When Worlds Collide Vs. Donovan's Brain

* = This seriously makes me laugh everytime I read it.  EVERY TIME!



That was a beautiful weekend, and I don’t just mean the amazing weather. From about Thursday on last week I had a run that was pretty dang sweet. It wasn’t anything overly special, it was just relaxing, productive, and without incident. Rarely ever do I have elongated moments that are stress free, but honestly that’s what I had for about a four day period. Hell today has been much the same even though I’m suckling at the corporate teat. Maybe it’s just the weather that has given me a renewed sense of vigor and a devil may care attitude, whatever it is I hope it never leaves.

So Thursday I watched Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (*** out of 5).

I’m a huge rube for the DCU Animated features and since I love the Flash I figured this was a slam dunk. Couple that with the fact it’s based off a Geoff Johns mega-story and I thought it would be heavenly. It isn’t bad, but I’m sort of over the dystopian future thing. Don’t get me wrong it’s interesting to see a world that comes apart at the seams because there is no Flash. To see Wonder Woman and Aquaman as warmongering despots bent on world domination and the extinction of the other due to a failed marriage is pretty cool. Thomas Wayne as Batman after the death of his son Bruce is also pretty cool. As are what becomes of Hal Jordan, Superman, Cyborg, and ‘Captain Thunder’. However after ‘Days Of Future Past’, ‘Future Imperfect’, ‘Kingdom Come’, ‘The Nail’, etc. do I really need to see this? Do I really need to watch the Heroes I love die horrible deaths as a warning to the past or an alternate timeline? Do I really need a deconstruction of what it means to be a Hero? Have we run out of stories to tell so all we can do is put our Heroes through a meat grinder in order to show how ‘adult’ the things of our youth are? There is a reason I’ve grown disenfranchised with comics as a whole, they’ve lost their fun. It is the same reason I LOVED Avengers, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes the series. One word; FUN! The Flashpoint Paradox was good, in fact it was damn good, had real emotion, great action, and was interesting, but it was not fun. It had none of the heart, sense of wonder, or heroism that say All-Star Superman did. I’d say the interesting thing is this is the re-boot point for the DCU Animated flicks as it was for the DCU at large. It appears we are going to get the first New 52 Justice League tale as the follow up to this flick, as the movie has a ‘teaser’ ending setting the stage for what comes next. I just hope it’s a bit more fun than this one was. So if you are looking for a decent little DCU Animated flick then you could do much worse, but if you’re looking for something to watch with kids or something that will bring a grin to your face, this isn’t it.

Friday night was our 2nd Friday Night SMACKDOWN! The C-Fish was out sick so it was down to El Bobert-O, Diamond Dave, Mighty Mike, and James sans his magical beard. We started a bit late as Mike and I had to run to Little Caesar’s which was a nightmare. They were getting slammed with patrons and people were in foul moods. I just figured they were trying their best and that’s all you can ask. In addition Mike’s lady Emily was getting car stalked by some asshole so he was receiving texts of a somewhat urgent manner. It was an odd start to the night. Eventually we got back loaded with cheap pizza and gorged ourselves. Then we turned our full attention to the ‘Rasslin’.

We were able to get through about a week worth of shows, I know that doesn’t sound like a lot, but considering we were playing at least three matches a card it was more than you’d think. There were some really fun matches as well.  The CM Punk Vs. Brock Lesnar fight was fantastic with F5’s and GTS’s being thrown out left and right. I also thoroughly enjoyed Dave and I battling with my CAW against Antonio Caesaro that ended in a DQ. Oh and Kenta Kobashi against El Generico to see who the #1 contender was for my show was outstanding as well. To me though the highlight of the night was the Brothers Of Destruction (Kane & the Undertaker) Vs. The Mega Powers (Hollywood Hogan & The Macho Man Randy Savage). This led to a Hell In The Cell match between the Undertaker and Hollywood Hogan that was really fun to watch as, I believe it was James and Mike playing, they beat the hell out of each other.

I had to come in and add this as I was compelled by James and his now regenerating beard.  There was a moment on Friday night that blew my mind.  Dave and James were having a match, I can't recall the participants EXCEPT that Dave was Kofi "HEY RANDY!" Kingston and he was beating James like he no longer had a beard of prodigious strength.  I mean absolutely mercilessly.  The best part was after each finisher he'd spend the entire time James' wrestler was recovering to do his 'Boom Dance' taunt.  This made the match about twenty minutes longer than it needed to be, but it also made it twenty times funnier.  I think that might be the reason James so actively roots against Dave in every match he has with anyone else.  Which in all honestly ONLY serves to make SMACDOWN nights that much more hilarious.  Thank you for reminding me of this James.  I had hoped to get through the entire month, but it didn’t happen. I got quality over quantity and it was fantastic.

Saturday I hung out with Cassandra, mowed, and napped my ass off. I was unbelievable worn out from the night before and ran a bit of a fever. Instead of being a stubborn ass though I listened to my wife and passed out. The only real thing I did was finish a few books. I knocked out Troy Denning’s first part of his ‘Prism Pentad’, The Verdant Passage (*** ½ out of 5).

I was sorely disappointed in Denning’s Return Of The Arch Mage a few months ago when I read it, but I’m not a Forgotten Realms guy so really it didn’t bother me that much. This series however is set in the Dark Sun setting, and I LOVE that setting. It is basically post-apocalyptic D&D. The use of magic has left the world a dying husk, where steel, water, and loyalty are almost impossible to find. Monster you thought you knew are vastly different and far more deadly. And the world is ruled by the incredibly deadly and tyrannical Sorcerer-Kings. The setting is brutal, full of intrigue, bloody combat, and desperate attempts at survival. It has such different vibe and feel from every other setting that it captures the imagination. Troy Denning captured my imagination with this book. Following Rikus and Neeva from famed slave gladiators to Heroes is fantastic. They are both deeply flawed, but no more so than the revolutionary Sadira or the nobleman who decides to change the world Agis, and the self-serving ally they find in the Templar Tithian. Together they enact a mad plan to prevent the sorcerer-king Kalak of the city Tyr from becoming something horrific. The love quadrangle between the four main characters makes sense, and you can see it is going to end badly for more than one person. The interactions and alliances between the characters also don’t feel forced they seem natural and work. It also sets the tone for the rest of the books and I dig that. It’s a find self-contained book, but better as a stepping off point for something grander. I followed this up with devouring the 2nd book in the ‘Prism Pentad’ in The Crimson Legion (*** out of 5).

Let me make it abundantly clear Rikus is my favorite character in this series thus far. So getting a book of him leading the Free Men of Tyr across the face of Athas to deal with an attack by another city-state was fantastic. The intrigue of Tithian using this as a way to get his political enemies/allies out of the city, and his hopes of seeing the instruments of him coming into power destroyed added another cool layer to the relationships between the characters. I liked all the interesting factions we meet during the bloody march of the Crimson Legion. The relationship complications between Neeva and Rikus finally come to a head in a way that I both loved and hated. I understood how it went down but it made me loathe the self-righteous and almost creepy focus the dwarf Caelum had. I also actually liked how Rikus is a terrible general, but a charismatic leader and an amazing fighter. He’s also a man who struggles with lying, leadership, and understanding the needs, foibles, and wants of others. A lot of secondary characters who you grow to like and even care about do not come out of this book alive. This is further proof that the stakes on Athas are higher, and that war is indeed hell. I also thoroughly enjoyed Rikus’ battle with the sorcerer-king of the invading city state of Urik. Let’s just say it does not go the way you think it will. Overall these are a fun read, now I just need to track down the other three parts so I can finish this series.

Sunday we had to get up early so we could meet the Geek’s Group in Edina for The Wolverine (*** ½ out of 5).

I have to say that having a brunch before the flick was fun, and the people were really nice. Watching a movie in that V.I.P. room was pretty damn nice as well. I mean c’mon I got to sit in a recliner and just enjoy the flick. It reminded me of the feel of the Midnight Movie at the Parkwood. As for the movie, it was pretty good. I will never understand the need these folks have to fundamentally change characters or for the need to add in a giant robot fight where they don’t belong, but then again I don’t live in the Hollywood echo chamber. Hugh Jackman is friggin’ amazing. He is the perfect Wolverine. I dug that we get to see how he is dealing with the fallout of killing Jean Grey in the abysmal and almost unwatchable X-Men 3. I also thought that for ¾ of the movie they did Frank Miller’s source material justice. Wolverine killing Yakuza thugs and trying to deal with the fact that his healing factor isn’t working properly was very cool. I enjoyed the tragic love story as it was playing out as well, not to mention the idea of honor and debts being repaid. That’s what made the last act ring so hollow for me. You could see it coming a mile away and yet you hoped you were wrong. This flick is LIGHTYEARS better than the first Wolverine flick and X-Men 3, it fails however to reach the heights of X-Men 2 or X-Men First Class. I’d rate it similar to the first X-Men flick. Also the little teaser we get for X-Men Days Future Past is inspired and has sparked my interest in seeing what they are going to do with that. It was a decent flick seen in an outstanding environment.

After returning from the flick I fired up the grill to smoke an insane amount of meat. I tried to get the temp to between 225 and 200 degrees keeping it consistent there. I was using charcoal and mesquite wood chips, with a drip pan full of apple juice beneath the meat on the ‘cool’ side of the grill. We put on a hunk of beef roast marinated with Montreal steak seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, and Balsamic vinegar.

I have found that it gives the beef a rich and robust flavor. We used an apple and bacon seasoning rub on a large Pork Loin. We rubbed them down about 24 hours prior to the smoke, and you could tell the flavor really seeped into the meat. We also had a GIANT ham that I rubbed last minute with a small amount of a Bacon & Molasses seasoning rub. I was slightly worried about the ham as I’d never smoked one before and it is an enormous piece of meat. I didn’t want it overdone or underdone. I just wanted the meat to start to pull away from the bone, and be able to see how the fat had liquefied. Last but not least we threw on some sausage ropes a bit later in the cook. I checked the fire every hour to add a bit more charcoal and wood chips to keep the heat level even and the smoke level where I wanted it. About 4 hours in I pulled the beef roast, let it cool, and saran wrapped it. The rest of the meet went another three hours at just over 200 degrees gaining a great bark and smelling divine. I brought it in and let it rest before we also saran wrapped those pieces as well. Tonight when I get home I’m going to take about half that beef roast and pork loin and slice them paper thin with my meat slicer. I think then I’ll take a third of the ham off the bone and do the same. After that I’m not sure what we’ll do with the rest. I know we talked about doing Cubans, and I think that has to happen. All I know is even writing about it has my mouth watering.

It was another week so we had the last of the Skull & Shackles miniature previews as next month will herald its arrival on store shelves. Here’s what they ended on;

First up is one of the Pathfinder Iconic characters, Seltyiel. He’s a Medium Rare. The miniature has a really great flow to the pose with the dynamic movement of the cape, the hood also flowing in a breeze, and action ready pose. I do not however understand the EMO-like head down pose, the ‘bro fist’ sticking out, or lack of any meaningful motion in the sword arm. This thing is just a mish mash of good and not so good. The paint job doesn’t really do a whole lot to help it out, as it’s just pale flesh and black for the most part. It does appear that there are some slight bursts of color spread out through the accoutrements that adorn his belt, but overall he feels sort of drab. I want to like this miniature, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. I have enough other miniatures that do the same trick as this one and do it much better. This is a disappointing Rare to me and definitely a PASS.

Next up is the Large Uncommon Hammerhead Shark! This thing looks FANTASTIC! It has solid movement to the pose, which I don’t think is that easy to do in an aquatic beast, and I dig the mouth slightly agape so you can see those razor teeth. I for one also like that the two sharks in this set are on ‘flying’ bases to give a 3D feel to them for underwater combat. The paint job doesn’t need to be spectacular, because of the source ‘material’. However it is a clean and well done paint job which I appreciate. It is strange to note that the vast majority of the Uncommon’s in this set interest me FAR more than the Rare’s which is good for my wallet. This one is of course a MUST BUY for the 2nd Group alone.

Last, but not least is the Large Uncommon Wasp. I’m not completely rote on the Pathfinder setting, but I do know that Calistria is the goddess of Lust, Relationships, and Revenge. She favors giant Wasps as her servants and her clerics where their colors. In a previous DDM set we had Hellwasps and they looked TERRIBLE, they really were awful miniatures, but we hadn’t really had any other flying insect menaces to trouble our PC groups. That has changed now as this thing again looks great. The stinger first pose is great, those wings look to be translucent which is super cool, and there is some nice shading work in the paint job. I wish we had a Medium sized version to go along with this monstrosity as a swarm. This one is a MUST BUY for me. Overall this is a solid set, there are some glaring disappointments, but luckily they are in miniatures that I really don’t care about anyway. I hope the insanely quick turnaround time for the next set isn’t going to be too big a hit to the wallet of guys like me, but I’m trying to give Paizo & Wizkids the benefit of the doubt there. Now I just need to wait and see how all these play out cost wise on the secondary market, Ebay here I come!

Let’s wrap this one up with some…

RANDOM CRAP!

- Diamond Dave has a Kickstarter, GO GIVE HIM YOUR MONEY(s)!   http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/matterdeep/the-indie-guide-to-indie-publishing 
- I have a box of miniatures to DIP tonight. Bases are done, eyes are done, and paint jobs look pretty solid. I’m excited to get these DIPed and get onto the next batch. If I can paint twice a week I think I can hit between 5 and 10 completed a week. At least that’s the idea.
- Speaking of art type things Hides has a new ‘toon on the web, GO READ IT!     http://heidiblunt.com/page/29
- 1st & 2nd D&D Groups will be taking a hiatus in August due to all sorts of scheduling conflicts. I’m hoping that it’ll give the Players a breather and give myself and Zack a chance to make sure that the next run of games are outstanding.
- NFL Training Camp has started and the Hall Of Fame game is this coming Sunday. I’m so happy.
- Holy Crap CHIKARA is on the way back and I couldn’t be more excited!     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpVSQCpT4yQ&feature=player_embedded
- Dark Dave has a new podcast. His first two posts were older; one is the Fairly Secret Interview that he, Greg, and myself did a few years ago. The second was a conversation he had with another friend of his about ten years ago. If you supported and enjoyed the Careers In Evil Podcast then go give these a listen.     https://archive.org/details/FAIRLYSECRETPODCAST1_201307
http://archive.org/details/TfsaInterview
- I hope this weather never ends.
- The Olde World Kickstarter is intriguing me with its unique minis.    http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1095811188/olde-world-miniatures-kickstarter
- With the lack of D&D next month I’m thinking it’s the perfect time to have either a Movie-A-Thon or a Game Day. I’m not sure which will happen, but I’m doing one or the other on a Saturday. At the same time a Friday night in August or September is going to be the 2nd Annual Trivia Death Match where Mighty Mike will defend his Trivia Belt! Big, fun things on the horizon!
- Beer bread! This must happen soon.
- I have yet to paint any of my new Bones yet, I really need to get on that, but there is SO much other stuff. I need to have a CHIKARA & Mini Painting VERY soon.

I think that’s all I have…

“When I Die You Can Cut Me Up And Take All That You Please,
But Pity The Poor Dumb Fool Who Gets My Bleeding Spleen.
Corn Pone, I Born Tomorrow, My Bone Marrow Protein Filled
Scotch Whiskey Men Of Tain Have Come To Split Your Skills.

Hey, Hey
I Got Your Heaven, I Got Your Burning Hell, I Got It All Right Here.

Wrap Them Tight In Zip-Lock Bags To Benefit Good Medicines.
If Bad, You Can Toss Them Back And Stuff Them In Sausages.
Isn't It Something So Becoming, A Gentlemen Of Good Taste.
The Appetizer's Quite The Pleaser, But Might You Pass The Pepper Please This Way.

Hey, Hey
I Got Your Heaven, I Got Your Burning Hell, I Got It All Right Here.

Fertilizer Makes Your Corn Row Higher, But Makes Your Back Yard Stink.
And All The Crows Know Where The Wind Blows, Where Water Sinks.

Hey, Hey
I Got Your Heaven, I Got Your Burning Hell, I Got It All Right Here.”

* = Blogger is apparently not wanting to work with me so I had to trudge through two days to get this F'Ning thing posted.  You have awakened my inner BEARCAT Blogger...BEWARE!

The Day The Earth Caught Fire Vs. It Came From Outer Space

* = All you really have to know is; A) His heart does NOT pump Kool-Aid & B) it's WHAT HE DO!









The weekend has come and went. I didn’t really do much of anything & that was sort of brilliant. Friday night we were in ‘The Cloud’ due to me being in town to teach a class. It was alright night, although I apparently missed an interesting argument while using the bathroom. Part of me is glad I missed it due to its nature and those involved. The other part of me, the one that likes to be right and to have the last word is sad that I didn’t get the opportunity to ask them why they were SO happy about the death of a 16 year old. Oh Trayvon Martin Case is there no situation you can’t make uncomfortable?

But before that fun went down, Thursday night was 3rd Group D&D. I had to make some last minute adjustments because there was going to be some significant losses to our party due to scheduling and last minute stuff popping up. At the same time Karl had asked if his 10 year old could play this session due to him being an amazing Dad and getting his Daughter tickets to a concert. I of course was cool with that, because c’mon I was 10 once and if I would have been invited to go play D&D with the ‘Big Kids’ I would have completely FREAKED OUT! Add to that if it would have been D&D with all the cool bells and whistles I now possess then I think I might have gone into a Nerdery Coma that would have lasted till adolescence.

The rest of the players were gracious and we had a 10 year old join our group for a night. SO I had to make some serious adjustments to what I had planned as this is my ‘Evil’ group and I had a serious moral quandary set up for them to tackle. Instead I turned the ‘Evil’ down, upped the combat component, and tried to turn the ‘fun’ WAY up. I thought it went alright. We had an almost immediate encounter with some Shadow Hounds, in which they got completely curb stomped with some fantastic use of At-Will powers. The second Encounter was built around fighting some Quaggoths and a chained Hook Horror. I really felt like I had a good handle on how this one would play out, but I was wrong. Again the Players really had so much frontline power that they decimated me quickly.

This did lead to the only real Role Playing Encounter of the session where they interrogated a Drahjar captive. In my game the Drahjar are Humans who fled into the Underdark a few thousand years ago, since they have been sort of a people without a patron. Many of them have turned to worshipping Lolth or Torog, while others engage in ancestor worship, and still others practice a nasty form of atheism. The only thing that all Drahjar Enclaves can agree upon is the deep seeded need to acquire what they call the ‘Works Of The Ancients’. What it boils down to is the need to find ancient technology, and adapt it to current use. This especially includes sentient constructs like Warforged. 1st Group dealt early on with a Drahjar war party that had tried to get a Forge operational so they could start pumping out troops. They of course stopped this, but it doesn’t mean that this sort of thing isn’t going on constantly. I wanted 3rd Group to have this cursory introduction to these xenophobic, technology obsessed antagonists. As they head into the next session I can’t help but think that about how I plan on inserting them back into the campaign.

Anyway, I decided to learn from my early mistakes in combat and alter the last Encounter on the fly. So the Party came across another large ruin in an enormous cavern. As they headed up Mike noticed that the fetid pool of liquid was not what it seemed, and instead was a group of Grimlocks being hidden by and illusion, from there combat erupted. The original plan was to draw the PC’s into the center of the room, and have this group of Minions show up and pincer them from behind. Lucky for the group they sniffed it out quickly. From there I had the ‘Big Bad’ of the Encounter use a Ring Of Darkness to push a globe out hiding the exact numbers and identity of the PC’s enemies. Eventually more Grimlock Minions poured out with a few Barbarian leaders. This wasn’t meant to do much more than occupy the group while I blasted at them from within the darkness with Mental Lightning. After softening them up they finally dispatched the Grimlocks. Kedders played out a risky gambit and rushed into the darkness getting close enough to my Grell Philosopher that I had to drop the globe and fight. It was the beginning of the end, but not before I was able to use a fantastic set of burst attacks that really slammed the three fighters. I had Mick & Kedders almost dead a few times, but Karl did a great job healing them back up. All the while Mike was blasting me from afar. Add into this Karl Son’s relentlessly smashing me and eventually I dropped much to the joy of the group who had been pushed a bit with that fight.

I’m not sure if it was a ‘good’ session as far as the over arcing ‘plot’ of the Group, BUT it was a lot of fun and I’m pretty sure it made a 10 year old night. I know that I wasn’t enjoying my week, but it seemed SO much brighter after seeing so many grins and so much enthusiasm at my table. So thank you to Kedders, Mike, Karl, & Mick for indulging a kid in his D&D at the ‘Adult’ table, oh and thank your from Karl’s Son as well.

I knocked out a few books in the last week or so. I’ve slowed my reading roll, but I’m sort of diving back in. What better way to do so than with some $1 fantasy novels from ½ Priced Books? First up was The Spine Of The World (*** ½ out of 5) by R.A. Salvatore.

Let me get this out of the way first I’m a Wulfgar guy. I never got the mass fawning over Drizzt, to me Wulfgar was far more relatable than the almost perfect and unstoppable exotic warrior. Apparently Wulfgar did NOT die in an earlier novel when confronting the Yochlol to save his friends in a previous book. Instead he was taken to the Abyss where he was endless and horrible tortured by Drizzt’s enemy Errtu. We’re talking Game Of Thrones level torture here, except instead of the sweet relief of death you are instead constantly raised only to go through it again. This tends to add up and has an effect on a person. And that is where we find Wulfgar, a mentally broken down shell of his former self. He’s operating as a bouncer, a leg breaker, and just general drunken malcontent. To say I was slightly disappointed at the beginning of this tale is an understatement. Not only had Wulfgar lost his love to his best friend, not only had he spent a handful of years being horribly tortured, but now he was barely likeable as a character. That’s the beauty of this book though; it’s the road to redemption. I won’t spoil anything by giving too much away, but we do get to see a character that was very much two dimensional gain that third through his horrible ordeal and his subsequent finding of himself. There is also a massive status quo change by the end of the book that fits that character and the next stage of Salvatore’s overall mega plot of all of his characters. So if you enjoy the cast of characters then this one may take you a second to wrap your head around, but once you do it is an interesting journey you accompany the Barbarian of the Icewind Dales on as he rediscovers just who he is, a hero.

I also plowed through David Cook’s Soliders Of Ice (*** out of 5).

This is an older book in the Harpers series. I’ve only played in the Forgotten Realms for a short duration. I’ve never seen much of the appeal of playing in a world SO full of super characters. Reading through this novel though gave me a slightly different perspective. Our protagonist Martine is a fledgling Harper. The Harpers being a sort of secret society of ‘do gooders’ spread throughout the world. She is charged with shutting a gate to the Elemental Plane Of Ice that has ruptured open. In the meantime this has caused the two local tribes, one Gnoll and one Gnome, in a valley to start to come into conflict. Martine doesn’t prevent this, in fact through a series of unwinnable circumstances she just makes it progressively worse. I thought this was very interesting as Martine came off as a very interesting and ‘real’ character, she didn’t have all the answers in fact she had very few, her plans seemed to only partially work at best, and there were more than a few times where she would have preferred to have cut and run. She was relatable which made some of the twists and turns, while obvious, have more emotional resonance. I also have to say that I LOVED the in depth look at Gnoll life in the pack, as they have always been one of my favorite evil races. Couple that with the Gnomes of the valley being somewhat nasty, especially the ‘Badger Armor’ and I really enjoyed this quick read. Shakespeare it isn’t, but it’s a nice, fun, and quick read.

It was another week so we received another Skull & Shackles preview! I won’t review the Female Ghoul from this set, because I already touched upon the re-paint that will be in the Undead Horde Gravity Feed release. I will say it’s a nice miniature though and you should check it out.

So first up for me in this round is the Sandra Quinn, the Uncommon Medium Pirate. This is a real passive pose miniature, but in a good way. She screams Pirate Captain to me. I like the paint scheme, it’s simple but effective, and that translucent effect on the hand is outstanding. It evokes a real feeling of someone about to cast a spell. In addition this miniature could easily work as an NPC because it doesn’t have the larger than life ‘action pose’. All that being said that face is FUGLY! Perhaps it’s the angle of the photo, but DAMN! I only see one eye, I’m sure the other is supposed to be hidden behind some hair, but even that eye looks bad. She is also suffering from that ‘fat face syndrome’ that a few other minis in this set seem to have. This will still be a MUST BUY for me, but I am hoping with fingers crossed that the face looks better than in this picture.

Next up is the Medium Uncommon Luccaria. This miniature is a perfect example of less is more. The paint scheme is crazy simple, two colors basically a skin tone and black. There is a strange stoop to the sculpt that makes it menacing but at the same time the skin tight clothing makes it decidedly and equally feminine. I also like the duel wielded blades getting across that this is a woman not to be trifled with. Being that it is so minimalistic and that the picture doesn’t do it a lot of justice I still can’t figure out why I like it as much as I do. Oh well, this one is a MUST BUY for me and will be a fantastic Cult Leader in one of my games.

Our third preview is the insanely incredible Large Rare Daughter Of Imerta. That’s right drink that bad boy in! It is a flying Fiend/Cyclops/Harpy! This is one of those strange hybrid beasts that for the most part seems like it would either have to be represented in a small group as an elite cadre of monsters OR as a big nasty beast of legend type. I think that is what I would move towards when and if I grab this wonderful miniature. First up that pose is just fantastic. The tail does a TON to give it a sense of movement in flight. I also like the defiant upper body pose with the mace at the ready and the other fist clenched in righteous fury! Add in her slight smirk and that wonderful eye and you have a winner. This is another paint job that makes the one of Sandra Quinn look poor in comparison. Fantastic job with skin tone, the shading, and just the color choices in general. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to find one at a reasonable cost, but if I can this one is a MUST BUY for me.

Last but not least this week is Isabella Locke who is a Rare Medium. I haven’t read through this Adventure Path so a lot of these NPC’s are lost on me as far as who they are, but I recognize this as the woman on one of the six covers whose body is tattooed with a treasure map. If you look carefully you can see it there. It looks like they really made a serious attempt at putting those fine details to make this a perfect art to miniature transition. That being said the face again doesn’t look that good. Maybe it’s just the photos, but it looks bland and the eyes look like one’s I would paint on, just black dots. I’m sorry Wizkids & Paizo, but you’ve set your bar too high on Rares to make that acceptable. I like the rest of the miniature, but not enough for me to forgive this run on bad faces. These last two previews are full of miniatures I will most likely buy because they fit a significant need in collection, but at the same time are disappointing in their preview pictures. This one is a MUST BUY, IF it looks better in hand and IF it’s reasonable on the secondary market. I feel like I’m being harsh on these last two weeks’ worth of miniature reviews, but I think it is more a product of getting better at painting myself and of the previous quality that this team-up as produced, hopefully it’s just terrible pictures.

How about we wrap up this bad boy with some…

RANDOM CRAP!

- Dang Ant when we do get to hang out it just makes me sad we don’t get to hang out more often. In two weeks we are going to DESTROY the food at Asian House!
- Age Of Ultron is the next Avengers movie? I really hope they are just using the title and not the actual storyline.
- Yesterday morning I sat down and watched The Self-Destruction Of The Ultimate Warrior (**** out of 5).

I had always read that the Ultimate Warrior is an insane asshat of a human being. After watching that documentary it seems as if that is the nicest thing I could write about him. Holy crap NO one on that DVD had anything nice to say about him whatsoever, especially Ted DiBiase who started out trying to at least being civil, but eventually just seemed to be fully chuggin’ the Haterade. The thing is I can’t disagree with anything they said, the Warrior is a bit of a joke. As Jim Ross so eloquently put, “…all flash and no sizzle…” When your entrance is longer than your matches because you can’t wrestle it doesn’t say a lot for you. Worse yet if you seemingly don’t care, and it sounds like Warrior just didn’t care about anyone but Warrior. The most interesting part for me was listening to Chris Jericho, Christian, & Edge talk about the nostalgia of the Warrior. There was a hint of sarcasm and some joking, but at the same time you could see how this man had affected them in their youth and that was sort of neat. Overall it was an interesting documentary that definitely felt more like a ‘hit piece’ on a guy who is hard to forget.
- 3 Days till Training Camp starts, thank the gawds because a day of Golf chat has left me wanting to eat a bag of insect repellent.
- Dish TV is pretty dang sweet.
- At the end of the week is our 2nd Friday Night SMACKDOWN! I was bored and since the Universe Mode is currently off limits I started putting together my very own World Tag Team Grand Prix.

32 teams, single elimination tournament. I don’t care what brand they are from or even if they are a Free Agent, instead it’s just a tournament to crown the best of the best. I put together a homemade arena for it, which looks pretty decent. I threw together some belts to honor the achievement. And then I randomly put together my bracket. I decided to NOT play any of the first round match-ups by myself because I felt I would influence the course of things, so I just watched. I’m only one match in and it was the Latin Kings made up of Epico, Primo, managed by Hunico against Steenerico, made up of ‘Mr. Wrestling’ Kevin Steen & El Generico. I knew who I was pulling for, and the computer did NOT let me down as Steen & Generico dominated. They finally finished their opponents off when Steen smashed both Epico & Hunico off the apron giving Generico the time to crush Primo with a Falcon Arrow Driver. I’m so pumped for Friday that it’s ridiculous.
- I could use some cuddling or at least a hug.
- I really need to set up a Movie-A-Thon, Trivia Death Match, a Board Game Day, and my next CHIKARA & Miniatures Painting soon.
- Speaking of miniatures painting I was able to knock out three more yesterday. This time it was two Pirate-like Orcs and a Pirate Ogre with a ton of tattoos and some super SWEET pants. Cassandra was able to knock out about half the eyes that I needed done, and hopes to get the rest and the bases done by the end of the week so we can DIP. I’ve got about 2/3rds of my BONES primed, but now I’m out of primer again and need to wash and glue my giant sized miniatures. I’ve realized that I will never get every miniature I own painted. It is impossible, so I’m simply enjoying the time sitting and doing something slightly creative that I’ve learned to thoroughly enjoy.
- The yard really does need mowed and I should grill this week as well. How come neither is appealing to me today?
- I need to figure out what the Podcast equipment will run me so I can go get it bought. I really want to get started on one out of my basement.

I think that’s all I got.

“Ribonucleic acid freak out, the power of prayer.
Long halls of science and all the lunatics committed there.
Robot Lords of Tokyo, SMILE TASTE KITTENS!
Did you not know that the royal hunting grounds are always forbidden?

Are you rolling tape now? Bits and pieces large and small
Sector, vector, eat them all.
It's already in their eyes.
Among the mental ones a messenger will soon arrive.

10001110101
Periodic table with a center piece of mind.
10001110101
Periodic table with a center piece of mind.

Man alive the jive and lyrics,
Radioactive, don't come near it.
Temple of Syrinx having the bake sale of the year.
Man alive the jive and lyrics,
Radioactive, don't come near it.
Temple of Syrinx having the bake sale of the year.

Ain't nothing you can do about it. Gonna be a big brawl over it
Like them little bitty babies in the king cakes.
Bonnie & Clyde the whole dome,
The shackles of automata will shatter like their bones.

10001110101
Periodic table with a center piece of mind.
10001110101
Periodic table with a center piece of mind.

Man alive the jive and lyrics,
Radioactive, don't come near it.
Temple of Syrinx having the bake sale of the year.
Man alive the jive and lyrics,
Radioactive, don't come near it.
Temple of Syrinx having the bake sale of the year.

Ribonucleic acid freak out, the power of prayer.
Long halls of science and all the lunatics committed there.
Robot Lords of Tokyo, SMILE TASTE KITTENS!
Did you not know that the royal hunting grounds are always forbidden?

10001110101
Half a mind to double up, baby. Three times is jive.
10001110101
Half a mind to double up, baby. Three times is jive.

Man alive the jive and lyrics,
Radioactive, don't come near it.
Temple of Syrinx having the bake sale of the year.
Man alive the jive and lyrics,
Radioactive, don't come near it.
Temple of Syrinx having the bake sale of the year.”

    * = One more new Venture Brothers on the DVR and then we have to wait however long to the 2nd half of Season 5.  I'm not sure why they've gone to these half seasons, but as a Venture Brothers Zealot I can't even bring myself to bitch about.  All I can do is long for the other half or the 1st half DVD release.

All The Boys Love Mandy Lane Vs. I Saw The Devil

* = Indeed Troy, INDEED!









I was a sicky the last few days with my insides melting into goo and finding interesting ways to be expelled. Believe it or not I re-wrote that first sentence like five times and that’s the least graphic version. I’m pretty sure it all stemmed from really overdoing it last Friday and getting massively dehydrated and overheated, which most likely led to my feeling really rundown Friday night during Bob’s DREAD game.

As I’ve pointed out in a previous blog DREAD is an extremely tough game to run. It requires a huge by in buy the players and a commitment to role playing. As the Game Master you don’t have a ton to work with, and really have to work at not railroading the players due to the time constraints and the one shot nature. Couple that with the fact that Horror is REALLY hard to pull off and you have a game that is not for the weak to run.

I thought that Bob did a damn fine job keeping the a herd of cats in order, as with myself being wiggy, Mick being a first time player, Cordell playing stubborn, Zack being Zack, Christy being her awesome self, and Jamber (John & Amber) getting ready to be BIG IN JAPAN it was not an easy group to run for. I thought the set-up of a ship going to drop off some folks and finding a distressed ship and bringing on the survivors was solid. I really thought we were going to be running around a ship full of dying or infected individuals with no way off. However there was the twist of alien ship showing up and blasting us into oblivion.

Of course we made it off the ship and scrambled to the planet. From there the inhospitable nature of the planet took us from an Alien vibe to a more Jurassic Park tone. I have to say between Zack playing the religious zealot, John playing the disgraced leader, myself playing the way out of his league and scared engineer, Cordell’s cocky pilot, Amber’s very fun space janitor, Christy’s nurse, and Mick’s diplomat with something to hide there were a LOT of personalities to balance.

Picking the pace up, saddling us with a useful, until he tried to kill us, Marine, and forcing us to rush towards the facility was a strong move by Bobert. It really took the breather we all took when we crashed and ramped things back up again. I thought the building exploration, the reveal of the infected thing still living, and the alien hounds’ being in the building was solid, but didn’t have quite the same ‘UMPH’ that the previous two acts did. Honestly I wasn’t a fan of the cliffhanger ending either. I wanted to either die horribly or get off that rock.

All that being said it was a fun night, a really well thought out scenario, and nicely run game. I hope Bobert decides to run more often as I thought he had a nice style which is very different than my own and Zack’s. Who knows perhaps he’ll take a guest stint running one of the two D&D groups he plays in, I think that would be a hoot.

Saturday was D&D 1st Group as we were heading deeper into the Dungeon Of Iskander. I posted some pictures of the big combat situation that went down in the last blog. So I won’t go over that again. I will though touch upon the uncomfortable stuff that went down. Saturday night Bob and I had a bit of an in-game dust up over comments made out of character. I’ve come to realize I’m a specific person.

This happens both in game and out of game. I’ve been trying to get away from it as much as possible, but I tend to ‘take charge’ of things. I don’t tend to do it in a dick way, but I do tend to be a loud enough voice and strong enough personality that I just sort of push my way to the front. I do not mind being second guessed or critiqued for my ideas, I don’t love constructive criticism but I’ll take it, and I like to think that I enjoy thinking and brainstorming in groups rather than being given free reign. I do not enjoy complaining though.

I have this thing at work we’re I’ll ask people who step into my office if they are here to vent or here to complain. If you are here to vent then that means we are brainstorming an idea on how to make it better and I’m cool with that. If you are here to complain I have about ten minutes to give you and then I get bored. So constructive and productive stuff I’m for, things that are divisive and especially on-going not so much.

In game I was very irritated by his character basically calling me a coward when I came back and saved him after our ‘Plan’ sort of came off the rails. Out of game the venting became complaining in my mind, and none to subtly aimed at myself. I got frustrated, which led to me getting fed up so I took the steps I felt were necessary in game. Couple that with my already frazzled state and you get my telling Bob to roll Initiative after the large combat. I lost Initiative, but we never came to in game combat. I think that after a few moments we both took off our asshats and got back to the business at hand which was surviving all of Zack’s dastardly attempts to destroy us. Bob is a very passionate player, I not only like that but I respect and admire it. I too am very passionate about the games I play. Occasionally two folks come to a logger head when their passions lead them to come at a problem from completely diametrically opposed positions. I was happy it resolved the way it did. So to Bob, if you read this, sorry I threatened to kill you in game and that I got frustrated with you out of game I will endeavor to not do that in the future kind sir.

I think I need to work on not being quite as aggressive as a player. Tone down my instinct to ‘take charge’, perhaps play characters who are less of a part of my personality turned way up, and be less of a lead from the front type. I think I might have found a way to do this in my Zack’s D&D Next Birthday sessions. I’m either going to play a very lazy, out of shape, and dullard Fighter. Think Steve Reeves as Hercules except chubbier and even more inclined to be lazy. Or I’m going with a sort of shady, hedonistic, snake oil salesman Priest. Neither is a leader, in fact both need to be led, nor are they characters who have a strong sense of ‘honor’. This will most likely put me in a position where I’m much more morally flexible in game.

Even with that little issue I thought the game went rather well. Zack’s ability to craft a fun, difficult, and challenging combat Encounter really put mine to shame. I’ve got a lot to learn when it comes to that. I thought the last Encounter in the ‘Safe Haven’ was VERY revealing about the Party as a whole as only my character came away as being ‘Good’. Perhaps it says a lot about Jericho’s place in this group, or about the group itself. Either way it set up the end run towards Cordell & Bobert’s evil doppelgangers. My only slight issue thus far with handing over the reins would be the desire to have a bit more Role Playing with NPC’s. The thing is in this mad rush of a ‘D&D Die Hard’ movie there aren’t any NPC’s to interact with. They are all shambling corpses, or defiled by the Far Realm, or evil clones of the Party. If Zack runs another arc, which it sounds like he might, I hope he stretches the Role Play muscle the way he has flexed his combat Encounter muscle, because having run for him I KNOW that muscle is mega-strong and I’d like to see where his imagination would take us.

If nothing else maybe I can convince him to co-run for a stint. I really want to pick his brain on how he builds those nasty Encounters that while deadly don’t feel like he is actively trying to kill us. I have yet to master that skill and it can be very vexing. Not to mention I really want to know where he would like to see the Syd & Uwain arcs end since they are his creations after all. I think in the end I just want to spend some time under his learning tree. If Dark Dave and I were still buddies this is where I would tell him to insert sexual innuendo, but…

You know I wasn’t going to talk about that whole thing, and I’m not going to talk about the past, but I have to admit that taking things and people out of your life is difficult. I’ve become exceedingly good at it for whatever reason. Maybe I should be the ‘Minus Man’. I just delete or subtract people from my life so efficiently. I haven’t spoken to my Sister since December, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I speak to my Mother only when there is an emergency or a holiday. I’d love to talk to my Grandma more, but she inevitably brings up my Father and I just can’t handle it. I break down, and it leaves me feeling bitter. I speak with Brother every few weeks, mainly to talk to my Nephew. We don’t really talk about anything and conversations are never longer than ten minutes. So that in a nutshell is how I’ve subtracted myself from my own flesh and blood.

When I’ve made close relationships in the past I’ve treated folks like family, because I have and had such a small connection with my own. The fallout from Dave and I’s parting of ways has been a slow, agonizing ‘burn’. As much as what happened sucks, as much as it is crappy that it affects who we hang out with and when, and as difficult as it is for both of us to try and deal with our feelings to me it pales in comparison to losing the person. I am not going to go into the negative, because it’s been done to death. All I can say is this I do miss my friend to play games with, to listen to music with, to watch The League with, to scream at Vikings games with, etc. I do miss that. And at times I miss it terribly.

Oh well, thus is life.

I’m not sure where that last burst even came from. I think I’m just overtired, getting over being sick, and for whatever reason feeling that profound ‘a part and yet apart’ thing I go through. Maybe it’s just the gawd awful heat beating me down. Who knows? The even better question is who cares? I know you don’t, nor should you, so let’s get onto something more interesting.

It was another week so we got another set of Skull & Shackles miniature previews!

First up is the Common Medium Pirate Sailor. This is the first miniature in quite some time to come out of the Wizkids/Paizo team-up where it looks like a ‘Common’. The paint job is pretty bland and really makes the face look sort of fat. The pose is ok, nothing dynamic though, and the rest of the paint job just doesn’t do a whole lot for me. It isn’t a bad miniature, don’t think that, it’s just that they’ve set the bar SO high for themselves that I think when they fall flat you can really see it. It does fill the theme though, and it is a decent representation of a Pirate, I mean it does have a tri-corn hat. The thing is as much as I’m ‘hating’ on this mini it is still a MUST BUY for me. The 2nd Group needs as many Pirate types as it can get. Who knows perhaps it’ll look far better in hand.  One can hope.

Next up is the Wererat which I think is a Medium Common. I HOPE it is a Common, because I would want about 5 of these bad boys. Looking at it the pose is solid, with some movement to it. The paint is decent, it doesn’t blow you away, but it stays somewhat in line with the Dire Rat from the first set. I think the big thing is that this is a niche miniature that doesn’t have a lot of representation in the pre-painted miniature world. There was a DDM version that was a pain to find and isn’t all that great to look at. Of course there is the Warhammer Fantasy Battle version, but you have to paint those, which I am doing currently. This left us with a huge hole to fill. We needed these little bastards, because let’s face it who doesn’t want to kill a horde of slimy Wererats? So you need them in masse, and now I can have that. This is a MUST BUY for that reason and that reason alone.

Last but not least this week is the Paeta, who looks like an old school Arana. She, I think, is a Large Rare. This miniature would be a super SWEET stand in for Lolth as seen in the old D&D Cartoon! I like this miniature, but after getting my Bones shipment and no longer needing a Lolth representative I have NO Earthly idea what I would do with it. The miniature has a really good look; the pose is passive but cool. The paint job is fantastic which only serves to make the Pirate Sailor look that much drabber, especially the face that is a damn finely done face. It has a hint of menace, but isn’t grotesque so it has a nice juxtaposition to that disturbing body. This is a PASS for me unless I can find it super cheap, which is a shame because it’s a damn fine mini.

So since were in the Miniature’s Corner portion of my ramblings that no one reads I decided to give you gander at what Dungeon Crawl Miniatures has been working on post successful Kickstarter! Their next small release set is the Forest Of Tears, and looks to keep up their standard of affordable, needed, and well done pre-paints!

First up is the Head On A Pike! I’m not sure how many folks were screaming out for this particular thing in pre-painted plastic, but damn if they aren’t cool. I mean c’mon you have three head swaps! The Human head would work perfectly as markers to Orc or Gnoll territory or perhaps a morally ambiguous warlord’s decaying keep. The Orc head fits the same needs, but for my homebrew world would also be perfect as a marker of Borni territory, or used by cannibal Pig Faced Orcs as a message to their ‘non-pure blood’ brethren. And the skull, well it’s a skull on a pike, what’s not to love? Not a damn thing that’s what. These are going to be a MUST BUY for me.

The other new preview I wanted to make you aware of is the flowing Green Slime. I love the translucent plastic. I also really like the flow to it as well; it feels like its surging up to engulf you. The only thing that I don’t much care for is the skull floating in it. I think scale wise the skull is a bit big, and I’m just not a fan of it being there. The miniature works just fine without it. I do want to point out that this mini fills a HUGE gap in our collections. Beyond the DDM Ochre Jelly, and the Pathfinder Grey Ooze the pre-painted world has been vastly devoid of Jellies, Oozes, and Puddings. I’m going to need at least one of these, at least, so this is a MUST BUY for me. Juiblex has been displeased! Luckily Dungeon Crawl Miniatures has done an amazing job of effectively filling in these gaps, and this is no different. Go support these guys as they deserve your money and attention.

Man, I wrote more than I intended, but isn’t that what this lame excuse for a blog is? Just me babblin’ on and on uselessly? I think it is, so let’s wrap it up with some…

RANDOM CRAP!

- One week till training camp. Oh NFL I’ve missed you.
- I’m plowing through R.A. Salvatore’s ‘Spine Of The World’. Dang it is sad to see just how far Wulfgar has fallen and why. I’ve always liked him more than Drizzt as a character so to see him getting ‘Game Of Throned’ sort of sucks. However at the same time it is making him a fascinating character. Interesting read.
- Kre-O’s, Hasbro’s LEGO knock off, are starting a D&D line. That noise you just heard was my squealing like a 13 year old girl at a Beiber concert.
- Venture Brothers has blown my socks off this season, and last episode was no different. It makes me want to watch a spin-off starring Ghost Robot revolving around his ‘dating life’.
- Most of my Bones are based, all that don’t need to be bent back into their correct shape that is. The vast majority of those are primed. I also am waiting for some mega bases so I can base some of the larger dragons and such. I’ve been painting at a moderate pace trying to finish up all the stuff that I had partially painted. So this week I’ve ‘silver backed’ the Giant Ape Lady Christy painted for me, I knocked out some Pirate types with some epic pants, a few Redcap Goblins, a few more soldiers to add to my Black & Yellow Knight’s retinue, and a few Drow. I think I’ve most likely gotten 13 miniatures or so to the stage where we need to paint their bases black, Cassandra needs to add eyes, and then we can DIP them. Not bad for three days or so. I’m eager though to start dipping into my Bones and knock some of those out. I’m just enjoying painting again, which means I need to host another CHIKARA & Mini Painting Friday Night in the next month or so.
- We’ll know more about the fate of Chikara in two days. I wait with baited breath.
- While painting I’ve been watching New Japan Dominion 2013. I have to say Prince Devitt as a heel is FANTASTIC! The Bullet Club is great, and his line about being a ‘Real Rock N’ Roller’ with that heavy Scottish accent is tremendous. That match with Tanahasi was awe-inspiring. Even better is his inevitable collision with Okada who is the current reining IWGP Heavyweight Champion. So we’ll get Heel Vs. Heel/Champion Vs. Champion at some point and I couldn’t be happier.
- Brock Lesnar Vs. CM Punk? Daniel Bryan Vs. John Cena? The Shield Vs. Mark Henry? The Wyatt Family Vs. ANYONE? Oh WWE you have my undivided attention now.
- Speaking of wrestling a week from tomorrow is our monthly Friday Night SMACKDOWN! We have two new shows set-up, one being James & his beard’s show, whose name escapes me currently. I have to say I am SUPER intrigued by James’ roster as it is chock full of NXT talent. The other new show is the C-Fish’s WCW which is also equally fantastic. I set it up, so I’m going to going to tell you it rules. In fact it has some frightening similarities to WCW during the Monday Night Wars.  With Shamus, Ryback, & Kofi Kingston in the roles of Goldberg, DDP, & Sting. Booker T’s Nation Of Domination being the N.W.O., the cruiserweights being HEAVILY represented, and The Outsiders, plus X-Pac, being the Four Horsemen. Or maybe I’m reading WAY too much into it. Anyways, we’ll kick off with Dave’s PPV, and from there have to figure out how Cordell & James’ shows will figure into the four PPVs a month schedule. I’m hoping we’ll get through the whole month in that night! Either way I’m pumped.
- I want to grill, but it’s just too damn hot.

With that I think I’m done.

“The wolves are at your door dressed like sheep
Trying hard to hide the blood, to hide the blood from the crowd

They are trying to sell slavery as a dream to chase
Driven by fear consumer wars
No way to see their hoax

They are listening
They are watching
They wanna know what we do
They are faking our freedom
Hoping we believe it's true

The world is full of snakes whispering in your ear
A stream of seducing words from a cloven tongue

They are trying to sell slavery as a dream to chase
Driven by fear consumer wars
No way to see their hoax

Fences at the border dividing the world in two
Have-nots feed the have-lots obeying the market rules

The rats are spreading plague, no stopping the disease
Their rotten dirty bite infecting the whole world

They are trying to sell slavery as a dream to chase
Driven by fear consumer wars
No way to see their hoax”

    * = That's for you L.C.

The Visitor Vs. Explorers

Here's a very short D&D Group 1 Picture blog for a late Sunday night.

First up is a shot of where Zack Attack, who is currently running put us in a position where we had to sprint across a room full of lava pits spawning horrible monsters, mainly an Eye Of Flame Beholder.  The Encounter was difficult, and we didn't exactly do the best job as the group sort of got befuddled and separated about half way across the board.  This led to some in game and out of game tension.  It was simply squashed and we moved on.  Nasty little encounter though, built mainly on the idea that we were in a rush to get to the 'objective' so it challenged us to go against our normal stand and fight instincts.  That may or may not be a blurry, hidden pic of El Bobert-O in the background.  Oh and the Eye Of Flame Beholder is gorgeous.

Another shot of the battlefield where you can again see the group sort of spread thin as we attempted to get across the room.  I have to admit, had we not been under a 'time' requirement for that encounter I would have loved to have stayed and seen how the group would have fared in that fight, as I can't think of the last time I'd fought a Beholder.  We did however survive, and move on.  The boards are one part World Works Games stuff printed and glued to foam board and then some D&D Dungeon Tiles.  Nice, simple, and clean layout, as is Zack's normal style.

There is Mick in the foreground going through her options.  She is playing Saveria, the group's resident Chaos Mage with a shady past.  Mick's our newest player to 4E & to D&D in general after not playing since her mis-spent youth.  I think she's done a fine job figuring it out on the fly and fit into a group full of more 'hardcore' players very well.  In the background is Zack, well aware of the DOOM he is preparing to unleash upon our unsuspecting PC's.  Honestly the finest compliment I can pay The Attack is that he is an amazing ambassador to the game.  He endeavors to make it fun, exciting, and easy for all players.  He's one of the only people I've ever met who I enjoy EVERY game of anything we play together.  I tried to take pictures of almost everyone, but Cassandra & the mysterious El Bobert-O where having none of it.

Here is the mighty C-Fish, aka Cordell, getting ready to roll with Mick still concentrating on her next move, and Zack looking slightly befuddled by my need to take pictures of stuff that no one cares about.  Either that or he's secretly plotting my death in real life.  After that session neither would surprise me.  Oh and before you even ask, yes Cordell is a black guy playing D&D, and yes he's the old Careers In Evil 'Racism Authority'.  He's also one of the nicest guys you'd want to meet, as well as a keen player.  He's playing Drakel, our shady Teifling Warlock who likes to summon a Hellhound and an Imp for company.

A disturbing close up of The Koala, aka Joe aka Work Joe.  Although to be honest he is no longer Work Joe as we don't work together.  And if we're being really honest, how much 'work' did we actually get done when we were at the same place?  Joe's a busy guy so I don't get to hang out with him as much as I'd like, but I have a damn fine time playing D&D with him once a month.  Oh, and that two day stubble beard that's planned.  Just like his shoes.  When we first started working together I thought Joe moonlighted as a male model.  Then I tricked him into becoming a huge Geek, go figure.

Last, but not least is a crazy hair, porn 'stache', angry (?) face picture of myself.  That's right ladies drink in that visage.  Ok, maybe don't drink it in I don't need you to be sick on your keyboards.  I'm enjoying playing in the group.  Zack's a solid DM.  We have different styles and approaches, but honestly I learn as much playing under him as I do just enjoying the session.  The last thing I will say here is to Bob, I hope I didn't offend or hurt your feelings by being that forceful.  If I did I apologize sir.  So it was another fun session of the 1st Group.  Now I just have to get my poop in a group for the 3rd Group this Thurs.  

Alphaville Vs. Hardware

The Bones finally came. That’s right the giant 11.3 lbs box of PVC little ‘guys’ finally arrived at my doorstep after patient waiting. It was everything I had hoped and SO much more. So the first thing I feel the need to do is thank Reaper. I haven’t been painting minis that long, but what I’ve discovered in that time period is that by and large Reaper is the most consistent miniature producing companies out there. They don’t price gouge like Games Workshop, they aren’t difficult to find, they have a MASSIVE back catalogue of items to choose from, and they are always looking for ways to expand their consumer base.

Don’t get me wrong there are a TON of tiny companies like Hardwood Hobbies, Anvil Industries, Mantic Games, Black Scorpion, Brother Vinni, Scribor, MaxMinis, etc. that deserve your attention, but none of them have the reach or scope that Reaper does. The Bones Kickstarter earned over 4 Million dollars. Let that sink in for a second. A company in Texas that makes little metal and plastic ‘guys’ made 4 Million dollars from a rabid fan base that was dying for a cheap, resistant, plastic alternative to metal. Then they delivered.

Sure it was a little late, but if you had that many orders to ship and you had to deal with production in China you might find yourself a bit late as well. The fact is it arrived, and it arrived as advertised. No let down, no disappointment, no excuses. Couple this with the “Hey if there are any problems with your order let us know and we’ll make it right” and their history of ‘making it right’ makes me feel like Reaper is a company that gives a crap about me as a customer. They are a company that had my loyalty before this, and now after getting this entire incredible product for such a dirt cheap rate I’m encouraging you to do the same.

Sunday night Cassandra, Mick, and myself watched Real Steel (*** ½ out of 5).

I learned two very important things watching that flick. Number one is that I’ll watch Hugh Jackman in anything and he will be fantastic. Secondly, the man can’t play a ‘bad guy’ no matter how hard he tries. He just can’t, he’s too damn likable. Even at his dead beat dad, slimy washed up boxer best he was still just too damn charismatic to hate. Let’s get one thing straight about this flick, I dug it. I really did, it was a nice family type flick that was fun and heartwarming. However it isn’t breaking any new ground. It’s really just Over The Top mixed with Rocky full of robot fights, and I’m TOTALLY ok with that. In fact I’m more than ok with it; I really enjoyed it to the point of being more than willing to watch it again. The special effects are good, the robot fights fun and the ending while being cliché is reasonably satisfying. So if you are looking for a decent little flick and want to watch some robot punching then give this one a go, it’s worth it.

I also finished Henry Kuttner’s Elak Of Atlantis (*** ½ out of 5).

I wasn’t overly familiar with Kuttner beyond him being C.L. Moore’s husband so I wasn’t sure what to expect from this collection. I was pleasantly surprised as Kuttner mixed the Hyborian Age of Howard and the Mythos of Lovecraft to give a bit of a new spin on the genre. While Conan faced down the menace of things man was not meant to know he did it with far less frequency than Elak. The other thing that sets Elak apart is his chubby, drunken, nasty buddy Lycon. Conan is the lone wolf, while Elak has a bit of comedy relief, even if that comic relief will stick a knife in your eye. Also we get two tales of another o Kuttner’s characters Prince Raynor, and while they are good they just aren’t as fun to me. None of these stories are re-inventing the wheel and from what I understand these early works of Kuttner are not as refined or as well written as this early work, but they are a damn fine romp. So if you enjoy Conan than give Elak a try.

A few weeks ago I watched a trailer for The Wrestling Road Diaries (***** out of 5).

I enjoyed what I saw and decided to send Colt Cabana some of my hard earned cash and bought it. It came and I watched this documentary. It is absolutely wonderful. It follows a ten day road trip on the Independent Wrestling circuit with Bryan Danielson, now known as WWE’s Daniel Bryan, Colt Cabana, & Sal Rinauro. Danielson is headed towards the WWE, but is having problems passing their rigorous physicals due to some health issues. It is touching to see a guy who wants it that badly, but that also is just enjoying what he’s doing. Watching his anxiety over these hidden health issues is less about it affecting his ability to sign a contract and more about his actual health. It humanizes him greatly. The thing is I was already a fan for this guy for his in-ring work, his out of ring charity work, and his down to Earth attitude. This documentary made me a MEGA FAN, he just seems like a guy you’d want to hang out with and could. Cabana is just coming off being terminated by WWE. He isn’t bitter, but he’s definitely frustrated and motivated by it. The thing is Cabana getting dropped by the WWE could be one of the best things that ever happened to him. He started and still does one of the BEST Podcasts on the Internet in The Art Of Wrestling, he’s become a self-marketing machine, and without that we wouldn’t have gotten this documentary. He’s a funny guy, who seems to always try to look on the bright side. Much like Danielson, Cabana just seems like a regular guy living the dream. He seems like the guy you’d want at your BBQ, and that makes this and every other project he does, I’m looking at you MST3K inspired ‘$5 Wrestling’, something I want to support. Their co-star is a relative unknown, Sal Rinauro. He makes NO bones about his position in the Wrestling world as an “Enhancement Talent”, dude is a Jobber and proud of it. Together these three travel from show to show to show on Danielson’s ‘farewell tour’. You get to see behind the curtain at ROH shows, CHIKARA shows, and a few other smaller organizations which is cool. What is better is these three outside the shows just living this strange life on the road, having fun, travelling, joking, and getting into trouble. It’s not for everyone, but I would say if you enjoy documentaries, and especially ones that will make you laugh than this one is for you. It is fantastic.

It was another week so we were given another round of Paizo/Wizkids, however we only received one look at Skull & Shackles. We were however given some interesting news and the first look at the next set Legends Of Golarian. I’m not sure how I feel about Paizo/Wizkids trying to hammer out four full sets plus all their extra items in a year it seems like it’s a bit of the old oversaturation, but I’m guessing they know their market well enough not to bleed them dry. I’m hoping that this is just a one-time deal though as I’m already going to cut down on my purchasing and extra sets a year is going to make me FAR more selective. Alright enough speculation onto the Minis!

First up is the big group Con shot of the Skull & Shackles set. You’ll notice that Brinebones, the giant Dracolich, is front and center as it should be. It’s a fantastic looking miniature that seems like something straight out of an Elmore painting. I didn’t realize how many BIG miniatures were in this set, but if you look at this group shot there are quite a few. The nautical theme is extremely obvious in this picture and I’m really excited to add a lot of these guys to my collection for 2nd Group’s adventures. I think the other thing that is striking me when looking at this set is that it seems small in number. I’m hoping that what I want out of this set won’t cost me that much.

Next is our first gander at the Legends Of Golarian set, and it’s the Small Common Goblin Pyros. The Pathfinder miniatures sets have done a great job of giving us not just Goblins, but Goblins with a TON of character to them, which is something that I felt the DDM line failed to do. I adore both of the poses they gave these two; there is a maniacal menace there that is perfect. The paint jobs are perfectly in line with what they’ve established for their Goblins and they will look fantastic in a horde with their earlier brethren. These are a MUST BUY for me.

The second look at the new set is Medium Rare versions of Queen Ileosa from the Curse Of The Crimson Throne Adventure Path and King Irovetti from the Kingmaker Adventure Path. Queen Ileosa is a PERFECT 3D translation of the art, literally perfect. She’ll make a great NPC miniature, but only if I can get her at a reasonable cost. There is a dynamic flow to the dress as well as imperiousness nature in that stance that screams royalty. King Irovetti is equally great. While he has a relatively static pose it has regal feel to it, and I love the paintjob. It reminds me of a King Conan type. These two are MUST BUYs for me IF they are reasonable on the secondary market.

You want to have your mind blown, then feast your eyes upon the Efreeti here. This Large Rare might be the best looking miniature that Wizkids and Paizo have produced in any set. This thing is just gorgeous. It’s based off a cover from the Legacy Of Fire Adventure Path, which by the by is chock full of awesome Gnolls, and is again stellar translation of art to sculpt to finished product. The pose is perfect, it screams power. The colors are bright without being obnoxious and are perfect when set again the dark cloth kilt type garment. The thing is this miniature would be a PERFECT stand in for ANY high ranking Devil and no one would bat an eye. How could you? This thing is right up there with the Troll Champion as miniatures to come out of this partnership that haven’t just met expectations but shattered them. Kudos to those involved. Oh and if you couldn’t guess this is a MUST BUY for me.

Last but not least is Gargantuan Green Dragon. This is one of the Chromatics who has never gotten the Gargantuan treatment and here it is in all its glory. I like this miniature quite a bit, but I think the thing that really keeps it from hitting that Efreeti type level of ‘SQUEE’ is the pose. Maybe it’s just the camera angle, but the pose doesn’t really do anything for me, which is a shame because that paint job is flippin’ amazing. I think this thing is going to retail for around $40, which isn’t bad, but I’m not sure I’m willing to plunk that much down for this bad boy. I’m just not sure. Hopefully we’ll get a better picture at some point. Otherwise this one is most likely a PASS for me.

Let’s wrap up this clown show with some…

RANDOM CRAP!

- Cassandra made insane pico de gallo last night. Seriously awesome. The last year she has taken her already good cooking skills and has become far more inventive, instinctive, and daring. She makes amazing food routinely, and I would say has surpassed me in many ways. She never ceases to blow my mind with what she makes.
- It’s only 15 days until NFL Training Camp starts, the abyss is almost over.
- Them Damn Wheeler Boyz were over to watch RAW on Monday and we witnessed the arrival of The Wyatt Family. Most of the time in wrestling the hype is better than what we actually get.

They build things up to a point where there is no Earthly way they can deliver. This was not one of those moments. Before it happened James, Dave, & I agreed that the best course of action would be to have them do a run-in on or two established stars, decimate them, and turn up the creep factor. As Kane & Christian came out for their match we said THIS is the spot. Lo and behold it was. See it doesn’t hurt Kane to put these guys over. He’s on the tail end of his run; he’s a solid worker, and currently a face. Having him get crushed only serves to make the Wyatts look dangerous, and that’s a good thing. Brutal, unsettling, and nasty was the best way I can think to describe the attack, but that was secondary to the entrance. Coming down in only lantern light with that disturbing song, blowing out the lantern only to have the house lights come up, and having Erik Rowan in that creepy sheep mask were all strokes of genius. Having Bray Wyatt sit out the attack and just watch from his rocking chair was perfect. The head smashing with the steel steps also was a great spot setting up how dangerous these guys are. It was just a great WWE moment. I’m very intrigued to see where they take these guys and who they menace next. They are walking upright, they are raging against the Machine, and they have followed the buzzards. The Wyatt Family is HERE.
- I’m thinking of grilling some chicken for D&D 1st Group on Sat. Possibly spiced and then sauced to caramelize. Something to think about.
- After wrestling James, Dave, and I sat down and knocked out James’ show on WWE ’13. He has assembled The Wyatt Family, The Shield, The Briscoes, Big E Langston, Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel, Wade Barrett, & Drew McIntyre to name just a few. It’s very much a NXT type roster, which is very cool. Now we just have to wait and see if Cordell is going to join us and if so what sort of roster he is going to put together between what’s left and a possible supplementary draft. I realized that as much as I dug my Gentleman’s Club faction it wasn’t what I wanted.

I wanted Team F.I.S.T., NAY I NEEDED Team F.I.S.T. So I went about finding Icarus and Johnny Gargano, teamed them with a better version of “Sexy Chucky T” Chuck Taylor AND kept Paul Wight in there. They are the Most Dangerous Trio on the game AND possibly the best faction. Yes, that’s just my opinion, but c’mon you know it’s true. It could only be better IF I could free up one more spot and find a sweet Gran Akuma. But that might cause the world to implode under the weight of its sheer awesome sauce.
- Tonight I’ve got to wash them Bones. I’m hoping to start gluing on Friday before DREAD.
- Speaking of DREAD, Friday night El Bobert-O is running a Sci-Fi game in which I will be playing a greenhorn Engineering Cadet. I’m going to play him like a scared kid who is in WAY over his head. I’m thinking of saying things like, “Good Gravy!” whenever confronted with the strange. Also NO cursing for me with this one. I am not going default Southern though, I do that too often. Smart and scared I think is the way to go. If I can keep from being a stereotype and instead be an archetype I’ll have achieved my goal. I think this game has the potential to be amazing.
- You know Little Caesar’s dip dish pizza wasn’t bad.

I think that’s all I got today…

“With the merging of the races
In this lost society
We will claim the Spinward Marches
We will rule the galaxy
We are free!

Though they once were our creators
Now we curse Humanity
From the race manipulations
To this dark obscurity
We'll be free!

Cast out of a world, once we owned
Lust got in the way, race dethroned

From ancient major races
To the old Genetic Wars
Came the carnivores and chasers
Now they're scattered though the stars
Near and far!

Now the secret is discovered

To our lost identity
We will infiltrate the cosmos
Our generic prophesy
We'll be free!

Cast out of a world, once we owned
Once out in the fray, we'll be cloned

It's a God-given right
So we choose to defy you
The professor was right
It's a God-given right
Ceremonial gene-splicing
Into the master race

Under a Vargr moon fires still glistening
Back on the skywalks I'm not even listening

Cronor! Mora! Firgr! Glisten!

Bouncing off the stairs in the Querion Subsector
Armed and escaping this unholy vector I'm

Human! Vargr! Wretched! Doctor!

Into my body you've brought this disease
Master of adamite discoveries
Stronger than ever you thought I'd be

Now that you've forced me to live out your fantasies
I will deliver your test-tube and prophesy

Mutant! Hybrid! Canine! Biped!
Into your human blood, penance for all your sins
Now I'll give you a taste of your own medicine

Human! Vargr! Wretched! Doctor!

Stalking the world as this monstrosity
Mutated messenger, alien genes
Stronger than ever you thought I'd be

Of what can you accuse me?
Your anger test my patience
I did not wish this on you
Your madness is quite blatant

In all your anguish I can see you are an ideal patient
My work is not yet wasted, wait and see

My countenance disfigured
My human genes are latent
You brought this fate upon me
And all your work is wasted

In all this world I only wanted to be independent
Clearly your madness brought this curse on me
Wait and see!”

* = YES!  YES!  YES!  That's for you and your Mighty beard Jammin' James...