Uncle Grayhawk's Front Porch

Dungeons & Dragons Soda

Magic: The Gathering Soda

I'm tempted to buy both to do a taste report.

[Poll #1458398]

Vote early, vote often!

My little Goth Cthulhu Dark Edition

Edit: Link corrected.

Note to fragbert: Thanks for the heads up. However, let's see how strong your HTML-fu is after 1.5 days of Microsoft info dump... Think day 2 or 3 of PMSD training... ;-)

Hey folks, I promised information on TCEP 15 - and here it is!

Still the best 4 days of gaming, relaxation, and fun in the greater DC area!

Yep, we're running a bit behind this year, but I think that more than ever, we all need a weekend to relax and unwind! And so, here we are, ready to plunge tentacle-first into TCEP 15: The Elder Party!

Unfortunately, we will *not* be able to offer online registration this year. And when we find out who sicced the Shoggoths on our web team, they will be dutifully flogged.

In the meantime, our flier is available in .pdf format! The flier can be downloaded here! Please note the change in mailing address! Get 'em in as early as possible folks!

Update! The flyer is also now available at the main site: http://www.barkingmad.org/tcep15/TCEP-15-flyer.pdf

LARP: Well, we had one, but the evil gods of employment have decided to laugh evilly (what else) at us, and so that one is being put on the back burner. We're in "negotiations" for another one. Information will be forthcoming if it happens.

Games: In addition to a number of Cthuloid and politically-themed events, we hope to have at least one "Old Skool" Dungeon crawl in memory of "The Grand Dungeon Master" himself, E. Gary Gygax. As always, we'll have plenty of space for pick-up games!

Saturday night will feature our third annual Charity Poker Tournament to benefit The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, The Center for Basic Cancer Research at Kansas State University, and The Mazzy Kaya Foundation.

We'll also be having a non-gamers area for those who prefer their relaxation to be more of the craft variety. Hosts & hostesses will be announced....when I have their permission. ;-)

Mix all of that in with the Friday night dinner (Bait Sushi at Asahi, or meat at Outback), our famous ConSuite (complete with fresh bread) and you have four days of fun that are not to be missed!

Here's the particulars:

TCEP 15: The Elder Party
Aug. 29- Sept. 1, 2008 (Labor Day weekend)
$40 for the weekend either by Pre-reg or at the door for adults
$20 for the weekend either by Pre-reg or at the door for youth (12-17)
Under 12 admitted free with paid adult membership (Said adult to be responsible for the child)

Hotel Information:
Holiday Inn Laurel West
15101 Sweitzer Lane, Laurel, MD 20707
Group name: Barking Mad
Group Rate: $104/night s/d/t/q occupancy
Note: To receive our special group rate, you MUST CALL the hotel at (301) 776-5300. Do not let them transfer you to the national reservation number!

Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Interesting take on my earlier poll. Yeah, I thought about making it multiple choice, then decided not to. In any case, my response to her was that since she didn't want to get involved, that she should probably delete it and forget about it.

Pleased to see that most of y'all ain't pervy enough to save them for yourself for later...

Anyway, enough about that.

Time for something resembling an update. I think that it shall be in convenient bullet-point format.

• Me: I am doing...ok. The usual late winter/early spring depression seems to be gone, or at least beaten into submission. If I can be said to be having any problems right now, it's a lack of sleep. Too many extraordinarily vivid (and strange) dreams, which aren't allowing me to stay asleep. Strange like being in a NJ diner with tth, aylinn and gypsy_sylvin, sitting in a booth talking, then the ladies go off somewhere and tth and I go back to their apartment, located behind the diner, and we go up the exterior stairs and clamber over a short section of roof to get to their landing. Yeah.
  
• mousecat0: She's still looking for a new job. It's not the best time to be job hunting. Otherwise in reasonably good health. Gets depressed sometimes over the job thing. I try to be supportive and smiley. Sometimes, it even helps.
  
• Da kids: I'll have more of a report on this in a few hours. Report cards come home today. I anticipate good ones, especially since I know B. got an "A" on her big project this quarter. B is not as enthralled with violin as she was, still loves the chorus. I don't think we'll be continuing violin lessons next year, but we shall see.
  
• Work: Work is work is work. Had a meeting with all engineers last week where they basically said "We think work is it's own reward! Expect to be rewarded twice as much in the coming months!" They keep calling it a "Dynamic Environment." What that translates to is that there are more changed minds and changed policies on a daily basis than Cher has wardrobe changes in a week of concerts. So, I spent last night updating online resumes at various sites.
  
• Geek weekend: Spent the better part of Saturday at Games & Stuff in Glen Burnie for their Gary Gygax memorial day (which, I might add, they're doing again on April 26 from 12-8 pm; see this post for details.) It was a lot of fun; started off by playing in a run Against the Giants, then when enough people showed up (including webqatch and family), I broke off to run White Plume Mountain. They recovered 2 of the weapons (Wave & Whelm), but time ran out before they could rescue BlackRazor. After Sunday brunch with my mother-in-law, we sat down and watched Star Wars: A New Hope & Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. What a great weekend.
  
• WoW: Franush, my dwarf Paladin has hit 70. Now, am working on my mage, Gunsnbutter to level him. He's only at about 53 or so. Got into a real good PUG for a Zul'Farrak run last week, cleared all quests with only 1 death. I'll run with those guys anytime.
  
• Cons: Origins is still a bit iffy. A lot depends on whether or not mousecat0 gets a job by then. If she does...then she may not be able to go. And if she can't go, I have to seriously reevaluate whether or not I want to take B. Kinda playing it by ear for the moment.

And that's it for now.

Remember, if you woke up today, it's a good day. Somewhere, someone didn't wake up today.

Peas. Out.

Well, I'll be attending at least two, and maybe three this year.

Of course, I'll be at TCEP 15 over Labor Day Weekend 2008. After all, I help run that.

I'll also be at Origins this year as well. Again, a good thing since I'm the liason for the SJG demo team. The current plan is to have mousecat0 and B. come with me.

And yes, rileybear67, we can do lunch or dinner. With or without others. You and I shall make the time.

The one that's a little up in the air right now is Balticon. I may have to bail on that one due to finances. I'll know better after I talk to tth this weekend. I have a few options that may work, but they needs be discussed.

Conventions. I love them so. Big ones and small ones, each has their strong points and attractions to me. Both let me hang out, play games, talk to new and interesting people and catch up with old friends. Sometimes the games are good, sometimes the games are Astrobirdzturkeys.

At least I'm not working ConSecurity anymore. Oh, the stories I have of those days...

I keep thinking we ought to compile a book of these stories. Problem is, they come across much better in person when we tell them than I think they would in print. The facial expressions and vocal intonations get lost.

I mean, really, how do you describe the look on someone's face when they open the door to the stairwell to see a LOT of superballs bouncing their way down the stairway from the top floor?

So it was Saturday morning when heptadecagram  pointed me at an article that told of JK Rowling's "outing" of Albus Dumbledore.

As I told him, my first thought was "Eh, whatever", as one's sexual preferences and proclivities generally have little to no influence on me (assuming, of course, that all parties are willing participants)

My second thought was "Oh great, just what the ignorant fundies need:  More ammo."

My third thought, however, was the imagined voices of millions (and millions) of slashfic writers shouting out  in gleeful unison "HAHAHA!  We were right!  We are VINDICATED!"

Great.  More grist for the slashfic mills.  More crap to ignore.

For the record:  No, I do not like the vast majority of fanfic for a variety of reasons.  There are some good pieces out there (the Naked Quidditch Match one comes to mind), but I have little to no patience for sifting through the mountains of bad grammar, worse storytelling, and horrific characterization.  That said, no one ever got better at something without practice.  People are welcome to write all they want.

Doesn't mean I have to read it.

Because I had a previous engagement on Saturday afternoon/evening, I had to beg off a MSD meeting. So, in the morning, I took B. to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at the Uptown theater.

I love that place.

We got seats in the balcony in the front row in the center. Where all you see is the screen. No other seats, no other patrons, just 40+ linear feet of screen, right in front of you. A great experience.

As far as the movie goes
( cut for possible spoilers )
Will hopefully be taking F. to see Transformers on Sat. I thnk there's a 2:50 matinee at the Regal in ROckville.

Wooooooo!

And not only is it hump day, but I'm 2 hrs from leaving for the day.

Why I am leaving a bit early shall remain a sekrit for now, though a scant few of you know why. More on that later.

It's kinda hard to believe that in 7 days from now, I will be motoring thru the wilds of eastern Ohio en route to Columbus, OH, The GCCC, and Origins! (Assuming I get going on time)

And yet, it seems like an eternity. (blackpaladin, I'm sure you can relate)

In the meantime, here I am, trying to remain productive in the few days left before I go away for a while. A quick bullet list should suffice:

• Battling a minor case of the sniffles.
  
• Kids are enjoying their summer camp
  
• Packing and prepping for vacation has begun, but has not completed.
  
• Franush, my Dwarf Paladin on WoW has hit 55. Still trying to complete Sunken Temple. Need time and a decent group. Learned the other day that he can effectively solo Stockades. Will lead a group through soon, including one of mousecat0's alts.
  
• Have finally found/altered and implemented a solution to a problem that has plagued me and the HellDesk since last January. Go me!
  
• Got the old laptop up and running again!
  
• The quote I had up on Monday was crossposted to techsupport. It has since been added to the Memories section over there! WOO!!
  

That's all I got at the moment. Well, I gots two shoutouts, but I'll do those as seperate entries.

Peas. Out.

Convention Countdown
Origins: 7 Days!
TCEP 14: 65 Days!

Good day to all, and welcome to day three of the "New & improved" DST (if you're in the US...if you have the good fortune to not have to deal with this idiocy, more power to you!)

It's been a bit since updating. And I suppose it's worth running through the last little while to get through it all.

I guess there were essentially 3 days to talk about in the last 10 or so. The first, of course, would be March 7, which was B.'s birthday. We took her out for dinner to Silver Diner, where she had a blast. She got some shirts from us, as well as Pokemon Red Rescue team for her GBA. Frankie gave her a set of My Little Ponies and a mix for her E-Z bake oven, and the cat gave her some pokemon cards. My in-laws also gave her clothing. The only problem is that my mother-in-law either can't remember or can't accept that her granddaughter is big for her age.

Yes, some of that is her being overweight. Some is also her having a frame that some linebackers would kill for. Some of it is also the current idiotic trend in girls fashion that everything is skin-tight and low/high cut. But I digress...

The upshot, of course, is that the vast majority of the clothes that they got her do not fit. So, we'll take it back and get stuff that does. Hey, when I picked out shirts, I got her shirts with Orange Crush labels and Thundercats logos on them.

What wonderful iconoclastic kids we're raising. She loves her Barbies and My Little Ponies, but also watches Godzilla movies with me and wants to play Creepy Freaks again. F loves playing on the computer, playing football catch with me, and playing against me in Godzilla: Save the Earth!

Hee!

OK, so on Friday night, we watched Godzilla vs. Hedorah (also marketed in the US as Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster). Time (and the merciful powers of the brain) had erased/blocked/repressed just how wonderfully cheesy this movie really is. Aside from the ham-handed delivery of the message "POLLUTION IS BAD! OMG!!!111!ELEVENTY-ONE!", there were just so many moments, we were howling with laughter during the final, climactic batttle.

Saturday was the combined birthday party for B. & matt3485, which was kindly, generously, and graciously hosted by stoooooooo & ginabeth. Much food was consumed (including some of stoooooooo's famous pulled pork), many presents were opened, and a good time was had by all. By the time we got home, it was well past bedtime for the kids, and time for me to relax for a bit before calling it a night. I did, fortunately, have the presence of mind to set my alarm clock ahead an hour before doing so.

(An aside: I'm sitting here at work listening to Ultimate Alabama: 20 #1 hits and reflecting on how closely I associate this album with my treks to Origins. "Roll On" reminds me of driving through Western PA, "There's No Way" with Columbus itself, "40 Hour Week" with driving through WV & eastern OH, and so on. Makes me wish it was July...)

Sunday, B. & I got up and tuned her Green Cyclone deck in preparation for the Pokemon State championships that were being held at Dream Wizards. I'm going to hold off on talking much about that right now, as my mom has sent B. an email asking how the day went, and I think it might be neat to see what B. has to say first. I may post that seperately later.

Otherwise, life continues apace at The GrayMouse Inn. mousecat0 has started another 2 week gig with the same pharmaceutical company. IKEA didn't pan out, unfortunately. While they were willing to hire her, it was part time hours only. We took a close look at it, and realized that after taxes and fuel, it wasn't worth it. So she continues to look.

Speaking of Origins, right now, I'm saying that we're going. And by "We", I mean mousecat0 & myself. Earlier this year, I wasn't sure we'd be going due to the potential of the bariatric surgery. However, given that Aetna doesn't seem to want to cover the procedure, and I don't seem to have the several grand laying around, the process is on hold. To be fair, even if I hit the lottery tomorrow, it would be several months before I had the procedure, due to the numerous tests, specialist visits, and counseling sessions, it would be several months before I had the procedure. So why not go to Origins? We have a reservation at the Hampton Inn & Suites; I'm just not going to demo as many games.

I finished reading Dead Beat by Jim Butcher, which I believe is the 7th book of The Dresden Files. All I have to say is: I'm hooked. I want them all. I want them all NOW. Then too, I have a liking for modern/urban fantasy. I liked the Diana Tregarde books by Mercedes Lackey, as well as the earlier works of Laurell K. Hamilton (before they stopped being good supernatural action/mystery books and began revolving around the "Crotch of Doom"). Oh yes, and Charles DeLint. Looks like I have a new author addiction...

Oh yeah, last thing. HEY aynne_witch! I'm in. I'll do Hagrid. Last time. Do you still have the shirts? I have the vest.

I think that's enough for now. I'll catch up with y'all later.

Peas. Out.