Local Cabal Campaign - Fourth Session

Another good session, though it was more talk and less action than last time. We may have our voodoo priestess character dropping out for personal reasons on the part of the player. It's a pity if that turns out to be the case, since I've come up with some cool background information for the object she is searching for.

Special kudos to Scott P., who kept coming up with colorful additions to every scene, including an intense speech regarding the difference between an honorable fight and murder. He initiated a scene that involved the convention cast, which I may use as the introductory scene for my next convention Cabal scenario. It was exactly the sort of thing I was hoping would happen when I decided to run GURPS Cabal at home as well as conventions.

I think I'm officially re-inspired. And now I have some writing to do...

Dexter - Season 4

I just finished Season 4 of Dexter last night. Awesome stuff, and the best season yet. I'm almost tempted to get Showtime to watch the new episodes.

John Lithgow absolutely lived up to what I've heard as the most frightening serial killer on the show yet, and a true match for Dexter. I love the way he rattled Dexter enough that the implications of Dexter's resulting errors will bleed over into the new season. Great writing, and great acting performances all around. Very highly recommended!

I really wonder how much longer they can keep this show running, especially after a season as powerful as this one. Almost anything afterward has to feel anticlimactic. I'd like to see the show end with Season 5 or 6 with Dexter being caught or killed, with some kind of twist involved. If I were writing it, I'd probably end it with his being killed in the midst of his serial killer activities in such a way that his actions are misinterpreted in the end in a heroic way, preserving his nice guy reputation while he actually and deservedly pays the ultimate price.

Three Person Splunge - Refocus

It was just Jason, Sal, and myself this time, with Nick out of the picture due to work, Jared out due to other activities, and the singer situation still unresolved.

We managed to get through almost all of the songs, sounding relatively good, but actually did as much talking as playing. We've identified at least one element of our rhythm problem and tried playing a little differently to correct it. I don't think it's 100% of the problem, but the change certainly seemed to help, so I'm willing to follow it through and try it on the other songs. Sal recorded several songs for this session again, and I want to give those recordings a good listen to see how much difference it made.

We're giving up on the flexible line-up idea, since most of the group simply doesn't have the skills to pull it off and it hasn't been working out the way I'd hoped in any case. We're going to try some other changes as well, though I'm less certain of how much impact those will have.

There won't be another September session, but we should have Nick back on board and a new singer to audition for the October session. I'm looking forward to it.

Meditation and Refocus

I was slacking for a while on meditation and yoga, and started to feel the difference, so I got back on top of both over the last week or so. The really positive aspect to that is I'm feeling much better, much more aware of what to do and how to do it from here.

Re: music. Sal (one of our guitar players) taped parts of the last session. Listening to the recordings showed me that, in spite of a lot of practice over the last year and a half, my singing hasn't improved very much. I've gained a little skill, but I'm still limited by the voice nature gave me, and that's a fair voice at best. Nick (another one of the guitar players) sounds better on the recording in some respects, even with his lack of experience. I'm better at knowing what to do; he sounds better doing it. Not that I ever claimed to be lead singer material, but I was hoping I'd improved more than I did.

This reminds me that I'd be best off getting back to my customary role focusing on bass and backing vocals. I'm a good instrumentalist and only a workable (if experienced) singer, so I'm going to have to operate accordingly. And unfortunately that's not what the group I have needs from me. Sal, Jason and I are getting together to play tomorrow, and all concerned have some issues to discuss, so we'll see what comes out of that.

Re: roleplaying. The urge to write roleplaying material is creeping back, specifically to write the Lovecraftian GURPS Cabal convention scenario I've been meaning to get back to. I'll make some notes. The home GURPS Cabal campaign is going well, and I think that helps.

I'm still having something of a creative identity crisis, but if it's about getting my proportions right, I'm working my way through it.

Magic: The Obsession

We recently had a Magic: The Gathering session, which was the first in a long time. The occasion was that some of our younger generation of players are heading off to college or the military, and this was going to be the last time we'd have them around for quite a while.

I went a very unfortunate 2-6 for the occasion, in spite of bringing some of my better decks. Only one of the games was a blowout (most came down to the last four life points or so on both sides), but damn, I haven't done that badly in years. There are a couple of reasons for this. I think the main reason is that the level of competition has changed. The more casual (and therefore less formidable) players have largely dropped away, leaving the hardcore. No easy wins anymore.

So, I'll work the last cards I purchased a year or two ago into my decks and hope for better next time.