Just got back from a trip to North Carolina, visiting some family. Nothing special to talk about, really, except to say that being busy with that trip is the main reason I don't have much else to talk about right now.
We did make a trip to a local store called Camelot Treasures, which had a wild variety of cool stuff. There was a particular abundance of Harry Potter associated merchandise, and they appeared to be gearing up to satisfy the Twilight fans. They had some period costumes, and won my heart with a dressing room exterior wall painted as the TARDIS from the Doctor Who TV series. We spent a fair amount of money there, and could easily have spent a lot more than we did.
They also have musical groups come in to perform, such as Draco and the Malfoys performing Harry Potter themed songs. It's lucky that this place isn't closer to home, or I might be spending a fair amount of time there.
I've never seen so many churches so close together before. I'd heard that church attendance was a big deal in that part of the country, but it's another thing to see so much evidence of it. I saw more churches there on a single five mile stretch of road than we have in the entire city of Reading and the surrounding communities. I even saw two or three churches located directly next to each other multiple times. Seems to me as though some of them must ultimately compete for members of their particular denomination. It must look like rush hour there early on Sunday mornings.
I get along well with my sister-in-law, and it was good to see her, but I'm not in any hurry to repeat that drive, all the more so because I've done so much traveling in the last six weeks or so. I'm actually looking forward to spending some time at home for a little while.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
MEPACon Recharge
I'd been running low on inspiration for roleplaying and feeling much more interested in other things lately, but MEPACon really helped me in that respect. I've had a burst of ideas and a better idea as to what my next couple of roleplaying projects will be.
Keeping the home In Nomine campaign running is top priority on the project list, and I'm fine with that at this point.
The next GURPS Cabal scenario ("Lives in the Balance") is next on the list and well underway. I just need to take the time to finish it, and other things have been demanding my attention of late.
The next item on the list was a surprise to me. My wife is reading fan fiction in a big way again, which seriously limits my computer time. I was reviewing my post-MEPACon project list when a cluster of ideas starting coming to me about one of those projects, so I started making notes, and before I knew it I had a whole outline for a sequel to "A Slice of Blackwoods" following what happens to one of the characters after the events of that scenario, including a detailed cast of new characters and their relationships to each other. I love it when it all comes to me in white heat like that. The downside is that the fun part is almost all done; the rest is mostly paperwork.
The other project that's high on the list is my next Sorcerer scenario. I hadn't planned on doing Sorcerer again so soon, but I have two really good ideas for it. The next one will probably be a bizarre comedy take on it, which I don't want to say anything more about until it's ready. It won't take much time to do, and will probably leapfrog the "Blackwoods" sequel because it will work better for my spring conventions and shouldn't take as long to finish.
Those three scenarios should get me through my 2009 conventions. My best guess would be that my new scenarios for 2010 would be for In Nomine and Paranoia, but that's a long way from now, and I've learned to roll with inspiration as it comes.
Keeping the home In Nomine campaign running is top priority on the project list, and I'm fine with that at this point.
The next GURPS Cabal scenario ("Lives in the Balance") is next on the list and well underway. I just need to take the time to finish it, and other things have been demanding my attention of late.
The next item on the list was a surprise to me. My wife is reading fan fiction in a big way again, which seriously limits my computer time. I was reviewing my post-MEPACon project list when a cluster of ideas starting coming to me about one of those projects, so I started making notes, and before I knew it I had a whole outline for a sequel to "A Slice of Blackwoods" following what happens to one of the characters after the events of that scenario, including a detailed cast of new characters and their relationships to each other. I love it when it all comes to me in white heat like that. The downside is that the fun part is almost all done; the rest is mostly paperwork.
The other project that's high on the list is my next Sorcerer scenario. I hadn't planned on doing Sorcerer again so soon, but I have two really good ideas for it. The next one will probably be a bizarre comedy take on it, which I don't want to say anything more about until it's ready. It won't take much time to do, and will probably leapfrog the "Blackwoods" sequel because it will work better for my spring conventions and shouldn't take as long to finish.
Those three scenarios should get me through my 2009 conventions. My best guess would be that my new scenarios for 2010 would be for In Nomine and Paranoia, but that's a long way from now, and I've learned to roll with inspiration as it comes.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Classic Albums
I've been thoroughly enjoying the Classic Albums DVD series via Netflix. If you decide to check these out, beware the Classic Albums Under Review copycat series, which don't have anything to do with the people who actually made the music, because the insights into the making of the classic albums are the best reason to watch these.
For example, I just watched the one about the making of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" album. One of the more interesting bits was the opportunity to hear Roger Waters' original demos of some of these songs. If you heard those demos and weren't familiar with the eventual end product, you'd never believe these songs would eventually become part of one of the greatest rock albums of all time. The songs themselves are obviously solid, but the demos sound weak, and it's clear how much the players themselves bring to the material when you hear what they were working from.
In contrast, Pete Townshend's personal demos for the Who are incredibly good. The bass and drum parts even bring Entwistle's and Moon's playing to mind (though Townshend's playing of those instruments obviously isn't as good). He knew the players he was working with and did a great job of bringing across exactly what he wanted them to do.
The making of Queen's "A Night at the Opera" gave me a whole new appreciation of the members of that group as well. Freddie Mercury gets a lot of well deserved credit for what he did with Queen, but with this DVD, you can really hear the contribution of the other people involved as well, and see that Queen was more than a backing group for Freddie.
The Classic Albums series includes a lot of footage of the people involved in the making of these albums (producers and sound engineers as well as players) using the master tapes and a mixing board to drop out various parts or effects so you can clearly hear the separate parts, so you can learn how Queen executed their distinctive harmonies in the studio, how Pete Townshend's synthesizer experiments led to the songs on "Who's Next", and other interesting bits of information. These are not performance videos; they're more like the "making of" extras on most movie DVDs, and they are real gems if you're a musician or a hardcore fan who is really into the details of how some great music was made. Very highly recommended!
For example, I just watched the one about the making of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" album. One of the more interesting bits was the opportunity to hear Roger Waters' original demos of some of these songs. If you heard those demos and weren't familiar with the eventual end product, you'd never believe these songs would eventually become part of one of the greatest rock albums of all time. The songs themselves are obviously solid, but the demos sound weak, and it's clear how much the players themselves bring to the material when you hear what they were working from.
In contrast, Pete Townshend's personal demos for the Who are incredibly good. The bass and drum parts even bring Entwistle's and Moon's playing to mind (though Townshend's playing of those instruments obviously isn't as good). He knew the players he was working with and did a great job of bringing across exactly what he wanted them to do.
The making of Queen's "A Night at the Opera" gave me a whole new appreciation of the members of that group as well. Freddie Mercury gets a lot of well deserved credit for what he did with Queen, but with this DVD, you can really hear the contribution of the other people involved as well, and see that Queen was more than a backing group for Freddie.
The Classic Albums series includes a lot of footage of the people involved in the making of these albums (producers and sound engineers as well as players) using the master tapes and a mixing board to drop out various parts or effects so you can clearly hear the separate parts, so you can learn how Queen executed their distinctive harmonies in the studio, how Pete Townshend's synthesizer experiments led to the songs on "Who's Next", and other interesting bits of information. These are not performance videos; they're more like the "making of" extras on most movie DVDs, and they are real gems if you're a musician or a hardcore fan who is really into the details of how some great music was made. Very highly recommended!
Sunday, November 09, 2008
MEPACon Fall 2008
MEPACon always seems to involve mixed feelings for me, as I run at least one really good session each time, enjoy playing something new to me, play with some cool new people, and yet my GURPS events draw little or no interest. This time was no exception.
I arrived early enough to join Mike Sarno's first Tales of Peril game as a player. Tales of Peril is a 1930's pulp setting based on Daniel Bayn's Wushu. The mechanics encourage over-the-top action hero behavior. All of the players except for me were members of a high school roleplaying club attending their first convention. Much to my surprise, every one of the young players passed on the main character and chose supporting characters, leaving me playing the star. They were a fine group on the whole, taking advantage of the system's opportunities to add setting details and wild action, and a good time was had by all. It's a pity that they were just there for the day, as they didn't get to do more than get the slightest taste of the convention experience, but based on their reactions, I suspect we haven't seen the last of this bunch.
My scheduled Friday night GURPS Cabal game drew no interest at all, so I pitched in with one of my fellow MIBs to give him enough players to play a session of Munchkin Booty (the pirate iteration of the Munchkin card game). There's nothing special to say about it, other than that the non-MIB player seemed to really enjoy himself and that it was a nice chance to hang out with Steve Edelman and Erik Zane again.
There weren't any appealing Saturday morning events, and I wasn't scheduled to run anything again until Saturday afternoon, so I joined Mike Sarno's midnight session, playing a game involving a prison escape using the Engle Matrix rules. This wasn't a roleplaying game in the sense of the player having control over a particular character. The rules involve each participant focusing to some degree on one particular character, but proposing the occurrence of events in the story advancing that character's interests and choosing another player to serve as a referee regarding how likely it is that those events will occur. Others can counterargue the logic of the events if they like, then a die roll ultimately decides whether or not the proposed event becomes established as an official part of the story. Very rules light and story-oriented. I personally have a strong preference for stepping into the shoes of the character, so the one-step-removed style wouldn't be my preferred mode of play, but it was enjoyable enough, and I'd certainly play it again if the subject matter was interesting enough.
My Saturday afternoon In Nomine session ("Fear Itself") drew a full house of players, most of whom were familiar to me. I took a bit of a risk and allowed a seventh character when the scenario was written for six. The seventh character was originally an NPC, but I really didn't want to turn anybody away if I didn't have to, and the character had spent a lot of time hanging around with the PCs anyway the first time I'd run this one, so I took a chance. It did in fact slow the game down a bit, but not so much that the players minded. It was a lively session with a surprisingly textured finish that gave all of the characters and the Big Bad of the scenario a happy ending!
Saturday night's Sorcerer session ("A Dance of Pairs") was the most brutal I've run since I started running Sorcerer. The final toll for the PCs was one dead passer demon, one imprisoned sorcerer, one imprisoned passer demon (with the ability to feed his Need), one sorcerer confined to an insane asylum, one sorcerer free but spiritually broken, and one relatively happy passer demon (the one attached to the sorcerer confined as insane without actually being so). We were one of those noisy groups that draws attention from other tables due to all of the cheering and occasional yells of phrases that might have caused bystanders to call the police in a different setting. Very memorable session!
Afterward, I joined the traditional MEPACon midnight poker game for my first time. Three hours later I was effectively fifth place out of eight. Not an impressive showing by any means, but respectable enough.
My Sunday GURPS game (fantasy genre this time) again drew no player interest, freeing me to play Mike Sarno's Lovecraftian Engle Matrix session for a couple of hours, but I was seriously dragging from a lack of sleep and still had a two hour drive ahead of me, and so decided to drive home rather than play anything else.
Overall, a good time and a worthy trip. My sessions as a GM were either big successes or drew no players at all, as usual for me for MEPACon. I doubt I'll be back for the spring MEPACon if I'm going to GenCon next year, but there's a fair chance I'll return in the fall.
I think a change in tactics is due for next time, though. If I'm going to offer GURPS, I'm going to have to do it with a media tie-in or some other gimmick to grab player interest. GURPS Dollhouse might be an option by that time. Another alternative would be to run more than one In Nomine session, step up the indie games that have been working for me there, or return to what usually draws well at MEPACon, which is Call of Cthulhu. My roleplaying batteries have been recharged, and I have some fresh ideas that make me want to get back to writing new material for next year.
I arrived early enough to join Mike Sarno's first Tales of Peril game as a player. Tales of Peril is a 1930's pulp setting based on Daniel Bayn's Wushu. The mechanics encourage over-the-top action hero behavior. All of the players except for me were members of a high school roleplaying club attending their first convention. Much to my surprise, every one of the young players passed on the main character and chose supporting characters, leaving me playing the star. They were a fine group on the whole, taking advantage of the system's opportunities to add setting details and wild action, and a good time was had by all. It's a pity that they were just there for the day, as they didn't get to do more than get the slightest taste of the convention experience, but based on their reactions, I suspect we haven't seen the last of this bunch.
My scheduled Friday night GURPS Cabal game drew no interest at all, so I pitched in with one of my fellow MIBs to give him enough players to play a session of Munchkin Booty (the pirate iteration of the Munchkin card game). There's nothing special to say about it, other than that the non-MIB player seemed to really enjoy himself and that it was a nice chance to hang out with Steve Edelman and Erik Zane again.
There weren't any appealing Saturday morning events, and I wasn't scheduled to run anything again until Saturday afternoon, so I joined Mike Sarno's midnight session, playing a game involving a prison escape using the Engle Matrix rules. This wasn't a roleplaying game in the sense of the player having control over a particular character. The rules involve each participant focusing to some degree on one particular character, but proposing the occurrence of events in the story advancing that character's interests and choosing another player to serve as a referee regarding how likely it is that those events will occur. Others can counterargue the logic of the events if they like, then a die roll ultimately decides whether or not the proposed event becomes established as an official part of the story. Very rules light and story-oriented. I personally have a strong preference for stepping into the shoes of the character, so the one-step-removed style wouldn't be my preferred mode of play, but it was enjoyable enough, and I'd certainly play it again if the subject matter was interesting enough.
My Saturday afternoon In Nomine session ("Fear Itself") drew a full house of players, most of whom were familiar to me. I took a bit of a risk and allowed a seventh character when the scenario was written for six. The seventh character was originally an NPC, but I really didn't want to turn anybody away if I didn't have to, and the character had spent a lot of time hanging around with the PCs anyway the first time I'd run this one, so I took a chance. It did in fact slow the game down a bit, but not so much that the players minded. It was a lively session with a surprisingly textured finish that gave all of the characters and the Big Bad of the scenario a happy ending!
Saturday night's Sorcerer session ("A Dance of Pairs") was the most brutal I've run since I started running Sorcerer. The final toll for the PCs was one dead passer demon, one imprisoned sorcerer, one imprisoned passer demon (with the ability to feed his Need), one sorcerer confined to an insane asylum, one sorcerer free but spiritually broken, and one relatively happy passer demon (the one attached to the sorcerer confined as insane without actually being so). We were one of those noisy groups that draws attention from other tables due to all of the cheering and occasional yells of phrases that might have caused bystanders to call the police in a different setting. Very memorable session!
Afterward, I joined the traditional MEPACon midnight poker game for my first time. Three hours later I was effectively fifth place out of eight. Not an impressive showing by any means, but respectable enough.
My Sunday GURPS game (fantasy genre this time) again drew no player interest, freeing me to play Mike Sarno's Lovecraftian Engle Matrix session for a couple of hours, but I was seriously dragging from a lack of sleep and still had a two hour drive ahead of me, and so decided to drive home rather than play anything else.
Overall, a good time and a worthy trip. My sessions as a GM were either big successes or drew no players at all, as usual for me for MEPACon. I doubt I'll be back for the spring MEPACon if I'm going to GenCon next year, but there's a fair chance I'll return in the fall.
I think a change in tactics is due for next time, though. If I'm going to offer GURPS, I'm going to have to do it with a media tie-in or some other gimmick to grab player interest. GURPS Dollhouse might be an option by that time. Another alternative would be to run more than one In Nomine session, step up the indie games that have been working for me there, or return to what usually draws well at MEPACon, which is Call of Cthulhu. My roleplaying batteries have been recharged, and I have some fresh ideas that make me want to get back to writing new material for next year.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Hardcore Zen/Sit Down & Shut Up
These are the first two books written by Brad Warner, and there's a third coming out early next year. Interesting guy. Most Zen masters don't have backgrounds involving being a punk rock bassist and working on the Ultraman TV series. I'd been looking for "Hardcore Zen" when I found "Sit Down & Shut Up" and ended up reading that one first. In retrospect, I think things ultimately worked out for the best that way.
"Hardcore Zen" gets off to an autobiographical start. That was fine with me, since I share some of Warner's interests, but it didn't have much to do with Zen as far as I could see. The point was actually to show how he became interested in Zen Buddhism, though it takes some time for that to become clear. The turning point was the chapter called "The Great Heart of Wisdom Sutra", which is the clearest explanation of that sutra that I've ever read. Not that I've read that deeply on the subject, but it's a rare teacher who can bring that kind of clarity to his subject, and he follows through the rest of "Hardcore Zen" in the same mode.
I suspect that one of the reasons Buddhism isn't more popular in the west is a translation problem. There are words in some languages that have no real equivalent in another, and the more distant the relationship of the original languages, the harder translation can become. And there's a lot of linguistic distance indeed between English and the eastern languages used in the countries where Buddhism began. A good interpreter can bring across the general sense of the original language, but in some cases they literally lack the words, especially when the ideas involved carry many shades of subtle meaning. I have to give major credit to Brad Warner for bringing some Zen Buddhist ideas across far more clearly than I've read elsewhere. His style is direct and engaging, though I understand some people find that style a bit abrasive.
Dr. Aether was asking me about the book "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind", and my response was that while that's an excellent book, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for a westerner's first exposure to Buddhism. I think "Hardcore Zen" just might be the book I would recommend in that role, with the caution to the reader to hang in there through the early chapters.
"Sit Down & Shut Up" is a smoother mix (which is why I'm glad I read that one first), keeping the autobiographical elements in the form of documenting a reunion of Midwestern punk bands and using the experiences as a framework to explain Dogen's "Shobogenzo". I have absolutely no experience with the work he's discussing, and so I have no opinion as to the quality of his explanation, but I can say that I found the ideas as inspiring as any of my other Buddhist reading and his presentation a lot more accessible than most for a person of my background.
I'd give both books a strong recommendation for a westerner interested in learning about Zen Buddhist concepts, especially "Hardcore Zen", with a caution to at least read through to the end of the Heart Sutra chapter if it hasn't been your cup of tea up to that point.
"Hardcore Zen" gets off to an autobiographical start. That was fine with me, since I share some of Warner's interests, but it didn't have much to do with Zen as far as I could see. The point was actually to show how he became interested in Zen Buddhism, though it takes some time for that to become clear. The turning point was the chapter called "The Great Heart of Wisdom Sutra", which is the clearest explanation of that sutra that I've ever read. Not that I've read that deeply on the subject, but it's a rare teacher who can bring that kind of clarity to his subject, and he follows through the rest of "Hardcore Zen" in the same mode.
I suspect that one of the reasons Buddhism isn't more popular in the west is a translation problem. There are words in some languages that have no real equivalent in another, and the more distant the relationship of the original languages, the harder translation can become. And there's a lot of linguistic distance indeed between English and the eastern languages used in the countries where Buddhism began. A good interpreter can bring across the general sense of the original language, but in some cases they literally lack the words, especially when the ideas involved carry many shades of subtle meaning. I have to give major credit to Brad Warner for bringing some Zen Buddhist ideas across far more clearly than I've read elsewhere. His style is direct and engaging, though I understand some people find that style a bit abrasive.
Dr. Aether was asking me about the book "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind", and my response was that while that's an excellent book, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for a westerner's first exposure to Buddhism. I think "Hardcore Zen" just might be the book I would recommend in that role, with the caution to the reader to hang in there through the early chapters.
"Sit Down & Shut Up" is a smoother mix (which is why I'm glad I read that one first), keeping the autobiographical elements in the form of documenting a reunion of Midwestern punk bands and using the experiences as a framework to explain Dogen's "Shobogenzo". I have absolutely no experience with the work he's discussing, and so I have no opinion as to the quality of his explanation, but I can say that I found the ideas as inspiring as any of my other Buddhist reading and his presentation a lot more accessible than most for a person of my background.
I'd give both books a strong recommendation for a westerner interested in learning about Zen Buddhist concepts, especially "Hardcore Zen", with a caution to at least read through to the end of the Heart Sutra chapter if it hasn't been your cup of tea up to that point.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Voting
I'm from the school of thought that if you don't vote, you have no right to complain about the election result. No vote is a vote for apathy; a write-in says I care enough to vote and could have voted for your candidate if you'd offered a better one. A write-in sends a very different message to the people who run the political parties, in my opinion. If "none of the above" got more than half the vote, it would show that someone other than a Republocrat or a Demoplican could have won, and maybe someone else will step up. Both major parties feel to me as though they've been hijacked by their extremists (the Republicans more so) and aren't really serving the majority of the voting public.
I'm more than a little mystified at how some people choose who they're going to vote for. I'm personally willing to do a certain amount of research, but admittedly not as much as some other people. I don't understand people who always vote for one particular party, or based on one particular issue, or just because someone "seems like such a nice man". I've actually heard that one as the sole reason a woman I know voted for a candidate for president of the U.S. It suggests that the voter doesn't consider the decision as worthy of any real amount of thought. Please, folks, really think about your vote. It really does matter who is in charge, and one vote can make a difference, because a couple of thousand people who don't think they make a difference may have, if they'd voted.
As for this year's presidential election, I'm still undecided to an extent. I'm not voting for McCain; the question is whether I vote for Obama or vote for an independent candidate (likely Bob Barr). I find it interesting that both major candidates undercut their own argument against their opponent in their choice of VP. McCain's VP candidate is under qualified and Obama's VP candidate is very much part of the political establishment. It doesn't give me a lot of faith in either one. Conventional political wisdom is that the VP choice doesn't matter, but it matters to me in this case. I could live with Biden as president if need be; I believe Palin would be downright dangerous as president (even worse than George W.), and considering McCain's age and health, that alone is a big reason for me not to vote for that ticket.
Both major candidates for president seem to believe that a big honkin' government program of some kind is the solution to the problems facing this country, and I couldn't disagree more. There are situations where government must step in, but I think those situations must be carefully chosen. Government should stay out of the lives of people as much as possible and consider what incentives can be given to private interests to serve the public interests when it can. I'm not hearing that philosophy from either of them (except from McCain, to a slight extent).
I like Obama's apparent thoughtfulness and calm, but I'm not altogether convinced that that thoughtfulness is real. I hear a lot of talk about change, and not very many satisfactory answers regarding exactly what he plans to change and how. Some of the specifics I do hear I find disturbing.
I strongly dislike McCain's very negative and occasionally intentionally misleading campaign. When a candidate spends more time telling me why I shouldn't vote for his opponent than why I should vote for him, it suggests a lack of ideas.
I know that conventional wisdom in American politics is that it doesn't pay for candidates to get too far into specifics because most of the public supposedly can't follow the logic of the arguments. The philosophy is to keep things simple because most people won't understand it and will end up voting for the other guy they can understand. Does anyone else find this disturbing? I personally would honestly prefer to be educated so I can make an intelligent choice rather than trying to sift through emotionally charged and often misleading sound bites looking for substance.
I'm more than a little mystified at how some people choose who they're going to vote for. I'm personally willing to do a certain amount of research, but admittedly not as much as some other people. I don't understand people who always vote for one particular party, or based on one particular issue, or just because someone "seems like such a nice man". I've actually heard that one as the sole reason a woman I know voted for a candidate for president of the U.S. It suggests that the voter doesn't consider the decision as worthy of any real amount of thought. Please, folks, really think about your vote. It really does matter who is in charge, and one vote can make a difference, because a couple of thousand people who don't think they make a difference may have, if they'd voted.
As for this year's presidential election, I'm still undecided to an extent. I'm not voting for McCain; the question is whether I vote for Obama or vote for an independent candidate (likely Bob Barr). I find it interesting that both major candidates undercut their own argument against their opponent in their choice of VP. McCain's VP candidate is under qualified and Obama's VP candidate is very much part of the political establishment. It doesn't give me a lot of faith in either one. Conventional political wisdom is that the VP choice doesn't matter, but it matters to me in this case. I could live with Biden as president if need be; I believe Palin would be downright dangerous as president (even worse than George W.), and considering McCain's age and health, that alone is a big reason for me not to vote for that ticket.
Both major candidates for president seem to believe that a big honkin' government program of some kind is the solution to the problems facing this country, and I couldn't disagree more. There are situations where government must step in, but I think those situations must be carefully chosen. Government should stay out of the lives of people as much as possible and consider what incentives can be given to private interests to serve the public interests when it can. I'm not hearing that philosophy from either of them (except from McCain, to a slight extent).
I like Obama's apparent thoughtfulness and calm, but I'm not altogether convinced that that thoughtfulness is real. I hear a lot of talk about change, and not very many satisfactory answers regarding exactly what he plans to change and how. Some of the specifics I do hear I find disturbing.
I strongly dislike McCain's very negative and occasionally intentionally misleading campaign. When a candidate spends more time telling me why I shouldn't vote for his opponent than why I should vote for him, it suggests a lack of ideas.
I know that conventional wisdom in American politics is that it doesn't pay for candidates to get too far into specifics because most of the public supposedly can't follow the logic of the arguments. The philosophy is to keep things simple because most people won't understand it and will end up voting for the other guy they can understand. Does anyone else find this disturbing? I personally would honestly prefer to be educated so I can make an intelligent choice rather than trying to sift through emotionally charged and often misleading sound bites looking for substance.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Music Night
I came home a little while ago from Music Night with Jason and Bob. Adding Bob to the mix was a real help, allowing us to switch off lead vocals and playing guitar as needed, not to mention occasionally harmonizing with each other. I'd prefer to spend more time on bass, which is the more natural instrument for me, but the flip side of that is that this has been a real opportunity for me to improve on guitar.
Bob and I were able to pull some of the old material we knew together out of the vaults, adding to the song list, though I'd never played some of those songs on guitar before. The quality of the sound is still very rough, being that Bob isn't any more in practice at this point than Jason and I are, but I'm not terribly worried about that at this stage. Lack of a lead guitar player is more problematic, since some of the transitions in the songs are based on lead guitar cues, making parts of some songs very rough. Not to mention that the instrumental sections seem a little dull when the only instruments are rhythm guitar and drums. On the plus side, Bob may not have the vocal range he once did, but the quality is still definitely there.
I don't know how much more we'll be able to get together this year, with the holidays about to keep everybody seriously busy for a while, but I'm looking forward to doing whatever we can, and hope that the new year will find us bringing a few more musicians into the mix.
Bob and I were able to pull some of the old material we knew together out of the vaults, adding to the song list, though I'd never played some of those songs on guitar before. The quality of the sound is still very rough, being that Bob isn't any more in practice at this point than Jason and I are, but I'm not terribly worried about that at this stage. Lack of a lead guitar player is more problematic, since some of the transitions in the songs are based on lead guitar cues, making parts of some songs very rough. Not to mention that the instrumental sections seem a little dull when the only instruments are rhythm guitar and drums. On the plus side, Bob may not have the vocal range he once did, but the quality is still definitely there.
I don't know how much more we'll be able to get together this year, with the holidays about to keep everybody seriously busy for a while, but I'm looking forward to doing whatever we can, and hope that the new year will find us bringing a few more musicians into the mix.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Roleplaying Update
Holiday scheduling has struck again already, putting most of my roleplaying groups on the back burner. The next Dramaville session won't be until December, and I'm already prepared for it, so there isn't much to do there.
I'll be participating as a player in Mike H's FATE campaign, but the first time I'll be running a game again will be at MEPACon in early November, with all horror material that I've run before.
I've got a decent start on next year's GURPS Cabal scenario, but the truth of the matter is that I've been too tied up with other things to finish it. I know exactly what I'm doing with it; I just need to take the time to do it.
Not sure what I'm going to do after that, though, and I need at least one other scenario to run for conventions next year. The most likely possibility is that I'll just condense some Dramaville material for an easy In Nomine scenario to make sure I have enough to get by, and see what seems inspiring after that. I'd love to run some Paranoia again if I can come up with the right idea for it, and it might be time to bring Fluid to a convention, at least for the next PoliCon, to see what some of the indie crowd might suggest for it.
I'll be participating as a player in Mike H's FATE campaign, but the first time I'll be running a game again will be at MEPACon in early November, with all horror material that I've run before.
I've got a decent start on next year's GURPS Cabal scenario, but the truth of the matter is that I've been too tied up with other things to finish it. I know exactly what I'm doing with it; I just need to take the time to do it.
Not sure what I'm going to do after that, though, and I need at least one other scenario to run for conventions next year. The most likely possibility is that I'll just condense some Dramaville material for an easy In Nomine scenario to make sure I have enough to get by, and see what seems inspiring after that. I'd love to run some Paranoia again if I can come up with the right idea for it, and it might be time to bring Fluid to a convention, at least for the next PoliCon, to see what some of the indie crowd might suggest for it.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Wedding Anniversary
Another part of the reason for the New York trip was in celebration of our wedding anniversary. It's actually very appropriate that my sister-in-law was with us on the trip, since she was also with us on our first date (long story, and a good one). Unsurprisingly, after we returned we ended up discussing the reasons why our marriage has lasted over 20 years, and I thought it might be worth putting those reasons out here for anyone to read.
Shared Values - We both took a fairly serious approach to dating, and discussed all of the Big Issues before either one of us was willing to get too invested in a relationship. I'd been badly burned in a prior relationship when my live-in girlfriend turned out to be wildly irresponsible, and it was just my wife's nature to be cautious with her heart. Not the most romantic approach in the world, but it kept us from getting deeply involved only to find out that there was something about the other that we simply couldn't live with. Knowing that we were on the same page regarding Big Issues allowed us to be flexible about the smaller issues and to know the difference between Big Issues and small ones. So what is a Big Issue? That needs to be defined by the individuals involved.
Shared Sense of Humor - Humor is more than just how well you can make jokes at parties; it's a tool to help people get through the rough spots in life. Used correctly (that is, without attacking each other with it), it can help you handle differences between the two of you when you disagree, and to cope when life deals you an especially rough hand, as will inevitably happen if you stay together long enough. And I'd say that if you don't understand another person's sense of humor, you probably don't truly understand that person well enough to be married to them.
Flexibility - People will change over time, and that includes you and your partner. My wife and I have each probably been three or four different people during the course of our marriage, depending on how you want to define those changes, and each of us had to make adjustments when the other changed. My relatively recent interest in Buddhism would be an example of the type of change I'm talking about. If my wife had been unable to accept that, I'd have to have chosen whether to stay on that spiritual path or stay married. Fortunately, after asking some questions, she was able to deal with my changes, and we continue on. Some couples will run into Big Issue changes that really can't be resolved and may have to break up, and for some couples what is actually a small issue (or small issues, plural) becomes a Big Issue for one reason or another. Sometimes people simply tire of each other and look for reasons to end a relationship, whether they consciously realize it or not.
Flexibility also means letting the small issues go. My wife and I had difficulties early in our marriage because I was (and still am) a much more social creature than she is. When the weekend came, I wanted us to go out with friends and she wanted to stay home. I didn't want to go out without her, and she didn't want anyone else coming to our house. We ultimately agreed that I could go out without her if I really wanted to go somewhere and that I wouldn't argue with her about choosing to stay home. I eventually became more comfortable with the idea of staying home sometimes on weekends. She occasionally agrees to go somewhere, though it remains a real rarity. My friends still think this is a little strange, and there's a running joke that I'm not actually married and just have an actress that I occasionally hire to play my wife in situations where I need one, but it works for us and that's all that matters.
Every couple has things they have to work out, and what those things are will vary with the couple. I suppose my advice here boils down to knowing the difference between the Big Issues and the small stuff, and learning to constructively negotiate the small stuff. And remember that most things qualify as small stuff.
Shared Values - We both took a fairly serious approach to dating, and discussed all of the Big Issues before either one of us was willing to get too invested in a relationship. I'd been badly burned in a prior relationship when my live-in girlfriend turned out to be wildly irresponsible, and it was just my wife's nature to be cautious with her heart. Not the most romantic approach in the world, but it kept us from getting deeply involved only to find out that there was something about the other that we simply couldn't live with. Knowing that we were on the same page regarding Big Issues allowed us to be flexible about the smaller issues and to know the difference between Big Issues and small ones. So what is a Big Issue? That needs to be defined by the individuals involved.
Shared Sense of Humor - Humor is more than just how well you can make jokes at parties; it's a tool to help people get through the rough spots in life. Used correctly (that is, without attacking each other with it), it can help you handle differences between the two of you when you disagree, and to cope when life deals you an especially rough hand, as will inevitably happen if you stay together long enough. And I'd say that if you don't understand another person's sense of humor, you probably don't truly understand that person well enough to be married to them.
Flexibility - People will change over time, and that includes you and your partner. My wife and I have each probably been three or four different people during the course of our marriage, depending on how you want to define those changes, and each of us had to make adjustments when the other changed. My relatively recent interest in Buddhism would be an example of the type of change I'm talking about. If my wife had been unable to accept that, I'd have to have chosen whether to stay on that spiritual path or stay married. Fortunately, after asking some questions, she was able to deal with my changes, and we continue on. Some couples will run into Big Issue changes that really can't be resolved and may have to break up, and for some couples what is actually a small issue (or small issues, plural) becomes a Big Issue for one reason or another. Sometimes people simply tire of each other and look for reasons to end a relationship, whether they consciously realize it or not.
Flexibility also means letting the small issues go. My wife and I had difficulties early in our marriage because I was (and still am) a much more social creature than she is. When the weekend came, I wanted us to go out with friends and she wanted to stay home. I didn't want to go out without her, and she didn't want anyone else coming to our house. We ultimately agreed that I could go out without her if I really wanted to go somewhere and that I wouldn't argue with her about choosing to stay home. I eventually became more comfortable with the idea of staying home sometimes on weekends. She occasionally agrees to go somewhere, though it remains a real rarity. My friends still think this is a little strange, and there's a running joke that I'm not actually married and just have an actress that I occasionally hire to play my wife in situations where I need one, but it works for us and that's all that matters.
Every couple has things they have to work out, and what those things are will vary with the couple. I suppose my advice here boils down to knowing the difference between the Big Issues and the small stuff, and learning to constructively negotiate the small stuff. And remember that most things qualify as small stuff.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
I Don't (Heart) New York
I've just gotten back from five days in New York City, and it's all Harry Potter's fault.
I'd better start again. My wife and her sister are very close, and both are fans of Daniel Radcliffe, the guy who plays Harry Potter in the movies. And so when young Daniel started performing in the Broadway play "Equus", her sister bought tickets for the two of them. As I understand it, there's a scene toward the end involving Mr. Radcliffe being stark nekkid, but the ladies assured me that had nothing whatsoever to do with their interest, and of course I believe everything they tell me. My sister-in-law ultimately saw the play three times in less than a week with a front row seat the third time, so she must have enjoyed it.
And so we ended up scheduling several days in NYC, doing various things. The ladies went to their play while I wandered Times Square (ultimately buying a cheap Talking Heads CD). We spent some time in Madame Tussaud's, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Mahayana Buddhist temple in Chinatown, and the Building Formerly Known as CBGB's (sadly, now a designer clothing store).
I've been to many major cities before, here in the U. S., in Europe, and in Brazil, and I must say that for good and for ill, NYC may be the ultimate city. I love that you can find virtually anything there, and hate the claustrophobic feel of the place. I love that virtually anything is within walking distance or within the reach of public transportation, and hate that choosing to drive would be a seriously white knuckle experience. I hate the cost of virtually everything there. Yes, I know that where I live has a relatively low cost of living and the reasons why costs in New York are so high, but it just feels fundamentally wrong to me that a $25 per person lunch is considered cheap there.
So much of the place feels excessively crowded and like one massive effort to part other people from as much cash as possible as quickly as possible. Every major city has their tourist traps, but New York City just feels like one gigantic tourist trap to me. On the other hand, it's a very exciting place, full of possibilities, and the sense of crowding is a matter of what you're accustomed to. It's been a great place to visit each time (if crazy expensive), and a lot of people love it, but frankly, you couldn't pay me enough to live there. I need a lot more greenery and a lot fewer people and buildings in my life.
I'd better start again. My wife and her sister are very close, and both are fans of Daniel Radcliffe, the guy who plays Harry Potter in the movies. And so when young Daniel started performing in the Broadway play "Equus", her sister bought tickets for the two of them. As I understand it, there's a scene toward the end involving Mr. Radcliffe being stark nekkid, but the ladies assured me that had nothing whatsoever to do with their interest, and of course I believe everything they tell me. My sister-in-law ultimately saw the play three times in less than a week with a front row seat the third time, so she must have enjoyed it.
And so we ended up scheduling several days in NYC, doing various things. The ladies went to their play while I wandered Times Square (ultimately buying a cheap Talking Heads CD). We spent some time in Madame Tussaud's, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Mahayana Buddhist temple in Chinatown, and the Building Formerly Known as CBGB's (sadly, now a designer clothing store).
I've been to many major cities before, here in the U. S., in Europe, and in Brazil, and I must say that for good and for ill, NYC may be the ultimate city. I love that you can find virtually anything there, and hate the claustrophobic feel of the place. I love that virtually anything is within walking distance or within the reach of public transportation, and hate that choosing to drive would be a seriously white knuckle experience. I hate the cost of virtually everything there. Yes, I know that where I live has a relatively low cost of living and the reasons why costs in New York are so high, but it just feels fundamentally wrong to me that a $25 per person lunch is considered cheap there.
So much of the place feels excessively crowded and like one massive effort to part other people from as much cash as possible as quickly as possible. Every major city has their tourist traps, but New York City just feels like one gigantic tourist trap to me. On the other hand, it's a very exciting place, full of possibilities, and the sense of crowding is a matter of what you're accustomed to. It's been a great place to visit each time (if crazy expensive), and a lot of people love it, but frankly, you couldn't pay me enough to live there. I need a lot more greenery and a lot fewer people and buildings in my life.
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