Here there be spoilers...and grumpitude.

( Read more... )

Tuesday: Bad movie at my place, come on over when you finish work or after 5, whichever. We can watch one out of the aforementioned three...(Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus, Valley of Gwanji and Troll 2)

Come on over, I'd love to see you!

Also, I made a T shirt quilt, take a look: http://wp.me/pp6oN-13D

Hey all,

in this time between Christmas and New Years, I have time off work and nothing much to do (bliss!). Also, I have bought Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus on DVD. Plus, it's nearly a year since we watched the Valley of Gwanji *and* some of you still haven't seen Troll 2.

I'm thinking that it should be Best Worst Movie night week at my place. The 30th and the 31st are out, but any night before then is open season.

Is anyone keen? Comment and lemme know what day(s) you're free and which movies you're most excited to see. We can start as early as tomorrow night if people are up for it :)

... and a Happy New Year!

(And/or any other celebratory days you might happen to observe.)

Happy Christmas everyone!

Peace on Earth! Give me presents!

Things I Love Christmas: http://wp.me/pp6oN-13x

( Christmas Day! )

Phew, awesome awesome party. Highlights besides conversations: couches on the balcony, Apples to Apples, Ants stealing all cushions, group photos, Being Matt Damon reminiscing and fooooood.

Thanks to all who came, thanks for my presents and Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

( Christmas Eve )

Aside from a few moments of procrastination, I've been rather busy working on a epigraphic network project and consequently neglecting my Google Reader, so there will be some pre-Christmas catching up before the post-Christmas Greek translation preparation.

Reflection of Puppets (Sisters vs NIN vs Metallica)

via

I'm teaching Latin next year, and I'm interested in bringing various new technologies into the learning environment, so if anyone has interesting suggestions, I'm taking 'em!

wrote a bit about titles: http://wp.me/pp6oN-13q

It's getting to that time of year when recapping is fairly popular. It's only natural - there's a break now, you change your calendar, and probably the biggest party of the year is presently being organized. New Years in some form feels like a new day, a new chance to start off as you really meant to carry on in 2009 (and before.)

I guess I'm no exception. I think the big achievement for me this year was writing my SDC entry cold - it's a complete adventure straight from my brain to paper without having to blatantly steal the genius of play-testers. Huzzah.

Which is not exactly what I wanted to talk about. I recently had a discussion with Marcus which went along the lines of:

Al - I don't understand why some people stick doggedly to a single system/setting
Marcus - I don't understand why some people change all the time: they can't really have exhausted the story potential completely
Al - Yeah, but I think a lot of what happens after the first couple of games is chasing that sense of exploration and new-cool
Marcus - Hmm... but until you get a certain familiarity with what's going on, how can you develop any substance

These two strands combine into what I actually wanted to talk about, which was the vast number of gaming books I own, but have never used.

For the SDC I sat down in my library and semi-methodically worked my way around the room and for every game I wrote a couple of lines down about an adventure or story I could run for that game. It surprised me when doing this just how many games I haven't run or played in the past 20 years that I still somehow managed to pony up the cash to buy.

I'm at work now, but off the top of my head... Mage: The Sorcerer's Crusade, Werewolf in any form, the whole Dark Ages line from WW, Monte Cooke's World of Darkness, Aberrant and Trinity, Wild Talents, Colonial Gothic, Rippers and Pirates of the Spanish Maine, MERP, Coyote Wild, Reign, Cold City, most CoC variants, Castle Falkenstein, A|State; not to mention failing to keep up with the latest editions of old stalwarts.

I imagine that this problem is only going to get worse as I get older.

Reminder: You're welcome to come and watch a movie with us tonight if you're free. Anytime after 5 is OK to turn up. It will be something Christmas themed :)

( December 23rd )

last day of work today, it was awesome. Now I can turn off my alarm, spend some time mooching, relaxing and writing.

Today I did a lot of baking before basking in the sun, playing Rock Band and having a beer. Was awesome.

( Click here )

Heads up!

there's some virusy thing attached to livejournal, or my livejournal in particular, I'm not clear on which. If your screen suddenly opens something that looks very like a Windows desktop telling you to scan for viruses, close it down.

I've contacted LJ about getting it fixed, but as long as you shut the window and don't allow it to download you should be OK.

Also, more on Christmas at my blog: http://wp.me/pp6oN-13f

( December 21 )

So about 10 years ago I walked through The Square, and down towards a favourite bookstore where I was accosted by a moderately cute woman only a couple of years older than me holding some leaflets. She explained to me that the Earth was DOOMED unless I could help out. So despite the relative inconvenience to me, I signed up to provide $25 a month to Greenpeace.

The next time I encountered a collector I was able to talk knowledgeably about the activities of Greenpeace and, in somewhat conspiratorial fashion, was able to join in the lamentation for the death of Mother Earth.

For the past 10 years I've kept half an eye on the world, to see how saving it was coming along, and let me tell you folks - I'm not feeling too optimistic about it any longer. About 5 years in, I started avoiding the collectors on the street. I'd given up reading the pamphlets and without that crucial inside knowledge my claim to brotherhood was true but unbelievable.

I stopped updating my address with them when I moved back to Wellington; presumably the resident of 16 Kitchener St, Masterton, has gotten either quite infuriated with the procession of Greenpeace pamphlets, or been indoctrinated in turn. I didn't stop the AP though, which was ultimately the point from their POV.

$300 a year is no longer a big deal for me, but I've come to regard it as a somewhat frivolous and fanciful investment in the future. I don't know if I've ever seen anything that made me really feel like my contribution was part of something that actually mattered - that the organisation to which it was donated was doing anything useful. I guess lost my faith.

So a couple of months ago I was browsing Wikipedia for something fairly useless and this banner at the top started to bug the hell out of me. "We need your money". It's a site run completely for non-profit and with the laudable goal of improving mankind! So I ponied up $25 and set up a donation.

The next time I went to Wikipedia, I felt an immediate sense of accomplishment and value. Sure $25 is as small a drop in the ocean of Wikiepdian cost as Greenpeace's actual ocean, but on the other hand the utility and power of the thing is immediately obvious and accessible. There's no question in my mind that Wikipedia's provding an invaluable service for a lot of folk.

The nett result I guess is that I'm now out $50 a month rather than $25, which is not so bad. I can afford it. And today I remembered to put out my recycling too.

Hey you guuuuuuys!

( December 20 )

I'm slow, but I did a spec the Halls entry all the same:

http://jennitalula.wordpress.com/2009/12/19/spec-the-halls-entry-happy-christmas-morning/

( December 19 )

So, while I'm down in Welly, I'd like to play some ultimate.  Who needs a stand-in for a couple of weeks?

Or in other words, which of my large collection of Creature shirts should I bring?  :) 

Here for you is a Buffy actual play report "Hospital drama" in which the GM miscalculates how tough the PCs are: http://wp.me/pp6oN-134

and then of course...

( December 18 )

Now that I have no job, I must admit, I need monies to pay rent, buy christmas pressies, etc.

So do any of you need someone to do work for them?

I can type, chop wood, baby sit, clean, mow lawns, do basic accounts, tutor a child or secondary school kid, proof read, sherpa goods up a mountain or pretty much anything people might need.

Oh, except for surf lifesaving, yeah, I'd pretty much suck at that.

So, comment, email or text if you need someone or if you know of someone who needs someone!