Miracle Vs. Blades Of Glory

* = Never much of a problem for me, as I'm perpetually at about 6.  Unless you count when I want to talk Nerdery.  Or I've been drinking.  Or I want to play a game.  Or I want you to play a game.  DAMMIT, I'm at a 10!









This is another one of those cases where I don’t have an awful lot to write about and am doing it more out of weekly practice than startling revelations. So in order to facilitate this ‘Mind Crime’ let’s not pretend and instead just drop some…

RANDOM CRAP!

- The Podcast the other night was rock solid, and after listening to some of it, possibly better than the ‘Lost’ episode #19. Fraser Fraser is a fantastic guest, Dave was in full effect, and even with our lack of a format and prep work it came off without a hitch. I did notice that I was maniacally cackling throughout and I’m going to blame that on me crashing after a caffeine binge.
- Speaking of David, he’s blogging again. That’s two blogs in like a month.
- This Saturday Cassandra and I aren’t doing a DAMN thing and I really think it is going to be glorious. We need a bit of a break as we’ve had stuff going on non-stop for a few months. Friday night we’re playing Board Games at Zack Attack & Lady Christy’s and then Sunday is the Doctor Who group at Mick’s. Saturday though, that’s just for me and my lady.
- I have no interest in snow the next three days. I’m hoping my negative feelings affect the weather.
- I finished Charles Stross’ The Atrocity Archive (**** ½ out of 5) last weekend as well.

I had read The Jennifer Morgue about a year ago and was blown away. The Laundry books are a perfect mix of Lovecraft, James Bond, The Office, and snark. There is a tension in them that you can feel, the techno-geek and secret ops language doesn’t distract from the tale it enhances it, and Stross is a master at surprising me at every turn. This is the first book in the series so I read them a tad out of order, but it wasn’t that difficult to jump right in since the protagonist, Bob Howard is fantastic. This particular book is cut up into two tales, The Atrocity Archive & The Concrete Jungle. The 2nd tale is good, but not great. It has far more to do with the inner workings of The Laundry, its politics and grudges. It does however set in motion the status quo for all tales that come after it so it is necessary reading. All that being said it is NOT a bad tale, and has an inventive take on the Medusa. The first tale is top notch. We get Bob’s history and how it directly correlates with his love interest; there is inter-office intrigue, mystery, and an outstanding ‘Baddie’. The trip to, and I’m guessing here, Carcosa and the subsequent events there are amazing. The set-up and payoff are done in a meticulous fashion that is both creepy and hilarious. I really can’t say enough things about the world Stross has built here. SO if you dig spy books, Lovecraftian horror, and comedy in the vein of The Office than take the time to track down Charles Stross’ ‘The Laundry’ books as they will scratch that itch.
- Sometimes slow is good, and sometimes it is FRIGGIN’ annoying.
- There was the potential of me doing a write-up and review of last Friday’s 3rd Annual Blaxplotation Movie-A-Thon, but I won’t. I cannot do justice to the coolness of Action Jackson (*** ½ out of 5), the utter terribly insanity that was Dance Fu (-1*’s out of 5), and the wonder and the glory that was Black Dynamite (Infinite *’s out of 5!).

Black Dynamite is one of the funniest damn movies I've seen in about three years.  I loved it so much I might have another Movie-A-Thon soon where it will again appear.  If you haven't seen it then do so now or never read this blog again.  Overall, it was an evening where you realize just how incredible your friends and Friends are and how lucky you have become. Thank you to all who attended for making it memorable.
- My E-bay stuff sold thanks to Dave. I’m excited to have that cash and more importantly the room on the Board Game shelves.
- Last Saturday was D&D. I was miserable, over tired, and was strugglin’ to invest in the process of character creation I think it was because it was something that I have SO little control over. D&D has made me a control freak. I like running because I can dictate virtually everything, during this process I was at best a spectator and at worst a distraction. And let’s be honest it was the Zack show, and that is not a complaint. He was friggin’ amazing. In fact he wrote a blog about it that is FANTASTIC.

In a way I co-run my games with Zack if we’re being honest. He’s a creative force of nature who understands the game on a different level than I do and helps to drive it in ways that I am not very good at. The reality is I don’t think I’d like to or want to play or run a game without him. On top of all that, he’s a great teacher of the game. After watching his comedic lecture last Saturday I think he missed his calling as an instructor of some type. If nothing else he’s an outstanding ambassador to the game. So while this little endeavor wasn’t as fun for me as I had hoped it seemed to be a big hit with the players and will be mandatory for any future RPG gaming group I run or play in. Having a character creation session just helps everyone get on a similar page and break the ice. It also has given me PLENTY of fodder for how I am going to run the game, hex crawl style, and the tone. The tone is going to be VERY important with this group, and the tone they set was F-U-N-! I am highly anticipating our first session next month.
- We really need to glue those maps to those damn boards this weekend.
- I still haven’t received my two Bricks of Shattered Star. Alliance/Diamond distribution has conspired to keep what I’ve paid for from me. They have screwed up my order not once, but twice making the same mistake in both instances. Mike and Hot Comics, New Hope & Richfield locations (SHILL!),

have been friggin’ fantastic. He’s called and attempted to straighten this out numerous times and I’m getting the four boosters that have sent by mistake comped to me. I can’t overly complain except that I haven’t received my stuff. It is irritating to know that because they basically have a monopoly that Alliance/Diamond don’t have to give two shits about the consumer. In fact they don’t have to care much about the Brick & Mortar stores or the issues their incompetence causes the customers; they’ve got us both by the balls. And for that I really hope they fail.
- I’m making some bacon cheeseburger meatloaf tonight. That’s right I’m unstoppable.
- Dungeon Crawl Miniatures is getting ready to restart, for the third time, their Kickstarter. Let me start by saying I dig this small outfit. I’ve purchased their products and really dig them. I also pledged on the last two Kickstarters and pimped them heavily here and on Facebook. I believe in DCM. So to see the plan they’ve put in place this time really has me excited. They’ve dropped their initial goal, they’ll be starting their push with a miniature that EVERYONE wants, and seem to have really learned from their past hiccups. So take a gander at the initial goal here;

HOLY CRAP! Release that Kraken! That is a gorgeous sculpt and looks gigantic. Of course seeing it painted might add some pop to it, but I’m stoked just by the sculpt. I love, LOVE, the half-submerged look, all the spikey bits, and that crazy design on the ‘forehead’. The concept art has it colored as a dark purple with some interesting and bright highlights. I’m unclear as to whether this will be a pre-paint or a ‘Natural’, their version of Reaper’s Bones, miniature. Honestly I’m good either way, of course I’d love for it to be pre-painted but I won’t complain a bit about this beauty being under my brush. This is setting the standard high for the rest of the items in this project. I have my fingers crossed, my wallet out, and my voice ready to shout at the heavens for others to get on board in March. I’m encouraging you to do the same.
- I might try and catch some NFL Combine coverage this weekend; yes that is how desperate I am for football.
- Believe it or not, but I’ve got my WWE ’13 working again! I KNOW! I’ve been putting in the music this week, and I’m almost done. I have to re-work Ultra Mantis Black & Austin Aires entrances, but that’s basically it. I also need to spend some time making Diamond Dave Wheeler’s wrestling alter ego, Rictor. Being able to play matches again is just glorious. I had re-booted My Universe again so I’ve got the five shows and the ‘talent’ is all spread out in interesting ways. I had a WCW Nitro where the main event had Hollywood Hogan fighting Farooq. It erupted into a mess as the N.W.O. and the Nation Of Domination threw down! Over on ECW David has been in a feud with Tensai who he bested but then punched him in his junk. Last but not least I had a CRAZY three-way match on my Indy show between Eddie Kingston, El Generico, and Jake Swagger.

Kingston and Generico worked together to try and stop the much bigger Swagger, but eventually they had to deal with one another. It wrapped up with Kingston hitting the Back Drop Driver into the Backfist To The Future on Swagger only to turn around and get the ‘Brainbusta!’ followed up with the top rope version, which is fantastic! Swagger started to get up when Generico pinned, but was so beat up he couldn’t stop the pin. To top it off at the end Kingston, who is the Indy Champ, was getting up and Manami Toyota, one of his allies, came out to help him and INSTEAD gave him the old low blow! All this and my and Mike’s CAWs have yet to be involved in anything. I’m going to try and sneak in a few matches tonight and I’m hoping to get to David’s #1 Contender match with Tensai who is being accompanied by The Great Muta! Now that this game is up and running again properly I can see myself losing some serious real life time.
- I was frighteningly productive last night and it felt sorta good.

You know I think that’s all I got in me today…

“Unlike the devil,
I've never seen the face of god,
Sweet Mr. Jesus,
Infected on my skin,
Demons surround you,
I'm crawling on the ground,
Shame for another,
Another taste of life

It's alive, oh everybody
It's alive, oh the creepers call me

Dead parts surround you,
Draw me forever black,
My creature core is,
Is crawlin’ on the ground,
Calling another
Unholy wall of sound,
Say that you love it
Don't make me turn it down

Born to kill,
Black, blue, and bloody fingers
Hong Kong hell,
Been time to face this wheel,
Now filthy smooth,
I'll tell the pussy cats,
And ultra-pain,
Gonna blow it all away”

    * = Indeed Ric Flair, INDEED!