John Wick,

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Tom Waits
Orpheum Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
Wed, Jun 18, 2008 08:00 PM 


Seat location: section SEC B, row 24, seats 5-4

I have a strange desire for an Atomic Fireball right now.

No, I mean the kind you eat.

So I've kept the playtest application for the Dresden Files RPG open during the bleeding alpha period. During the playtest, we've taken in an additional 200+ applications. As of this time, the total number of playtest applications on file is over 850.

Think we have enough?

Anyway, I put this out there because I've gotten a few people saying "why haven't I heard back", and so on. We're looking at a TITANIC number of interested folks here, and we've only done one round of picks for playtesting so far -- maybe 30 applications at most. That still leaves over 800 folks who are *possible* for later-round picks.

But we can't send out 800 emails each time we do a round of picking to tell folks "sorry, you're still on pending status", not managably, and not without that eating into actual productivity.

BUT! Those of you who have applied and not heard back should know that at the least, we'll be contacting you once ALL playtesting is concluded and we're heading towards publication. We'll want to do right by everyone who took the time to apply -- we haven't quite figured out what form that will take, but it *is* our intention, and one I hope we can deliver on.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor    .flv 11MB    HD720p .wmv 37MB
Finally, the first trailer for the third movie of the mummy series, this time directed by Rob Cohen (Stealth, xXx, The Fast and the Furious). Explorer Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) has to combat the resurrected Han Emperor (Jet Li) in an epic that races from the catacombs of ancient China high into the frigid Himalayas. He's joined by son Alex (Luke Ford), wife Evelyn (Maria Bello replacing Rachel Weisz) and her brother (John Hannah). They must stop a mummy awoken from a 2,000-year-old curse who threatens to plunge the world into his merciless, unending service. Michelle Yeoh plays a double-crossing sorceress.
Looks just what a good summer action-adventure should look like. But you can also sense some of the almost a thousand special-effect shots that for some reason the director is proud of having been able to squeeze in.

City of Ember     .swf 10MB   HD720p 53MB    Online
First trailer for the big screen adaptation of the fantasy novels by Jeanne DuPrau. For generations, the people of the City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights. But Ember's once powerful generator is failing and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker. Now, two teenagers (Saoirse Ronan, Harry Treadaway) in a race against time, must search Ember for clues that will unlock the ancient mystery of the city's existence, and help the citizens escape before the lights go out forever. Bill Murray plays the Mayor, Tim Robbins, Martin Landau, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook are also part of the cast. Directed by Gil Kenan (Monster House).
Even if it's mainly targeted at children this looks quite impressive I have to say.

Elegy     24 MB
Emotional drama about an elderly teacher (Ben Kingsley) who glories in the pursuit of adventurous female students but never lets any woman get too close. When gorgeous Consuela Castillo (Penelope Cruz) enters his classroom, however, his protective veneer dissolves as her beauty both captivates and unsettles him. Even if he declares her body a perfect work of art, she is more than an object of desire. She has a strong sense of herself and an emotional intensity that challenges his preconceptions. His need for her becomes an obsession. Patricia Clarkson, Peter Sarsgaard and Dennis Hopper round up the cast. Directed by Isabel Coixet (My Life Without Me, The Secret Life of Words), based on the novel "The Dying Animal" by Philip Roth.

Monster Camp     21 MB
Endearing documentary about Live-Action Role-Players (LARP). For some it's merely a hobby, for others it's an addiction. In the vein of Lord of the Rings, World of Warcraft, and Dungeons and Dragons; these enthusiasts have developed a complicated world to bring their fantasies to life. Romantic relationships are forged between characters. Friendships are destroyed over plot disputes. Characters are slain and never return. But keeping this world alive takes a lot of real world work. And unless someone is willing to take charge, the fantasy may be lost forever.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe     HD480p 30MB   HD720p 78MB   HD1080p 113MB
Hi-def quicktime version of the recently posted trailer for the second movie based on the popular TV series starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.

3 worst things that can happen to a girl on the eve of a party night:

Having her period.

A killer headache arriving.

Moving being very hard due to the above.

I'm smoking one more cigarette and dragging my ass to the shower nevertheless, even though I'd rather be at Hannah's watching gory movies and drinking. Oh, life! What did I ever do to you?!

My car is packed and ready to roll for the weekend. This is unheard of.

Reading: I'm making my way through John Adams but during my packing for the weekend, I didn't bring that big lug of a book but chose the more slender Money Shot by Christa Faust instead.

Wearing: I've got this splendid white cotton button down shirt that makes me want to go to a Carribean island so I can wear this shirt while drinking on the beach. Also, clean jeans.

Planning: Going to Aaron's wedding!

Writing: This week was a bust. I'd like to blame the allergies and the xyrtec but that wouldn't be too damned honest.

And you?



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It's Friday, it's FREAKANGELS: http://www.freakangels.com/?p=37

http://www.freakangels.com/?p=37

Page 1 of 6 -- Continue Reading

Quick DRYH/FATE-inspired die mechanic:

Whenever you roll for something, you roll Xd6 [where X >= 1]. Depends on the die throw, you total your results differently:
* If there are any '1's in the roll, your result is a flat 1.
* Otherwise, your result is the total of your dice.
Compare with TN or another roll, highest wins.

So, the more dice you bring in, the more likely that both you'll succeed grandly and that you'll fail. A potential location for a point of tension.

Potential "crunchiness handles":
* Fail number (in this case 1, but maybe "1 & 2" for really rough checks)
* Number of dice
* Die size (maybe larger for more competence or something, as a 1 is less likely)
* Other, special dice that don't trigger failure if they come up 1
* The number of fail dice needed to trigger failure (in this case 1, but maybe something would be "needs two or more dice to be 1 in order to FUBAR it up.")

Potential "narrative handles:"
* Additional dice beyond some starting number are gained through descriptive action or incorporation of color, like in Wushu
I'm sure there's more, but it is after 3am.

("Crunchiness handle" term courtesy of Robin Laws. It is probably my favorite term as of late.)

Ever since being diagnosed with Celiac's, I get a little stressed out before any kind of roadtrip where I don't make extensive plans to travel with a king's ransom-sized treasure chest of food.. This absolutely sucks. I used to get all pumped up to travel and now all I can think about are the hundred thousand little things that could have gotten done, many of which have little to nothing to do with the trip itself.

The journey this weekend is a joyous one to boot. My buddy, Aaron, is getting hitched to a lovely lady and its a relationship where I had the honor of seeing it born. I get to spend a night in a nice bed and breakfast with Janaki and we'll get all dressed up and foxy.

But an hour ago, I was all pre-trip jitters. It was time for heavy-bag therapy.

My iPod has a playlist with four minute upbeat songs that I use to time out four minute rounds on the bag. Tonight I was working on the 1-2 combo, concentrating on keeping range and really thinking about snapping the jab back.

In between rounds I did a fairly easy three exercise circuit. Six rounds later, any travel stress had evaporated and there was nothing left but sweat, the clean laundry I had dropped in the dryer before starting my bag routine and good pre-trip excitement.

This is great idea!


http://www.carrotmob.org/make-it-rain.html

The Game Chef winners have been announced. I'm not one of them, but good for them!

I was just telling my mom the other day that Paul Green's School of Rock occasionally has Zappa shows. As it turns out, another is in just a few weeks with a performance of Joe's Garage, Frank Zappa's rock opera.

I'm going to go to the Saturday, June 7th show. Surely there's another Zappa fan on my Friends List.

[32min 44sec] This finishes up the conversation with Lenny from our chat at the GAMA Trade Show 2008 in April. In this episode, you'll hear more conversation about the Dresden Files RPG, as well as a discussion about differing perspectives on Vincent Baker's In a Wicked Age.

You can find the episode here:
http://thatshowweroll.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=339804

I saw the 30 second version of this commercial a while back and -- well, honestly, I can't remember if I've shared it before. But! I don't think I've seen the 60 second version ever, and I just love the weird they crammed into a minute here:



Food for Don't Rest Your Head, I think.

So, there's a gamestore in Glen Burnie, Maryland -- Games and Stuff -- that just signed up for a retailer account at IPR: http://www.gamesandstuffonline.com/

This is IPR's first retailer in the entire DC area (all of Virginia and Maryland combined, in fact). Dream Wizards kept dropping the ball on talking to me, so on the recommendations of a few of you folks I reached out to G&S as a good second option for the Maryland side of things. G&S responded very quickly -- I sent the email, like, yesterday or so -- and what with HeroCon happening at their store in early November, I can definitely see building a partnership with them in the coming years. Plus, they're decently close to rob_donoghue, so I'm pretty excited about that.

Anyway, Ed from Games & Stuff says he'll probably be placing an order in the next week or so, so if you've got any special orders let them know -- or drop on by in early June when I figure stuff will be on the shelves!

Just stepping out of the shower, thinking about a project I've wanted to do for a very long time (and may get to do at GenCon this year), I had a sudden realization. I'm still pretty shaky on it, but I'm confident enough to write it down in public, just to see what other people think.

D&D is not the first roleplaying game.

Diplomacy is.

So, I had this sebaceous cyst in my upper left back that was basically a sweat gland with an attitude. It gave me the mutant power that allowed me to moonlight as Stink-Back, wreaking smelly justice on criminals everywhere. But with this power also came the curse... of occasionally getting assaulted by the stench of crimefighting power myself!

So I had my power taken away. I know it's a serious issue for a lot of mutants out there, but honestly, I can fight crime in other ways.

... In other words, I had an outpatient surgical procedure done today. Got to see the cyst after it was taken out and everything. Fascinating and gross!

The surgeon in question was Dr. Bobby David down in Takoma Park. If you're in the Maryland area and need some kind of outpatient surgery done, I cannot recommend this guy enough. He's been very understanding, very laid back, and very competent throughout. My appointment was at 1:30pm today. I was done -- back out the door, cyst removed, percocet prescription in hand -- by 2:10pm. Unheard of. And overall, given that it was SURGERY, a very pleasant experience.

I'm dizzied by the amount of responses I've received to this post in my anthropologist community. I thought about trying to respond to them all, but I gave up and ran away.

I think this is the first time I've posted there; knowing that the community is filled with people living the kind of lives I dream about, I'm more than a little intimidated. I haven't even taken a single college course; I don't have much to say other than, "Hai I luv u guyz I can has Guns, Germs, and Steel?"

Anyway, I think I'm going to take the advice of most everyone in that community and go for this. Screw the naysayers I'm encountering elsewhere. They're mostly Internet Tough Guys in random forums that like to mock anyone with a degree that doesn't immediately yield money and power. I just want to learn about stuff. Stuff I like. Sure, college is a pretty expensive way to do that, but college is an experience too. I seriously think once I start taking classes, I'll be thrilled that I finally did it.

HAHAHAHA!

one of the BEST Keith Olbermann's "Special Comment" segments in some time...

BRAVO!!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/24635229


if the vid doesn't work:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24632990/

Apparently I am a JUSTICE fan.

My coworkers are filling my brane with danceable trax.

Yeahhh it's tough working here.