothered to open it up because I was now involved in a whole new version of the game and the "first edition" is now obsolete in the gaming world. But I opened it upanyway and there, neatly stacked away were my old friends, the D&D books, modules,(now called pre-made adventures)characters, miniatures and gaming suppliments. It was a wave of nostalgia that washed over me. All the time spent as a kid with my buds playing the game and all the hours spent designing adventures and characters and simply living inside my head within the fantasy world. It was a great time and nice to remember all those things.
What I was most excited to find were the old modules that have recently been updated to the current version that I am playing. I can now play those old modules that gave me such joy with my new set of D&D players, of which one is my own son. I think this is great. The good old killer mod - White Plume Mountian - will soon be on the table and doing its damnedest to kill off every character in the group. It will be good to share these old favorites of mine with everyone. I hope they will enjoy them as much as I did all those years ago. (which really don't seem that long ago)
later!
Recently I have been reading some memoirs of gamers, most notably "Gamer Geeks and Fantasy Freaks" and "The Elfish Gene: Dungeons and Dragons and growing up strange." In these books, the authors recall their experiences with D&D and gaming and how it affected their lives. Both authors seem to, if not regret their gaming experiences in their younger years, they certainly don't look back on them with great fondness. They seemed to have a love/hate relationship with gaming and what it did for them, or maybe too them as an adolesent or teenager.
That is not the case for me. My gaming days have served me well. They fed my need and hunger for a fantasy world that I could partake in, not just read about. It fired my interest in western mediaeval history which in turn led me to long love affair with re-enacting. And I think it made me a better and more voracious reader, and in many ways, a bit more outgoing when I finally got into college. All together, I am fond of, and proud of my gaming days as a kid. Hell, I am still a gamer, and have brought my whole family and many friends into the gaming world because of my love of gaming.
Recently I was upstairs in the attic of the house looking for something and just for kicks I decided to look in the big blue tub that has been sitting there for years and years. I knew it contained all my old D&D stuff from years gone by, but I never really bothered to open it up because I was now involved in a whole new version of the game and the "first edition" is now obsolete in the gaming world. But I opened it upanyway and there, neatly stacked away were my old friends, the D&D books, modules,(now called pre-made adventures)characters, miniatures and gaming suppliments. It was a wave of nostalgia that washed over me. All the time spent as a kid with my buds playing the game and all the hours spent designing adventures and characters and simply living inside my head within the fantasy world. It was a great time and nice to remember all those things.
What I was most excited to find were the old modules that have recently been updated to the current version that I am playing. I can now play those old modules that gave me such joy with my new set of D&D players, of which one is my own son. I think this is great. The good old killer mod - White Plume Mountian - will soon be on the table and doing its damnedest to kill off every character in the group. It will be good to share these old favorites of mine with everyone. I hope they will enjoy them as much as I did all those years ago. (which really don't seem that long ago)
later!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Leave to the Germans!
They have conquered the world of gaming and made it their own. All because of a little game called "The Settlers of Catan." It is a lengthy article but if you are a gamer, then you should read it!
Read about it here: CATAN
Thanks to Henry for bringing this to my attention!
L8r!
Read about it here: CATAN
Thanks to Henry for bringing this to my attention!
L8r!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Cool things lately...
Rather than join the cacophony of voices screaming and complaining and general negative voices on the Internet, radio and tv... I am gonna just list a lot of great things happening in my life. If you think negatively, which I am guilty of, you will create negative outcomes. Like I tell my son and daughter, "You make your own hell." Life is good and here is why it is for me....
My wife got her motorcycle license and now rides (even long distance) with me and friends! It really is cool to see her riding in the two wheeled brother-(sister) hood.
I have been on two great vacations. One to the Wisconsin Dell and one to New Orleans
I actually was able to witness really good thing happening in New Orleans when people come together with a conscious effort to change a place. In turn, they are changed themselves. Also, out of the blue, I actually got a phone call from a resident of New Orleans, calling me to simply thank us for coming to her town and making a difference. Never met her and probably never will, but we talked like old friends. One of the things I learned there is to listen to people, and really hear them. You will be amazed what you will discover if you shut up and listen instead of yammering on about yourself.
I got to see the WWII D-day Museum in New Orleans.and even met some vets from Omaha beach.
I have a new puppy. What can get better than that? Her name is Astrid Gudrun von Geiken and she is a AKC German Shepard. She is a beauty and very sweet and smart.
I am almost done with repainting my entire house.
All of my bills get paid on time. (thanks to my wife)
I have been able to game about a dozen times in the last month or two. Very Cool!
My daughter has joined the Cross Country team and seems (so far) to enjoy it! That also means she is in Jr. High now... which scares me a little but is still pretty cool in my book. She works hard to get decent grades. I hope we can keep it up in 6th grade.
My son is playing the bass drum in marching band - something that he really wanted to do! This makes me happy that he was excited about getting it. All to often he takes what is left over.
I took the Concealed Carry License for the State of Florida and passed. Now to get the Concealed Carry passed in Illinois. From what I hear, it is close to happening. That makes me really happy!
My wife loves me and I love her. So many couples around me are self destructing and I cannot for the life of me figure out why. Don't people talk anymore in relationships?
My wife and I are planning a wine and dine weekend. Vineyards and nice restaurants...
Speaking of wine, I made another 3 gallons of port for the church and private consumption.
And finally, as the last big blast of Summer, the family and I are heading to GENCON! Gaming and geeky heaven!!! I can't wait!
Dang, just writing this has made me feel better!
Later!
Have a great day!
My wife got her motorcycle license and now rides (even long distance) with me and friends! It really is cool to see her riding in the two wheeled brother-(sister) hood.
I have been on two great vacations. One to the Wisconsin Dell and one to New Orleans
I actually was able to witness really good thing happening in New Orleans when people come together with a conscious effort to change a place. In turn, they are changed themselves. Also, out of the blue, I actually got a phone call from a resident of New Orleans, calling me to simply thank us for coming to her town and making a difference. Never met her and probably never will, but we talked like old friends. One of the things I learned there is to listen to people, and really hear them. You will be amazed what you will discover if you shut up and listen instead of yammering on about yourself.
I got to see the WWII D-day Museum in New Orleans.and even met some vets from Omaha beach.
I have a new puppy. What can get better than that? Her name is Astrid Gudrun von Geiken and she is a AKC German Shepard. She is a beauty and very sweet and smart.
I am almost done with repainting my entire house.
All of my bills get paid on time. (thanks to my wife)
I have been able to game about a dozen times in the last month or two. Very Cool!
My daughter has joined the Cross Country team and seems (so far) to enjoy it! That also means she is in Jr. High now... which scares me a little but is still pretty cool in my book. She works hard to get decent grades. I hope we can keep it up in 6th grade.
My son is playing the bass drum in marching band - something that he really wanted to do! This makes me happy that he was excited about getting it. All to often he takes what is left over.
I took the Concealed Carry License for the State of Florida and passed. Now to get the Concealed Carry passed in Illinois. From what I hear, it is close to happening. That makes me really happy!
My wife loves me and I love her. So many couples around me are self destructing and I cannot for the life of me figure out why. Don't people talk anymore in relationships?
My wife and I are planning a wine and dine weekend. Vineyards and nice restaurants...
Speaking of wine, I made another 3 gallons of port for the church and private consumption.
And finally, as the last big blast of Summer, the family and I are heading to GENCON! Gaming and geeky heaven!!! I can't wait!
Dang, just writing this has made me feel better!
Later!
Have a great day!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Dungeons and Dragons post...
I don't normally post about D&D too much, be recently, there have been a few good blog links about the game.
Here they are:
20 Celebrities who play D&D
Everything I know, I learned from D&D
Later!
Here they are:
20 Celebrities who play D&D
Everything I know, I learned from D&D
Later!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Back to the basics of the game...
In three days, I will once again join my gaming group in the fantasy world of D&D. I have not played this game in quite a while and that is sad because I love the game. I played the snot out of this game while in grade school and high school and the memories of those gaming days will be with me forever. Now I am hopefully making some good memories for my son and some of his friends. But yet, I find I do not enjoy the game as much as I used to. I am not sure why, but I think it is because in this day and age of video games where saving character information is done at the push of a button, I have become the defacto record keeper of the charcter information. When the game is over, the characters go with me, I record the upgrades and advancements and then give them back when a new game starts. I don't really mind that because I know that my players, at least the younger ones, will never pick up the Core Rulebooks and read them. When I was their age, I had committed the rules to memory. Now, I find myself having to tell them what to look for, what to do and what to roll. I would love to have them be able to look through the books, find ideas, weapons, spells and tricks that would make the game more imaginative for them. They do well enough with the role playing but I think they really don't know the game deeply enough to make it more fun for me to be the Game Master... I think this time I am going to let some of that responsibility fall to them and see how it goes. We will see how it turns out and if it becomes more fun for me as the DM to test their ability to survive. If not, I guess I will just have to kill them.
Later...
Later...
Monday, January 12, 2009
An interesting, yet unsatisfying weekend...
Let's see, I helped do cleanup on a new business starting in town, gamed with some friends, sent my wife off to a girl scout activity, went to church and Sunday school, helped my mom and dad out at home, stood in audience while my son became married,had sex and became a father in a XBOX video game, attended a Boy Scout committee meeting, and watched a movie with my wife all this weekend, but it still felt like I did nothing of much importance or quality.
I just can't lay my finger on it, but the weekend felt like a wash. All these things should have made me feel rewarded but they didn't. My wife's excursion to the Girl Scout activity was almost a disaster due to lack of planning on part of the hosts and organizers, and the game I was running just didn't turn out as fun as I would liked it to have. (And how can you not have fun with half a dozen kobolds running around trying to kill each other in order to eat babies?) Going to church on Sunday morning was good but at Sunday school I was all set to have a youth meeting with the kids, but found out it was put off until next week. So instead we went out for breakfast. We did have a very kind person pay for all of our meals without us knowing about it, so that was a reward in itself.
And helping my folks out really does make me feel good, but this time, because I know what I am doing in more in preparation for my father losing his right leg due to complications of ill health, I just was not feeling good about it.
Then my son is playing Fable II (a video game on XBOX) and he takes his character into the actions that get him married, buying a house, and having sex and making a family, which by itself was hilarious because he was so embarassed about it, but I could have turned it into something about life learning. Instead I went and made supper.
The movie was good and I always enjoy hanging out with my wife to watch a movie. It is part of what we do as a couple. But even that was kind of a let down.
I think it is because over the weekend and last week, a number of things, from friends in emotional strife, to my dad's ill health, and the ever-present gray frozen condition of Central Illinois, I just could not really enjoy this weekend, and that sucks. This was a great weekend, I just could not see it for all the downers that surrounded it.
Sorry for the complete uselessness of this blog post, but I just wanted to get it off my chest. Next weekend will be better.
later!
I just can't lay my finger on it, but the weekend felt like a wash. All these things should have made me feel rewarded but they didn't. My wife's excursion to the Girl Scout activity was almost a disaster due to lack of planning on part of the hosts and organizers, and the game I was running just didn't turn out as fun as I would liked it to have. (And how can you not have fun with half a dozen kobolds running around trying to kill each other in order to eat babies?) Going to church on Sunday morning was good but at Sunday school I was all set to have a youth meeting with the kids, but found out it was put off until next week. So instead we went out for breakfast. We did have a very kind person pay for all of our meals without us knowing about it, so that was a reward in itself.
And helping my folks out really does make me feel good, but this time, because I know what I am doing in more in preparation for my father losing his right leg due to complications of ill health, I just was not feeling good about it.
Then my son is playing Fable II (a video game on XBOX) and he takes his character into the actions that get him married, buying a house, and having sex and making a family, which by itself was hilarious because he was so embarassed about it, but I could have turned it into something about life learning. Instead I went and made supper.
The movie was good and I always enjoy hanging out with my wife to watch a movie. It is part of what we do as a couple. But even that was kind of a let down.
I think it is because over the weekend and last week, a number of things, from friends in emotional strife, to my dad's ill health, and the ever-present gray frozen condition of Central Illinois, I just could not really enjoy this weekend, and that sucks. This was a great weekend, I just could not see it for all the downers that surrounded it.
Sorry for the complete uselessness of this blog post, but I just wanted to get it off my chest. Next weekend will be better.
later!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Leave it to WETA!!!
For those of you familiar with the video game HALO, but haven't seen the XBOX magazine article, then get ready to wet your pants! There is a real Warthog on the roads! (New Zealand roads, but who cares...) Apparently it was made by WETA, the special effects production company that soared to fame with the Lord of the Rings movies. The Warthog is a real running vehicle that is made to be completely off road and totally able to do some of the things the warthogs of the video game does. It can even do a crab crawl... driving sideways! Every detail is there, even the fact that you can barely see through the front windshield. XBOX magazine has a great write up about it, but I can't find the article online. Maybe a more intense search will turn something up. Speaking as a fanboy like me, there is now one more thing in the world to wish for...
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Fear of Girls....
While looking through old emails and looking for a way to relieve a bit of stress from work related activities, I found this fun little video! If you know a gamer, especially a D&D gamer, show them this. Enjoy!
Later!
Later!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Reflections on Gen Con 2008
This is only my third year to GenCon, but it seems to be more fun every year. I learn more about what there is to do, more about the games available, and more about the way things work. Maybe after a few more years, I will know it all. This years Gen Con seemed to me to be slightly smaller in the sense that there were fewer vendors and maybe fewer attendees. It probably had something to do with the fact that Gen Con is spreading out around the Indianapolis Convention Center into the hotels and such that surround it. It is the biggest convention that Indy has and it is hard to believe that gamers are the ones that make it that big. The weekend was alot of fun and I will try to give you a little insight to the fun.
The Guys, The Girls, The Games, The Gear.
The Guys: The guys, well, were the guys. They are pretty much what you would expect from a bunch of gamer guys. There were the true gamer geeks that look like they have not had an ounce of exercise in years, no exposure to the sun, and poor grooming habits. But there were just as many guys who if you were to pass them on the street, you could not tell that they have role played for years, or that their favorite game is about killer zombies. I now longer associate the term gamer geek with my former description of a gamer. Because for every greasy haired, smelly, anti-social, flabby gamer, there is a well groomed, well dressed, in a relationship (possibly a father!)guy that probably is a CEO of a company. One thing they all have in common, is that they all love gaming, and they were all a bunch of fun to be around. Some of the guys at GenCon looked like real fools, dressed in funny costumes emulating heros that they could never physically be like, but it was Gen Con! Where else can you dress up like that if not at Gen Con!? They were probably in the costume contest and proud of their efforts. Heck, there was another gamer convention going on across the street at the football stadium at the same time, and those attendees were also dressed up like their heros that they could never be like, but for some reason, no one ever laughed at them on the street. (Indiana Colts Football Fans) Same love of gaming, just a different mindset in society toward them. I met some real gamer nerds, one of which really ruined the opportunity to enjoy a new game, but they were all good guys, something I could not say for the Colt fans I met on the street. We did a haunted historical walking tour, which was for the most part, more walking tour than it was haunted or historical, but along the way, we were interupted a number of times by drunk Colt fans who tried to make fun of some of the costumes worn, or simply because we were going on the same path as they were. No big deal, but annoying. Anyway, this is not a comment on the Colt fans, but on the gamer guys. They are a amazingly different group of guys that were a bunch of fun to hang out with and be associated with.
The Girls:
What can I say about the girls? Gamer girls are cool. Just like the guys, they come in all shapes and sizes, and all kinds of differnet models. Kids, high schoolers, college students, moms, and I am sure, grandmas. They are all cool. Some may be true nerds, but I like seeing gamer girls, just like I like to see girls who shoot and hunt. I just think it is cool. Now, if I was a teenage boy, (like my son) then Gen Con is a place of dreams! There are a large number of gals dressed up in fantasy type costumes that are just down right HOT! And those girls that are dressed up like Japanese Anime school girls are definately making some young boys dreams come true!! As my buddy Dave said, he doesn't know who created that look, but he wants to thank them! And corsets... Corsets were big this year, and well, I just really like what corsets do to the look of a woman's body. I did not get to game with any girls other than my own two, but I have in the past and I find it refreshing. It is one thing to game with a bunch of guys, but to game with a couple of gals brings a new level to the game. Women think differently than guys while gaming, and depending on the game, are often more of a challenge to play against than a guy. I like that my wife and daughter enjoy Gen Con. It makes it more fun for me, and it can be a fun family event for us all! They are gamer girls and that is ok with me!!
The Games:
I signed up for a couple of games, some of which I dropped or skipped, but the ones I did play were fun. I really enjoyed my game of Memior '44 which I got to play with my son, and my gaming buddies, Dave and Henry. We were playing the game as a team and on a game that was scheduled for 3 hours, we blew them away in less than 1.5!! We rocked and had a great time! It was not that the other team was bad, it was that we were pretty good and had some luck on our side. I think that to their disadvantage, was that they might have underestimated my son's ability to play this game and he kind of rocked them back on their heels when he started hitting them hard on his side of the board. WE even got to play with the creator of the game as our judge! Cool guy that Richard Borg. I got his autograph, being the gamer geek that I am. I also got to play Tide of Iron, a WWII simulation game that is a simpler version of the original version of the game Squad Leader. (Advanced Squad Leader now requires you give up your day job to learn it..) I was really looking forward to learning this game and I did enjoy playing it, but I was partnered up with a guy that tried way to hard to make it more like Squad Leader. Don't get me wrong, Squad Leader is a great game, but I did not have 6 hours to play this game and it was not supposed to be so complicated! It is an abstract game, but he tried really hard to make it something else. It kind of took the fun out of it for me. At least I got to play it and can play it when it avaialble, but I won't be buying it. The rest of my family was off to play Settlers of Catan, which my wife won. (yay for gamer girl!) Apparently they had a good time too. We also spent some time in the Training Grounds with the kids learning a new game or two and we demoed some games in the Expo Center. (BattleStar Galactica is the game of the convention this year. I would have had a copy if it had not sold out in the first day) If you come to Gen Con and don't play games, then why the hell are you there? One thing I did not do was any D&D. I felt kind of like a traitor to the game, but I had other things to do and so I quashed my guilty feelings on good food, drink, friends, and buying a few new games.
The Gear:
How many games do you know of? How many do you play? Well, there are so many games at Gen Con, it boggles the mind and intimidates the weak by walking through the Expo Center to look at them all. Never mind the t-shirts, the artists, the video games, the furries accessories, or the leather and swords. There are games frickin everywhere. And they are all for sale! Some cheap, some very expensive. It all depends on what you want. But the one thing that was the best thing of them all was not a game, but a gaming table by the Geek Chic company. (see photo below) For a mere $10,000 you can have a solid walnut, twelve person table, complete with writing pullouts, dice holders, cup holders, pen/pencil holders, dry erase top, velvet card top, book racks, walnut table top for eating on (if you were to use it as such) and complete shipping and set up. Oh my gosh was this cool. Words are not enough. Suffice it to say that this company is living up to it's motto and promise to gamers... "Come out of the basement!" This game table is a centerpeice. It was pretty neat and made many a gamer drool.
So that is about it for my reflections on Gen Con. It was a great time. You should go if you are a gamer, regardless of your intensity of gaming. It is way cool. I got to be a out and out geek for a weekend, and nobody cared. It did do one really cool thing for me... it really recharged my desire to game some more.. even RPG's which took a hit over the last year... Go get your gaming hat on!
Later!
This is my son's effort at the Miniature Painting Contest for ages 14 and under. It is WWII M-4 Hellcat coming out of cover of a forest. He worked really hard on this painting and diorama for the Gen Con contest.
Here is some of the competition that my son was up against. I know it is kind of hard to see, but the other two figures, which took first and second, do not look like a kid worked on them, unless the kids were painting savants! Either way we were proud of him. Oh, and the diarama base had to be removed because unbeknownst to us, it could only be a single figure for the 14 and under category. That was disappointing.
My absolute favorite miniature painting of the show. The reflection of the light through the stained glass window is painted on the floor and on the leg of the Lady Knight's armor. It was just the best painting I have seen in a while. The photo does not do it justice.
OOHH... the Geek Chic gamer table... if only I had the money. It was THE item of reknown at the con. I don't think they sold many though. If I were a rich man...
Here we are at the Memoir' 44 game. My son on the left and Henry on the right. The Panzer Lehr division mopped up at the Hedgerow Hell game! We were not supposed to win, especially since the game was balanced more to the Allied side in terms of numbers and such. But, sometimes, skill... and luck, win out over superior numbers!
The Guys, The Girls, The Games, The Gear.
The Guys: The guys, well, were the guys. They are pretty much what you would expect from a bunch of gamer guys. There were the true gamer geeks that look like they have not had an ounce of exercise in years, no exposure to the sun, and poor grooming habits. But there were just as many guys who if you were to pass them on the street, you could not tell that they have role played for years, or that their favorite game is about killer zombies. I now longer associate the term gamer geek with my former description of a gamer. Because for every greasy haired, smelly, anti-social, flabby gamer, there is a well groomed, well dressed, in a relationship (possibly a father!)guy that probably is a CEO of a company. One thing they all have in common, is that they all love gaming, and they were all a bunch of fun to be around. Some of the guys at GenCon looked like real fools, dressed in funny costumes emulating heros that they could never physically be like, but it was Gen Con! Where else can you dress up like that if not at Gen Con!? They were probably in the costume contest and proud of their efforts. Heck, there was another gamer convention going on across the street at the football stadium at the same time, and those attendees were also dressed up like their heros that they could never be like, but for some reason, no one ever laughed at them on the street. (Indiana Colts Football Fans) Same love of gaming, just a different mindset in society toward them. I met some real gamer nerds, one of which really ruined the opportunity to enjoy a new game, but they were all good guys, something I could not say for the Colt fans I met on the street. We did a haunted historical walking tour, which was for the most part, more walking tour than it was haunted or historical, but along the way, we were interupted a number of times by drunk Colt fans who tried to make fun of some of the costumes worn, or simply because we were going on the same path as they were. No big deal, but annoying. Anyway, this is not a comment on the Colt fans, but on the gamer guys. They are a amazingly different group of guys that were a bunch of fun to hang out with and be associated with.
The Girls:
What can I say about the girls? Gamer girls are cool. Just like the guys, they come in all shapes and sizes, and all kinds of differnet models. Kids, high schoolers, college students, moms, and I am sure, grandmas. They are all cool. Some may be true nerds, but I like seeing gamer girls, just like I like to see girls who shoot and hunt. I just think it is cool. Now, if I was a teenage boy, (like my son) then Gen Con is a place of dreams! There are a large number of gals dressed up in fantasy type costumes that are just down right HOT! And those girls that are dressed up like Japanese Anime school girls are definately making some young boys dreams come true!! As my buddy Dave said, he doesn't know who created that look, but he wants to thank them! And corsets... Corsets were big this year, and well, I just really like what corsets do to the look of a woman's body. I did not get to game with any girls other than my own two, but I have in the past and I find it refreshing. It is one thing to game with a bunch of guys, but to game with a couple of gals brings a new level to the game. Women think differently than guys while gaming, and depending on the game, are often more of a challenge to play against than a guy. I like that my wife and daughter enjoy Gen Con. It makes it more fun for me, and it can be a fun family event for us all! They are gamer girls and that is ok with me!!
The Games:
I signed up for a couple of games, some of which I dropped or skipped, but the ones I did play were fun. I really enjoyed my game of Memior '44 which I got to play with my son, and my gaming buddies, Dave and Henry. We were playing the game as a team and on a game that was scheduled for 3 hours, we blew them away in less than 1.5!! We rocked and had a great time! It was not that the other team was bad, it was that we were pretty good and had some luck on our side. I think that to their disadvantage, was that they might have underestimated my son's ability to play this game and he kind of rocked them back on their heels when he started hitting them hard on his side of the board. WE even got to play with the creator of the game as our judge! Cool guy that Richard Borg. I got his autograph, being the gamer geek that I am. I also got to play Tide of Iron, a WWII simulation game that is a simpler version of the original version of the game Squad Leader. (Advanced Squad Leader now requires you give up your day job to learn it..) I was really looking forward to learning this game and I did enjoy playing it, but I was partnered up with a guy that tried way to hard to make it more like Squad Leader. Don't get me wrong, Squad Leader is a great game, but I did not have 6 hours to play this game and it was not supposed to be so complicated! It is an abstract game, but he tried really hard to make it something else. It kind of took the fun out of it for me. At least I got to play it and can play it when it avaialble, but I won't be buying it. The rest of my family was off to play Settlers of Catan, which my wife won. (yay for gamer girl!) Apparently they had a good time too. We also spent some time in the Training Grounds with the kids learning a new game or two and we demoed some games in the Expo Center. (BattleStar Galactica is the game of the convention this year. I would have had a copy if it had not sold out in the first day) If you come to Gen Con and don't play games, then why the hell are you there? One thing I did not do was any D&D. I felt kind of like a traitor to the game, but I had other things to do and so I quashed my guilty feelings on good food, drink, friends, and buying a few new games.
The Gear:
How many games do you know of? How many do you play? Well, there are so many games at Gen Con, it boggles the mind and intimidates the weak by walking through the Expo Center to look at them all. Never mind the t-shirts, the artists, the video games, the furries accessories, or the leather and swords. There are games frickin everywhere. And they are all for sale! Some cheap, some very expensive. It all depends on what you want. But the one thing that was the best thing of them all was not a game, but a gaming table by the Geek Chic company. (see photo below) For a mere $10,000 you can have a solid walnut, twelve person table, complete with writing pullouts, dice holders, cup holders, pen/pencil holders, dry erase top, velvet card top, book racks, walnut table top for eating on (if you were to use it as such) and complete shipping and set up. Oh my gosh was this cool. Words are not enough. Suffice it to say that this company is living up to it's motto and promise to gamers... "Come out of the basement!" This game table is a centerpeice. It was pretty neat and made many a gamer drool.
So that is about it for my reflections on Gen Con. It was a great time. You should go if you are a gamer, regardless of your intensity of gaming. It is way cool. I got to be a out and out geek for a weekend, and nobody cared. It did do one really cool thing for me... it really recharged my desire to game some more.. even RPG's which took a hit over the last year... Go get your gaming hat on!
Later!
This is my son's effort at the Miniature Painting Contest for ages 14 and under. It is WWII M-4 Hellcat coming out of cover of a forest. He worked really hard on this painting and diorama for the Gen Con contest.
Here is some of the competition that my son was up against. I know it is kind of hard to see, but the other two figures, which took first and second, do not look like a kid worked on them, unless the kids were painting savants! Either way we were proud of him. Oh, and the diarama base had to be removed because unbeknownst to us, it could only be a single figure for the 14 and under category. That was disappointing.
My absolute favorite miniature painting of the show. The reflection of the light through the stained glass window is painted on the floor and on the leg of the Lady Knight's armor. It was just the best painting I have seen in a while. The photo does not do it justice.
OOHH... the Geek Chic gamer table... if only I had the money. It was THE item of reknown at the con. I don't think they sold many though. If I were a rich man...
Here we are at the Memoir' 44 game. My son on the left and Henry on the right. The Panzer Lehr division mopped up at the Hedgerow Hell game! We were not supposed to win, especially since the game was balanced more to the Allied side in terms of numbers and such. But, sometimes, skill... and luck, win out over superior numbers!
More photos from Gen Con 2008
Some of the examples from the Spam Carving Contest that is an annual event at Gen Con. There were some fantastic carvings and a good use for Spam! Everything at Gen Con is a contest!
Cardhalla, the free to build card city! There are some really great works of construction here! It is free to build but at the end of the convention, you can help tear it down by tossing coins at the buildings, which after it is all down, are gathered and donated to charities. This year it is the Fisher House, a organization that give housing to wounded soldiers and their families during their recovery periods.
A view of Gen Con Expo Center. Literally millions of dollars worth of merchandise and hundreds of visitors. Some one heard on the radio that there were 70,000 visitors. I doubt that. Normal turn out is 30,000, but regardless, the place was packed, as you can see.
My kids spent some time in the training center, which is a free for all sort of room. Kids can hang out there, play games, work on crafts, wack each other with boffer weapons, or even play video games. It is a nice place and a good place to send the kids when the rest of the convention gets too much.
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