* = I think I might adopt this facial expression...
Last night was a huge disappointment. The Giants managed to sniff that angel fart all the way to the Super Bowl & the Lombardi Trophy. You know the reality is I’m not to upset about them actually winning, although I could really do without the macho bravado and trash talking that they spew in an attempt to prove something. What really makes it unbearable is the bandwagon jumpers, the N.Y. media, and the New York fans themselves. The only person I can stand LESS than a N.Y. fan is a Philly fan. The thing is I would never tell that to a Philly fan because I don’t want to be pelted with batteries.
Let me explain something to you folks about ‘fly over country’, we aren’t as dumb as you think we are. Sure we don’t have all the enmities you might, but most of us don’t want or need them. Again, we aren’t some type of ‘cultural hub’, but again we aren’t a self-aggrandizing breeding ground for douche baggery either. The key to the whole matter is you, being East Coast Elitist & West Coast Snobs, fail to grab is when you act like asshats it doesn’t endear you to us, which is the remainder of the country. You seem to revel in your obnoxiousness and your ever-elevated sense of self-importance. The thing is I’ve been there, I can’t make it there, but you couldn’t ‘make’ it here.
There is a singular lack of tact, class, and humility that seems to occur within this strain of humanity, and I use the term ‘humanity’ loosely. So as I sit a day after sitting through another disappointing NFL season ending in a win by a team stacked with extremely talented individuals being lauded by their self-perpetuating in-city hype machine I can’t help but sigh, a sigh of discontent. If ever there was a ‘State of Mind’ that epitomized why most of ‘Merica hates you look no further than the last week of pomp and circumstance sprinkled with your behavior post win.Last night I finished Mysteries Of The Worm, the Mythos Tales of Robert Bloch (**** out of 5).
You know these old Mythos writers had it down to a science. 17 to 25 page stories that build a sense of dread, and don’t leave you an easy out. I was really impressed with how Bloch didn’t retreat from the ‘ugly’ end that a lot of characters in these stories suffer from. Bloch makes no bones about his affection for his mentor H.P.L., in fact he kills him in ‘The Shambler From The Stars’, a great honor in the Lovecraft Circle of writers. I was very unfamiliar with Bloch, outside of him writing the book and then the screenplay for Hitchcock’s flick Psycho, but I have to say this makes me want to seek out his other Mythos works. He fits the writing mold perfectly, and adds his own flavor to it beautifully. To me three stories stand out. The first is ‘The Shadow From The Steeple’ which is a direct sequel to Lovecraft’s ‘The Haunter In The Dark’, which Lovecraft dedicated to Bloch. It’s a fantastic story that takes Lovecraft’s original tale as fact and then a revenge tale that takes place over years comes to fruition only for the seeker of vengeance to realize that perhaps the object of his revenge is beyond him. ‘Terror In Cut-Throat Cove’ is the second of the big three. It’s an adventure tale mixed with a tad bit of noir that gets submerged into a nasty little mythos tale. I was actually surprised by the ending twist. So much so I went back and re-read it, and funny enough Bloch does a fantastic job of setting this ending up. Last, but not least is ‘Notebook Found in a Deserted House’. This, to me, has a very ‘The Whisperer In Darkness’ feel to it, except rather than a narrator telling the tale it’s the last written words of a doomed young man. I’m not sure I’m a fan of the Shoggoth’s being used as the ‘big cosmic baddie’ here, as I had hoped it was one of Shubb-Niggurath, The Black Goat Of The Woods With A 1,000 Young, get at the forefront. However, the story was so solid, even the purposeful spelling errors, that I instantly loved it. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Bloch’s tales and can’t wait to track down some of his novels. I’m now on to Derleth’s Mythos tales, I’m already skeptical from things I’ve read, but I’m going to reserve judgment till they are properly devoured.
RANDOM CRAP!
- I didn’t paint this weekend. I’m slightly disappointed by that fact.
- Our trip to ‘The Cloud’ was ok. We were there really late, and there were some things that irritated me a great deal, but overall it was good to see Ant, eat some fantastic grub, and be involved in ‘family’ activities.
- The French Dips where outstanding.
- I did knock out some NPC Cards for the D&D Adventure Game System.
I like the idea of cards that are sort of ‘mini-games’. The idea would be that there are ‘Traders’ or other ‘Merchants’ within the confines of the Monster Deck where the Heroes would be afforded some risky options to change their ‘fortunes’. I think this opens up some interesting opportunities for other NPC type cards, like maybe a ‘Captured Maiden’ whose ‘mini-game’ is for one Hero to escort her to the Start Tile. Either way, all it does is expand on the game’s tool set. That being said these cards need heavy revision, and are in the process as the rest of Team Ant on the Board Game Geek dot com begins to poke holes in it and rebuild. I’m not sure I’m going to do many cards this week. I think I need a break from it.
- AND we have D&D this weekend. So I need to get my prep work done. It’s a HUGE D&D weekend, as the party has to decide what they’re going to do after being betrayed by their ‘Allies’ last session. They are now knee deep in the Teeth Of Gruumsh Mountains, danger is potentially around every corner, and Goat & his ‘crew’ are on their way to The Book Of Black Flames. With Ant & Heidi’s schedules becoming hectic the ‘Regular’ group is now on infinite hiatus. This means Zack & Bob are joining the ‘Old School’ group. Big things afoot, BIG THINGS!
- Sleep, I need a lot of it.
- I’m thinking of running a four session Call Of Cthulhu series this spring and early summer. It would take place over four decades, and players would need a character for each decade. I’m starting to formulate the plot. I’m just trying to figure if I want it to be Lovecraft, plain & simple, or if I want to borrow some of the more pulpy elements of Lumley or some of the more techno & black humor aspects of Stross. I enjoy both authors’ Mythos tales quiet a bit, so I might just do some tweaking.
- As I was reading last night I was listening to the instrumental version of Mastodon’s Crack The Skye (**** ½ out of 5).
I have yet to really sit down and try to devour the version with lyrics yet. The instrumental blew me away. It’s heavy, complex, moody, and intoxicating. I think the Mastodon ‘love’ came from this weekend’s season finale of Metal Evolution, which was about ‘Prog Metal’. I was slightly disappointed that when the roots of ‘Prog Metal’ were discussed, basically British Progressive Rock, that Pink Floyd was so easily snubbed. In fact I found it sort of flabbergasting. However, that was more than made up for the reverential outpouring towards King Crimson. I also have a new found appreciation for Rush coming out of this episode. It was an excellent episode, and a fantastic first season. Now I just have to hope it was just that, a FIRST season, and not the end of the series.
- On I side note I still don’t ‘get’ Math Metal, and have yet to hear a band in that category that I think I would enjoy.
It’s getting to be that time…
“Don't stay; run away
He has ordered assassination
Don't stay; run away
The henchmen are gathered and waiting
Don't stay; run away
Your role as usurper is found out
Don't stay; run away
Tsarina has warned of the danger
It's your own fault
That is what we wanted
It's your own fault
This is where we lay
By the light of the moon
You must escape into the deep black of the night
Fight the devil inside
Enemies poison deep within my second sight
Wasting valuable time
Ride the tides of blood
Illumination
Beauties sudden hand
Shattered crown
Stretching arms up high
We're on our way now
Leave the Czar to die
Spiraling up through the crack in the sky
Leaving material world behind
I see your face in constellations
The martyr is ending his life for mine”
* = True words of wisdom from Ron Swanson...
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