Because In A Blog No One Can Hear You Scream...: High Anxiety Vs. Wolfen

* = Truer words have never been uttered Sean Bean.

That was quiet possibly the fastest damn weekend I’ve ever had. I feel like I blinked and it was over. Sure we had fun, and even got some things accomplished, but I feel it was hollow. I do not feel rested, or prepared for the week. In fact if anything I feel much more tired. It is a small price to pay though for two days and an evening jam packed with ‘goodness’. So guess I should stop my bitching and moaning and just get on with it.

Friday night we had a nice fire in the driveway. We didn’t quite get the turnout that I thought we would, but we got the turnout I wanted. Dave, Joe the Koala, Lee, Carla, baby Gus-Gus, and the lovely Cassandra joined me for the festivities. Joe, Lee, and I cut up the Cedar that was left over in the garage finally.

I once again proved that I should not be allowed around technology, even technology from the 1950’s, without direct supervision. I cut up a LOT of wood with a hand saw, to the point that my forearms are still a bit ‘achy’. Insert your masturbation joke HERE David. On top of that I imbibed a massive amount of beer. You know it’s been some time since I’ve drank beer. Generally, it’s not that cost effective for a guy my size and tolerance to choose beer as my beverage of choice, but I went old school and drank 40 oz. Bottles of Mickey’s. I then followed that with some High Life, and finished the night with some Apple Pie Schnapps. Amazingly enough I wasn’t smashed. I think we’ve learned now that when we have fires I like to drink, tell stories, laugh, sing, and threaten my ‘frenimies’. I think I perhaps was born too late. Sometimes around that fire I can feel my atavism firing and can imagine my ancestors doing the same thing in mead halls during the bitter cold. Either way we were way to loud, way to fun, and stayed up way too late.

Saturday we headed out to Mason’s birthday party at a park. We ran a bit late as somehow the power went out in the middle of the night. Either way it was a good time with M. & C. as well as their family and friends. Cassandra and I were both exhausted from the night before and really drug ass all day, and in the end crashed pretty early. This is the one bad thing about having a boisterous Friday night, I don’t recover like I used to. So the day after I generally don’t want to do much but lie around and eat. Saturday was no exception.

The one shining moment of night was being able to watch The Nerdist television program on BBC America with Cassandra. For those that don’t know The Nerdist is wildly fantastic podcast made by Chris Hardwick, Matt Mira, and Jonah ‘The Vajonah’ Ray. They generally interview nerdy folks and comedians while being hilarious. It seriously is my favorite podcast and Chris Hardwick has become one of my personal heroes. So they have a TV show of the Podcast every once in a while on BBC America. Saturday night they showed like 6 episodes. Four of which we hadn’t seen! So beyond listening to the Podcast this weekend, which I did, we also got to watch the television program and all was right with the world. Seriously, if you haven’t partaken of Chris Hardwick’s ‘Entertainment Burrito’ then you should. Immediately. STOP what you are now doing and go do it. NOW!

Sunday I tried to get up early to mow, but was denied by the weather, so l had to wait. By the time I scuttled out to take care of it the sun was out, the breeze was nice, and the grass was only slightly damp. I’ll be honest I’m still a tad sore from moving all that damn wood. Insert Gay joke HERE David. So mowing a now lumpy, wet, and sandy backyard was mostly made up of ‘The Suck’. I was able to knock it out pretty swiftly, but today my legs feel like Jell-O.

Luckily it got done, and I was able to get cleaned up in time for Joe, and eventually Dave, to arrive so we could Board Game. Joe and I started the day off with Dungeon Command (**** out of 5). This is the new WotC D&D Skirmish game. I had picked up both the Heart Of Cormyr and the Sting Of Lolth ‘armies’. Joe took the Drow and I took the ‘Good Guys’. It’s a skirmish game with NO dice, which is really hard to sort of wrap your head around at first. You basically manage resources and cards to get your troops on the board while using the Order Cards to give them additional defenses and attacks. The real strange thing is that melee and ranged attacks ALWAYS hit, unless an Order Card stops it, so you can’t really ‘protect’ a piece. So in a way it becomes about acceptable loss. From the get go of the game Joe was using the Drow’s speed to blitzkrieg me extremely successfully. In fact when my Copper Dragon went down I was pretty damn sure it was game over. Joe played his cards perfectly, kept pressure on, and really out played me significantly. Eventually though the layout of the board started to play to my strengths, and Joe’s quick forces started to dwindle a bit. I just sort of stuck around long enough to wear him out and get the win. We sort of botched our way through this first battle. It still went reasonably quickly and was quiet fun. I have to admit I barely used my General’s special ability and I don’t think Joe used his at all. There are nuances to this game that I most likely won’t get without multiple plays. So what did I think of the game itself you ask? First off I like the game. I like the way it plays, I like the way it sets up, and I don’t mind the diceless combat. It does suffer from only having two armies, which weren’t that cheap. In addition I get that pre-paints are expensive, but damn these weren’t even painted that well, so I am a bit disappointed there. The thing I really love is the way this game looks like it will be customizable. I don’t think it’ll be very difficult to make cards and build home game armies. In addition all the components are compatible with the D&D Adventure System games. With more armies on the way in August I’m thinking this game might have some ‘legs’. Now if I can just get Cassandra on board with it.

Once we finished and awoke the sleeping David on the couch we busted out some Small World Underground (**** ½ out of 5). I’m a HUGE fan of Small World, it might be my favorite all time board game, you don’t even really get to kill anyone. I picked up Underground, even though technically it’s a ‘stand-alone’ game, because you can use it in conjunction with the original game.

I figured we’d just get a rehash of the original with new races, a new map, and some new powers. I was wrong. We also get ‘Places Of Power’ and ‘Artifacts’ which drastically change the game. The first thing one notices is that the map feels really small and cramped, it almost begs the players to fight. The second thing is the huge river going through the middle of the map that adds some very distinct complications to your race(s) expansions. The third thing I found out was you can rack up a HUGE amount of coins/victory points in this new version. So we played a ten turn debacle. And by debacle I mean we had a really fun time. I found a nasty combination of the Drow, with the Flocking power, on a ‘Place Of Power’, and stole an ‘Artifact’ from Joe that allowed me to score a LOT of points and essentially do a lot of nothing. In the meantime David spent the majority of the game on the other side of the board scoring at will while Joe and I went back and forth. What was really mind-blowing was that we are ALL scoring big points. In fact I felt like I had a decent lead at one point only to be shocked when we counted up our final scores and I not only took second, but only barely. David outpaced us both by around 30 points and Joe was only behind me by a handful of coin. It was a crazy game with a lot of twists and turns, and some really interesting new mechanics. I can’t wait to try this out again, add the Myth & Legends cards, and possibly play using the Small World Realms expansion, where you get to build your own boards! Days Of Wonder has done it again, and both myself and my Board Gaming Posse thank you.

I’ve been slowly but surely getting some feedback about the first episode of the Careers In Evil Podcast. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by most of it. It appears that we did “a’ight”. In fact my favorite response was that it was ‘way better than I thought it would be’. David and I are already discussing the next Episode, trying to pin down a guest to embarrass/interview, and hashing out what worked and what didn’t. In all honesty I’m just glad anyone enjoyed it. It took a long time to convince Dave to do it. The fact is David is one of the most talented guys I know, be it musically, artistically, writing, or just being a funny S.O.B. However it can be hard sometimes to get him to focus on something that he’s not entirely invested in. His last podcast experience was feast and famine. When it was good it was great, when it was bad it was embarrassing. We really wanted to do something that we enjoyed listening to, but more importantly enjoyed doing. While I think there is always room for improvement I think we didn’t do too shabby for our first foray. So I just wanted to take a moment to say ‘Thank You’ to those that read this and did take the time to listen, hopefully we can continue to entertain.

Hmmm, there was no Pathfinder miniature preview this week so I guess we should wrap this bad boy up with some…

RANDOM CRAP!

- NFL Training Camp has started. Can you feel it? Can you feel the Sport’s Abyss slowly crawling to its end? I can, and it’s glorious!
- Last night we grilled up a veritable feast. In fact I think we finally bested Lee at making his own sandwich. That was quiet possibly the greatest Pork Tenderloin sandwich ever assembled by the hands of mankind. It was a nice way to end the weekend.
- There is still wood in my driveway if anyone is interested. You will need a chainsaw to cut up the trunks.
- Today on the way in we started re-listening to Waves Of Mercury ‘The Great Darkness’, which can be found on Band Camp, HERE. I had sort of forgotten just how layered and nuanced that album is. It’s sort of lavishly melancholy with moments of thunder that jolt you. There is just so much going on there musically and lyrically. Listening to it reminds me of just what a frighteningly motivated David & Gregg can accomplish.
- I desire Banana Bread.
- I’ve started reading Clive Barker’s ‘The Hellbound Heart’. If the first chapter is any indication then I’m not only going to love it, but it’s going to really change the way I view those first two Hellraiser movies. In just getting through those first twenty pages or so it reminds just why Clive Barker is one of my favorite authors, as he’s able to intrigue me, disgust me, and enthrall me with his words.
- Cassandra, we really need to watch the BBC version of Day Of The Triffids.

- D&D is Saturday and I really need to buckle down and figure out just where I’m taking things now. It would help if I knew for sure that Mighty Mike was going to be there. I’m going to have to plan for him not to be, and then shoe-horn him in if he does make it. I have a loose idea, but currently have no one to discuss it with in depth to give me some feedback. I know it’s going to need a bit more combat than last session, since Joe and Cassandra got a bit ‘itchy’ to swing swords by the end. It’s always a challenge to find that balance. I think I have a few loose ideas that will fit in well, but I’ll have to really do some refining to get them to fit.
- I’m going to need a serious rub down for these sore muscles anyone I know want to help a Ginger out, and no David I don’t mean you.
- Reaper Miniatures has a Kickstarter project going for their immensely successful Bones line, HERE. I’ve already done the $15.00 contribution. With all the additional stuff they are adding to the $100.00 level I am DAMN tempted to try and scrape together the scratch to add another $85.00 to my contribution to get all those damn minis. I’m a HUGE fan of this line, and while I’m not a Kickstarter fan, I think this along with what Mantic did with their project is perfect examples of how established companies can utilize it as a way to ensure production for our hobby. So if you love minis go check this out.
- Even though I’m going through ‘Old School’ Doctor Who I have a hankering to go back and watch the Christopher Eccleston stuff again. Perhaps I’ll have to do that this coming Sunday.

You know I can’t think of anything more worthwhile to blabber on about.

“I have seen this broken girl
But a million years before
Pale and drawn
Riddled with her lies
Mistress and martyr
Her dead, languid eyes
The secrets sealed away
Behind her haunted lips
I have seen this broken girl before
But a million years before

She lies in the arms...
She lies in the heart of the storm
She dies just like the rest of them
Only time and time again

Pale and drawn
Riddled with lies
A mistress and a martyr
Her dead, languid eyes
Secrets sealed away

I have seen this broken girl before
But a million years before”