1994: Austin Arrival’s 13th Anniversary

Posted on February 3, 2007 by Steve

Today is one of my favorite anniversaries…my first day in Austin. Unfortunately, the weather is certainly lousier than the day I arrived 13 years ago. I’m not sweating it. Historically, the cold will be over soon (until further notice according to scientists). I only ask myself now and then about why I even left in 1997 for a year to make a go of Raleigh-Durham when I was never impressed with it the first place.

Relocating to Austin is probably the smartest move I’ve ever made in my life, next to returning in 1998. I still miss my friends back in Illinois but the majority of them had gone to the Chicago area by the time I left in 1994. The Silders went to the DC area in 1995 so staking out for a new place worked. There’s still a part of me that wishes I could’ve made the migration to the Windy City because it’s the center of the Midwestern Universe, it’s the NYC of the area. Then I look at the weather widget today and see that it’s -15 degrees C (5 F) with snow and my mind quickly returns to remembering how Austin was the wiser choice. Maybe I should e-mail my brother to needle him about the forecast, it’s supposed to remain below the freezing point for another five days. Then a quick note to Lee who brought me here.

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I think Sen. Biden wrote this “review”

Posted on February 2, 2007 by Steve

Kenny’s got mentioned in the latest issue of XL Ent which is the Statesman’s weak, ongoing attempt to unseat the Austin Chronicle (12 years and still failing). I’m not sure whether or not Kenny should feel insulted or flattered by this synopsis in their two-part run on Austin’s 100 independent coffee shops. You decide:

    There’s nothing remarkable about this homey coffeehouse except its location way up by the north-country toll roads. Otherwise, it’s an inviting place to relax over a decaf, nibble some fresh fruit or play the board games. Business types, daters and young families flock to what has become something of a community center in a neighborhood that obviously needs one.

I’m the first to admit that the shop isn’t “remarkable” if you’re looking for a gimmick like live music, a reading room which used to be a bank vault or security cameras. But this blurb starts off a tad hostile before it states all the great features. It’s like saying your blind date was fat yet he or she was charming, a great dancer, into the same things you are and you do look forward to the next get together. The “fat” comment was spoken first and it gets lodged into the listener’s brain too well to be cancelled out by the sincere praise which followed. Too bad the writer didn’t bother to review the coffee.

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This should be on a T-shirt

Posted on February 2, 2007 by Steve
xxx

Joke courtesy of DieselSweeties.com

I was already tired of the whole media nonsense and blogosphere noise by the time I went to bed the night of the Boston debacle. I caught the apology that night on Adult Swim, disappointed over their inability to pull off a smartass joke, probably at the advice of Time Warner’s lawyers. Then this morning Mr. Stevens of Diesel Sweeties fame posted the above picture. I love that sequence in the Batman movie when he can’t get a break trying to dispose of the bomb. Personally, I think Adam West as Batman or the mayor in Family Guy is more competent than Boston’s police chief in determining what is actually a threat to public safety.

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Batman/The Spirit, 66 years in the making

Posted on February 1, 2007 by Steve

batmanspirit

This is one of the better comic book team-ups in recent memory. I guess with Will Eisner’s death in 2005, his estate worked out a deal to have DC Comics publish new adventures. The Spirit working with Batman is an awesome and logical decision since both of these characters are similar types of superheros. Personally, I only “knew” The Spirit and where his creator Will Eisner stood in the lexicon of comic books; there’s even an award named after Eisner worthy of receiving (unlike the Grammys). My friend Steve Bryant’s book Athena Voltaire was nominated for one and I hope he won. Anyway, my opinion of The Spirit was non-existent because back when I really started to seriously follow comics there were only reprint collections from Kitchen Sink Press, a great publisher. Nice books but too rich for my blood, besides, I was younger then and the stories of the past didn’t appeal to me. Ron Killian (owner of The Turning Page in Milwaukee) was my first real comics sensei and he told me all about The Spirit so I always knew the gist of the story and Eisner’s influence on others I admired. Today, you’ll even notice his influence on modern movies like The Incredibles.

Now with that digression of history out of the way, how is this one-shot? It’s actually pretty good. The Spirit is a good foil for Batman because he’s a more happy-go-lucky type of investigator with some dumb luck. After some odd criminal activities in their respective cities, the characters’ paths cross in Hawaii for a police commissioner’s convention. It turns out that their numerous enemies are working together in a scheme which will leave most major cities wide open for an overwhelming crime spree if they succeed. The writers and artists also chose to go with the Post-War look for Batman’s gadgets and the overall appearance of the world giving the comic a similar look to the recently released New Frontier miniseries. It’s worthy of reading even if you’re just a casual comic book fan and I wanted to plug it because it’s the first really impressive Batman team-up since the Captain America story by John Byrne.

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RIP Molly Ivins

Posted on January 31, 2007 by Steve

This bit of news was rather sudden tonight and I had no idea Molly was sick. She will be missed not only by Liberals and Texans but political humorists in the same vein as Jim Hightower or Will Durst. I only became more aware of her after my return to Austin in 1998. My favorite quote of hers was about the Texas legislature, “also known as the laboratory for bad ideas.”

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Week Seventeen of NHL 2006-07

Posted on January 31, 2007 by Steve

The All Star Game was moderately interesting. Did anyone else detect the rather catty tone of ESPN’s article on how low the ratings for this year’s game versus ABC’s coverage of it in 2004? The game was played on a Wednesday night on Versus, a cable network that’s available in less than 10 million US households. Ah the genius of Gary Bettmann. I think he put more thought into those mediocre Reebok uniforms like Lucas did on merchandising his prequels instead of the plots.

For now, my interest in watching the Flyers stink on the rink is waning right now. The soap opera known as the February 27 trade deadline has my attention. Since my team will limp along to the 82nd game, the suspenseful question is how many players will remain for the 2007 rebuild? Forsberg is gone as far as I’m concerned. The skinny is that no one is safe, including Knuble with his new two-year deal. They did win over Atlanta this weekend, yawn. Then lost in the shootout last night with the Lightning, triple yawn. I’ll probably watch a game here and there since I would rather have the space reserved on the DVR for all those reruns of Enterprise courtesy of the SciFi Channel.

Phoenix is still the more optimistic story. Contrary to the crank pundits on ESPN.com, I believe they will appear in the playoffs without ditching any of the major players they signed. They’re so close right now that they will even keep Nagy and trade him for cap room over the Summer instead. All the Coyotes need to do is be more consistent in their performance and not get humiliated against teams that will unfortunately beat them; Red Wings, Sharks, Ducks and Predators. This still leaves 10 teams in the West I feel they can consistently defeat to gain those 10 or more points needed for the number eight spot.

Brodeur still amazes and continues to close in on Sawchuk and Roy. Hitchcock motivated the Bluejackets again to pull ahead of the Blackhawks and close in on the Blues. Finally, the Penguins will give the mayor of Pittsburgh a decision. I guess it’s between them and Kansas City (the battle of the Has-Beens) because I couldn’t find any scoop on the Houston proposal. Personally, as much as I would like to see an NHL franchise there, I have my doubts due to the turn out for the Aeros. I’ve read how Nashville is in first place for the Central Division yet the attendence is poor while the owner isn’t a jerk like Chicago’s infamous tightwad (some have to ask, which one?). No one wants a return of the problems the NHL faced in the Seventies with franchises jumping from city to city every couple seasons until they fold; the fate of half the WHA, the Scouts-Rockies-Devils or Seals-Barons.

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Moore’s Law gets a reprieve

Posted on January 29, 2007 by Steve

This was a pretty cool bit of news over the weekend. I wonder how soon these improved chips will be in Macs. Sadly there’s no mention of the clock speeds. At least the more efficient use of electricity and less heat means they’ll be in portables pretty quickly.

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Today’s misadventure with our cat Wicca

Posted on January 29, 2007 by Steve

This morning Wicca gave a rather gross chuckle at the vet. Lately, she has been puking more than average for a short-haired cat so I took her in. I wanted to make sure she doesn’t have cancer or any other illness because she will be 16 in April which is equal to 80 for a human. It was a struggle to get her into the carrier for the trip as expected. Wicca continued to whine during the entire drive over. She mellowed out during the examination until Dr. Riggin came in to explain what the immediate results showed. Then the cat proved me wrong with a demonstration of her anxiety as she left a deuce in the carrier. I sympathize a bit for Wicca yet not the embarrassment I was feeling. Thankfully Dr. Riggin has been in the animal-care business for a long time and like a true pro, he laughed it off. His assistant sprayed this awesome stuff that smelled like carmel syrup at the coffee shop to cover it up. Even after a few hours, Wicca still carries the aroma of a carmel latte.

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1994: My final involvement in TSR v. GDW

Posted on January 27, 2007 by Steve

I always forget this mediocre day in history for me and Gaming because it’s always a week before the anniversary of my move to Austin. Not this time though since I was laughing to myself over GDW’s demise 11 years ago while I was recently reading the rather sparse (but generous) Wikipedia entry about them. There’s also two lawyers (real ones, not rules lawyers) in our gaming group and I’ve never really discussed much about the TSR v. GDW & Gary Gygax suit with them. Their expertises are criminal cases not copyright but I’m sure they know the essentials.

So way back in 1992, GDW published Gygax’s come back fantasy roleplaying game Mythus which is an ugly story in itself. TSR chose to sue GDW and Gygax’s company for copyright infringement. The short version of their argument is based upon the rules and concepts Gygax wrote when he was still a part of TSR; he had been contemplating some revisions and simplifications of D&D as early as 1982. Since he was an employee of TSR until 1985, the company owned everything he wrote. TSR was very keen on this after the appearance of Pacesetter Games’ acknowledgements proving those people did it on their nickel. Therefore, their suit claimed that GDW published a game containing material derivative of their property, even if it was never used in any product. Anyone familiar with the Tim Burton versus Disney fight over The Nightmare before Christmas would understand this lawsuit. I had been dragged in for a deposition in late 1993 along with former art director Steve Bryant (then at FASA) and former head editor Lester Smith (then working for TSR, talk about discomfort). By early 1994 the whole trial was underway and I had to attend as a witness at TSR’s request. (I’ll have to ask Lester and Steve why they got to skip that annoying part.) Meanwhile, GDW was seriously on the financial skids because Traveller: The New Era wasn’t a big hit and their other lines had faded off from neglect so TSR suing wasn’t their only problem, just the biggest.

I was in pretty good spirits that day though. TSR paid me some kind of per diem for driving out to Peoria. I had quit my job with DG a week earlier and I would be in Austin by the next. My move was no secret neither. I can’t remember who I joked with at the courthouse but I told them I was going to make it expensive for TSR to drag me into this mess in the future (I was moving to Austin for other reasons.) I have no recollection of what the heck was asked of me on the stand, probably the destruction of the evidence angle TSR wanted to pursue, not the technical parts of Mythus. I do know the judge gave me crap for not using the words “Yes” and “No” since I said “Yeah” or something the old fart didn’t like. It was pretty short thankfully and the quick answer is no, my participation didn’t really matter with the outcome. Still puzzles me as to why I got called up.

As for the outcome of the lawsuit. TSR and GDW settled in late 1994 with TSR buying out all the remaining unsold inventory of Mythus books (at least a few thousand is my guess) and the rights to the game. I’m sure Gygax received something too, he only cared about himself. GDW’s demise remained inevitable. The lawsuit only sped it up for two reasons and both can be blamed on Frank Chadwick (GDW’s president).

  1. He really didn’t know jack about roleplaying games, dismissing the successful ones was a common tactic of his. A great chestnut of his was ripping on FASA’s BattleTech: people playing a board game thinking they’re playing a miniature warfare game. FASA’s bank statements didn’t seem to mind.
  2. He continued to waste GDW’s finite capital, manpower and equipment on the less profitable wargame lines despite that market dwindling since the Eighties with the rise of computer versions from SSI.

It’s all ancient, obscure history now. No wonder I kept forgetting about it.

 

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Scourge of the Howling Horde = D&D for Dummies

Posted on January 27, 2007 by Steve

scourge

It seems WOTC has decided to experiment (or tamper) with a tried-and-true format in order to bring in new D&D players. For 25 years, most published adventures came with the maps and the text giving a synopsis. Sometimes there were visual aids such as illustrations of a room, writings left behind as clues or a puzzle. The monsters the players encountered usually had their key stats laid out or referenced in the appropriate MM if they were “standard” versions. Essential NPCs had their stats, equipment, spells and motivations presented in the back. Several years ago, the NPC format was changed to a new standard established in DMG II. It was longer, more elaborate but it would speed up the game because everything the NPC could do was easily accessible. Personally, I’ve never found this more efficient. As the DM, I was already accustomed to the 3.0 edition’s block style and I would transfer the key stats to these more effective Initiative Cards from the Game Mechanics. Due to my methods, I greatly dislike the new NPC format as it wastes space, splits hairs and tends to obscure the class levels of the NPC or monster.

With the release of Return to Castle Ravenloft, the format on the encounters or rooms was changed to a rather dumbed-down style which is why I passed on buying it. Scourge also embraces this shift. For 15 dollars and 32 pages, it is really an eight-page adventure WOTC has given away as a PDF in the recent past. How so? Practically every room or encounter receives at least one whole page describing the contents, occupants and a blown-up map of where any of the monsters may be when the players kick in the door. WOTC needs to give DMs a bit more credit on how to run some rather routine encounters…it is only a goblinoid lair comprised of a dozen rooms. There’s even a blurb showing what the XP rewards are per encounter. That’s definitely a waste of space when there could just be a reference to which page in the DMG answers the question (38 if you didn’t know). Meanwhile the opposition’s hit points are check boxes which is only practical if the DM photocopies the entire adventure. Good thing none of the monsters residing here regenerate or have more than 30 hit points.

Overall, this is only a good adventure for my 11-year-old nephew who is plagued with a short attention span like all kids his age. If WOTC could at least put a banner, sticker or some other warning about this being written for complete newbies, it wouldn’t have been so bad. Otherwise Scourge is similar to the Fantastic Locations series in its emphasis on using minis but without the cool color maps. I’m more afraid of this oversimplified format working its way into Dungeon and other published adventures. My favorite magazine is down to three adventures a month thanks to the DMG II format. This type of layout could boil it down to one heavily padded module with too much white space, throwaway columns and longer, insipid Downer comics. I can feel myself already being nudged into the Goodman Games camp despite the mediocre review I gave them last time.

Bottom Line: If you’re a beginner, then this is the product to start a new campaign after you fix the premise of “some podunk town is looking for adventurers,” which is the plot device for The Seven Samurai and A Bug’s Life. That cliché is almost as tired, lame and implausible as “you meet in a tavern.” If you’re a DM with at least a couple years of experience, this is a waste of money and has no real redeeming value. For the experienced DMs like me who did buy this, I think I can salvage it into a solo adventure or a side trek for two PCs. If I did start a new set of heroes with this, I’d make the players be from the threatened community and beef up the opposition in the caves.

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Fake iPhone Commercial

Posted on January 25, 2007 by Steve

Here’s a little something that puts the iPhone into perspective from Conan O’Brien. All without Triumph threatening to poop on it.

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Week Sixteen of NHL 2006-07

Posted on January 24, 2007 by Steve

It could’ve been worse on these new uniforms. The real test will be what they look like with 30 teams’ logos on them. Reebok makes some super ugly shoes, I figured they could only mess up jerseys.

On the other hand, the lousy schedule involving teams to play the others in their divisions eight times will remain. So I will only get to see my Flyers in Dallas every three years. Not enough votes, nor courage, to streamline the NHL from six divisions to four which would’ve helped. My personal guess is the governors are waiting to see how Pittsburgh will shake out because they’ll have to re-align everything should the Penguins move to Kansas City, Houston (the one I could live with) or elsewhere. I do hope the team leaves Pittsburgh because Lemieux is being a whining brat since he can’t get the city, county or state to completely subsidize his failing business.

That’s it for this week since it’s the All Star Break.

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$50 iTunes cards at Costco, get ’em while they last

Posted on January 23, 2007 by Steve

Yesterday, I was at Costco picking up items we needed. When I went by the electronics section I checked out the iTunes cards being sold, wondering why they only had the large amounts versus the smaller ones most retailers carried. Besides, they sell 100 stamps for under $39, I thought maybe there’s a chance they’d shave a buck off this. Turns out they do! Costco is selling $50 iTunes cards for $44.99.

I was a little skeptical though since these would have to be sold at a loss. It’s doubtful Costco would be selling something “stolen” or from the gray market. However, I checked with a friend at Apple involved with iTunes just be sure before I told everyone I know. Turns out everything is copacetic between Apple, the music labels and Costco so buy them while they’re around. Once they’re out, who knows if bulk retailers will restock these cards. I’m still hoping against hope they’ll bring back Home Run Inn Pizzas, Lucky Jeans and Molson Beer to mine in north Austin.

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More developments on “feathered” dinosaurs

Posted on January 22, 2007 by Steve

For the fifteenth Science story I was going to plug the obit on the co-developer of the Electron Microscope but that would’ve been pretty morbid. Instead I stumbled upon this stating there is evidence of the first flying dinosaurs having a bi-plane design. Why not since more of the evidence about the ancient creatures has also pointed toward them being endothermic, even this Playmobil toy set seems to back that theory.

If you read the article, there’s a good explanation of what is meant by bi-plane so you won’t get your imagination thinking of a dinosaur looking like a Sopwith Camel.

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An all Midwest Super Bowl this year

Posted on January 22, 2007 by Steve

I didn’t catch either game since we don’t subscribe to the main networks on Dish and rabbit ears don’t help in this hilly part of Texas. I’m also being a stubborn hockey fan too but I didn’t have any real stake in the games’ outcomes. However, an all-Midwest Superbowl has a nice ring to it. Certainly better than the all New York one when it was the Bills versus the Giants. I have little sympathy for the championship losers because I’m not fond of New Englanders in general (they’re not called Massholes for humorous reasons). Okay, there’s the sympathy angle for New Orleans even if the team’s owner is a jerk like so many franchise owners (Paul Allen is the only I can think of who isn’t a total jerk). Sympathy or the Cinderalla angle may work in Disney movies, fat chance in the real world when the Super Bowl is on the line. Plus Reggie Bush still isn’t worthy of the Heisman being a “graduate” of the University for Spoiled Children.

So with some reservations, I will be siding with Da’ Bears because I despise Indianapolis on every level. My family and I lived in that third-rate city for ten months. Had I known my father would stupidly taken a new job in North Dakota, maybe I would’ve liked it more. Anyway, we moved to India-no-place around the same time the Baltimore Colts fled to be the star attraction of the new Hoosierdome. Other than the consistently awful NBA Pacers, this city didn’t have any major pro sports teams to go ape over. The mantra at the time was, “We have an NFL team, now we’re somebody! This will put Indianapolis on the map before and after Memorial Day weekend! (when the 500 happens)” My response was always, “Yeah right. Green Bay has had the Packers for decades and it’s still a dull, nowhere place.” I think Bears’ fans may consider a victory over the Colts to be revenge for losing to them in the Peyton Manning Derby almost a decade ago; my old roommate and Bears Fanatic Paul knows what I’m talking about. The residents of Naptown are probably enjoying this victory while they can since the Colts’ owner is probably threatening to move his team to Los Angeles if they don’t keep kissing his ass. Usually, I don’t get very upset for long when my teams lose though. So Marquette lost. Doesn’t mean my degree isn’t invalidated. So the Flyers are having the worst season of their 40-year history right now. Doesn’t mean the people of Philadelphia should kill themselves in a massive suicide pact (this goes for the Eagles, Sixers and Phillies). I guess that makes me a lesser fan for not being in a funk for weeks over my teams’ losing ways. I do grant an exception for Indianapolis when it comes to the Colts though (Pacers I just have pity for), should they lose and they will despite whatever Vegas says. When they lose, I will grant license to Bears fans to ridicule them, put Naptown up for autction to sell it to Canada, and any other cruel thing they want to say.

As for my reservations on backing the Bears? Being “ethnically” a Midwesterner (22.5 years in IN, IL and WI), Chicago fans are rarely good sports in winning and especially in losing. That Superfans skit on SNL wasn’t too funny to me neither, it was an annoying reminder of Chicago sports hubris. Back to my roommate Paul. He’s an awesome guy. He’s generous, disciplined with money and time management, and definitley a reliable friend when I was in need. Paul is the most knowledgeable sports fan I’ve ever met. When Da’ Bears, Da’ Bulls, or Da’ Cubbies (he is an optimist) are playing, his civility evaporates. Like many of his fellow Chicagoans, there is much yelling (really cursing), there is much cheering for injuries to happen to the other team, there is uncool taunting, etc. You can’t tell them, “Dude, relax, it’s just a game.” They’re not gracious in losing. Remember the foul-ball incident with the Cubs several years ago? I always recalled Paul’s answer not being pleasant when he was taunted with the expression “How ‘bout those Bears?” after they lost the year after their Super Bowl victory. Or how miffed Bulls fans would be in the Eighties when they’d brag about “Jordan scored 30 points last night!” only to be deflated with the reply from Bucks fans of “Sure, but they still lost by 25 right?” They’re immodest in victory too. They were already dreaming of commemorative plate sets for their “inevitable” NFL dynasty following the Super Bowl in 1986. I found the strings of repetitive championships in the NBA to be equally tiresome. I will concede, those were some impressive teams then but Michael Jordan wasn’t the NBA or the Messiah as he’s ridiculed in The Onion.

In the end, let’s hope this Super Bowl will be exciting, interesting and bare-breast free. I still have my hands full consoling all the Cowboys’ fans crying in their beers over Tony Romo’s blunder.

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