Gatling Engine

So, I've spent a decent amount of time on the Gatling Engine over at CCG Workshop. I have to say that I like it. There are a couple of issues, but on the whole, it plays well, and people generally let you take back your mistakes.

On the other hand, you've really got to know the cards to egin with, or things will go fairly slowly (whether you know the game or not).

Still, I imagine I'll be spending less time on MSN Games, now, and a LOT more time on GE.

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Nothing much else going on at the moment. I ran my second installment of GURPS on Sunday, which went well. So well, in fact, that I have all three of my players saying they want to keep playing GURPS even after this campaign-let ends.

Next up: Cowboys in SPAAAAAAAAAACE, a la Firefly, but with a healthy dosing of Farscape, Babylon Five, and Call of Cthulhu. Oh, and Star Wars, of course...

Events conspiring against me...

I didn't have time to try out gatling engine yesterday. I did get all my 'Fist cards on the table, and I've starting going through them a little, but i think my best bet is going to be to just try to tweek an existing deck, not build a new one from scratch.

We're playing games tonight with our friends Jen and Nelson. My guess is Power Grid, and probably a game of Carcassone (Jen is obsessed). I'm looking forward to it, especially since we haven't seen them in a couple of weeks. And I guess tomorrow Karen, Jen, (maybe Nelson) and I are going to go play a little frisbee golf. i know what you're thinking, but 1) yes there is such a thing, and 2) yes it is too, fun.

and, not that I'm obsessed or anything, hopefully I'll still have some time to try out the gatling engine. I think I'm going to go ahead and put my name in anyway, and just hope my game is scheduled for later.

GURPS

I ran my first GURPS session last night. I'm pretty rusty on the rules, and it is a completely different feel from D&D, but I think it went pretty well. Certainly I am going to have to spend more time trying to make the plot smooth, and I need to learn how to run a mystery-type game, but I think I can swing it.

Of course, all this prep I've been doing for GURPS hasn't left me much time to figure out the Gattling Engine software on which I will be playing in the online Shadowfist Proving Ground. Hopefully I can spend a nice chunk of tomorrow figuring it out, and possibly even some of Saturday. I don't need to win the games, just show well, and much of that will be contingent upon knowing how the software works.

I'm also trying to throw together a Purist-Monarchs deck that does a lot of sacrifice manipulation. I'm afraid that I want it to do too many different things, though, and that I am going to have to cut a couple of the other janky stuff I want in it.

We'll see. I'll be sure to post how I do in the game, and how the software plays, on the off chance anyone is remotely interested.

*Sigh*

So much for posting daily, right?

I can't even think of any really good excuses, though I am pretty sure that the biggest one is that Karen and I have been watching Lost. We finished Season 2 last night, and boy am I looking forward to the new episodes.

Speaking of desert islands, we've decided not to watch Survivor this season. We saw enough of the premier to see each of the four tribes, and meh. We opted to watch Farscape instead.

I think we will still be watching more tv this season, regardless. We need to give the taped Amazing Race premier a gander, but that show is generally pretty good. We will be watching Lost, Smallville, Gilmore Girls, and *maybe* Heroes, if it turns out to be any good.

We'd certainly be watching Stargate and Atlantis, you know, if we got cable, but we don't. Still, I wouldn't want too much more television to watch than this anyway. Three shows plus Netflix should be enough *new* content to keep us happy, while still giving us time to havea life (and watch a lot of "old" stuff, read as stuff we already own).

There! I posted! Now we'll just see if I can keep it up for a while...

Strangely Tired

Our new tv is everything I hoped it would be (it came at 8:20ish). It's five inches bigger (on the diagonal) than the old one, and it still seems a lot bigger because of it.

We put in a couple of ep's of Farscape, and I kept falling asleep. I don't get it! I love that show, and here we are on episodes I've only seen once, and I keep zonking out. We watched one, I realized I'd fallen asleep at the end, so I stood up, moved around, and felt fine. We put in the next episode, and not even ten minutes in, out again go I!

After it was over, I promptly removed my glasses and woke up about three hour later, I think. I really don't get it. I kind of want to try watching more, but who knows if I'll stay awake.

In other news, Jerry pissed me off a lot by bailing on my game last night. He left a message on my phone's voice mail, despite the fact that I have been asking him for more than two years not to (and to leave then on our home machine, instead).
It was just another in a litany of events from him. I was pretty (irrationally) furious. Angry enough that Karen mentioned (again) how worried she is for me, given the depth and rapidity of my mood swings.
At least I think I've ruled out pregnancy...

Oh well. We'll see if I've calmed down in week, when we may or may not get Jerry back. Though if he flakes out again, I'm afraid the fates my take a disliking towards his character (with or without him).

About Time!!

Our new tv arrives today between the hours of now and 9:30. I am very excited!

I've had our current tv for over seven years, and it has (I would say recently, but it is really more than half a year) started having trouble starting up, as well as doing a weird flashy-thing when there are bright or white lights on the screen (meaning the programming).

So, yeah, it's about time for a new one.

The old one has migrated to our bedroom, where I think it will soon be attached to either my PS2 or a cheap (yet to be obtained) DiViD player. We'll see.

In other news, I got my Colossal Red Dragon yesterday, and it is COOL! It made me feel like a kid again.

Passports

Karen and I are applying for passports today.
Hairs are cut and Karen's replacement birth certificate is in, so I guess we are ready to go!
I started thinking about England again, yesterday, and I am so super-stoked!

We fly out of Dulles on British Airways Friday, December 22 at 9:55 pm and land at Heathrow Saturday, December 23 at 10:00 am.
We are spending 11 nights in London (with a few day-trips on the side), then on to Canterbury, Dover, Rye, Hastings, Battle, and back to London for our last night.
I managed to get us rooms for £40 a night (which translates to roughly $75, VAT and breakfast included) at the Caswell Hotel. And it's only about a quarter-mile from Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament!

In addition to all the fun stuff we get to do tourist and shopping-wise (we are going to Harrod's and Harvey Nick's on Boxing Day, after all), we are also going to a BUNCH of shows!!!
We already have tickets to see Merry Wives the Musical with Dame Judi Dench at Stratford-upon-Avon, and we are going to snag tickets there to see Idina Menzel reprise her roll as Elfaba in Wicked. I am SO excited!

Yeah, I know I suck, but it is the first time I've ever left the country.

Stoked! Stoked! Stoked!

Crank

I found Crank hilarious.

Certainly not the deepest plot, and some of the stuff was just a bit too unbelievable, but WOW!
I found the action sequences to be fun, I found the sense of humor about the violence great, and was, all in all, quite entertained.
Probably not worth full admission price (I had a free ticket from my Regal Cinemas reward card), but if you like action movies, it's worth a netflix slot.

Now Slither, on the other hand, that movie is worth a spot on your shelf!
"I think I've sussed out a pattern..." enough said.

On the sickness front, Karen decided to play hookie, and I am still trying to get fully better. At least i'm not miserable anymore, but boy would I like to not need "productive coughs" anymore.

Blech!

Feeling Better

And it's about time too!

On the scale of past illnesses, though, this one wasn't too awful. Especially not when compared with what happened to me when I taught highschool for that interminable semester. *shudder*

I still need a little sleep and rest to get it fully out of my system, but I am happy to say that I am mostly over it.

Karen, on the otherhand, is coming down with something as of this morning. She isn't sure if it is from me or from her office-mate (but with as lousy as he felt last week, she's hoping it was mine).

Ran my D&D game again last night. It's a lot of fun, and the party mix is pretty weird:
-Chaotic Neutral Barbarian/Frenzied Berserker with a penchant for pyromania and women from the elemental plane of Fire.
-Chaotic Neutral Rogue/Fighter/Swashbuckler, fourth son of a noble family, and a bit of a gentleman (HA!) rogue.
-Neutral (formerly Neutral Evil, till he had that draw from the Deck of Many Things) Gray Elf Necromancer/Black Wizard
-CHAOTIC Good Wyrmling Copper Dragon Bard.

Did I forget to mention the necromancer's ontourage? Yeah, he has a skeleton "familiar" and two stone giant skeletons, all of whom are decked out in masterwork full-plate and carry great swords.

There is a lot of petty grumbling and infighting, most from the necromancer (surprise, surprise), but it is always fun for all.

Right now they find themselves the subject of a magical experiment that has overtones of Stargate, Quantumn Leap, and Call of Cthulhu, (and at the moment, the Lost World), and I am really interested to see what they do next.

We're playing again Wednesday and Friday this week, so I'm pretty pleased!

Razzum Frazzum

Stupid sickness. I still feel miserable (and now we can add irritable to the list too).

On the other hand, I got to play Dungeon Twister three times today, but the third game wasn't so fun. I disappointed myself a couple of times, and I wasn't able to pull off as nice a terminal board position as I would have liked. Karen won, and not because of any play mistakes on my part, but I don't think she is truly taking enough credit for it as she ought. I'm sure my mood didn't help.

Oh well. As she observed, at least now I don't have to play with a handicap anymore.

Muay Thai KICKS ASS!

Ok, I saw the Protector, and it was AWESOME!

I can honestly say it was one of the most spectacular displays of martial arts prowess I have ever seen. The movie was a little disjointed, and the ubiquitous boatchase scene was a little hackneyed, but I'm willing to overlook it in light of the penultimate fight scene.

I'll just tell you about his exit from the "field": imagine 20-30 people lying on the ground, writhing, each one of which has some combination of compound breaks (including legs, arms, shoulders, hands, feet, spines, necks, fucking inner ears, for all I know!) and only a fhandful of which are actually dead. This follows a three minute fight scene that is as brutal as anything else I have ever seen in the movies.

And did I mention he kicks people with his KNEES?!?!?!?!

DEFINITELY a must for any die-hard action fan.

And the cameo by Jackie Chan is pretty funny (and completely understandable).

Rrrrraaarraragh...Brains?

That frelling clinches it! I'll be a zombie soon. Why else could I feel so horrible?! when I get my hands on the vermin responsible for this, I'll...do absolutely nothing because when it comes to violence, I'm all talk. Damnit!

Seriously though, I'm still in the initial stages, so at least I can still breath, and the weird thing hasn't started happening to my ears yet (if you don't know what I mean, don't worry about it). Hopefully a lot of orange juice and bed rest will help me get better soon. I really hate teaching while sick, and I don't take days off. Not my style, really. So if this does persist, it will really really suck.

Only two classes today, and I'll be done by 1:45. Then, after a quick bite to eat, I'll go waste some money on The Protector. I'm a sucker, I know, but I enjoy a good action flick from time to time. and this guy hits people with his knees! How cool is that?!

I'll say something about it later. Right now, I should prep 3.1: Introduction to Logic, Statements and Quantifiers.

[sarcasm]Yippee![/sarcasm]

Getting Down with the Sickness

I really frelling hate getting sick. Hate it. Right now it is that slow, ticklish draining of head fluids down the back of my throat (and slightly to the side-like) which is enough to keep me awake with discomfort and paranoia. Enough that I rose at 6 today, instead of my usual (pleasant) 7. And while that may not sound too bad, I know this is just the beginning. That's the worst of it.

And I think I am much more uncomfortable with the thought of falling ill now than I was even two years ago. Largely because of the stint I pulled (get the prison reference?) in highschool during the spring of '05. Bastards!

But I digress (HA!). So I'm drinking lots of orange juice this morning, and I'm pretending that nothing is wrong (despite my endless ranting here), and we're all going to hope that this passes (and not like a kidney stone), and that I will be fine.

In other news: we got disk 1 of Lost (season 2) from Netflix yesterday. We watched 3 episodes, and BOY do I like that show. It makes me wish I was still in my frivolous movie buying stage. As it is, I suppose this will stretch out theenjoyment.

*sigh*

Change in plans

I was going to go see Crank, but impatience led me to see The Wicker Man instead. I haven't seen the first one, but this version seemed pretty good to me. It has its less lucid parts, but all in all, I'm ok with it. More suspense than anything, and the ending was the right kind of pay-off.

I also went to see The Illusionist, since I had an extra two hours before I had to go pick up Karen. That movie was really good. It's been a while since I saw Ed Norton in anything, but he was really good in this one. And while I'm not sure how feasible some of the period effects were (and I don't know how rooted in truth this story is), it was still pretty easy to suspend my disbelief. A little transparent, but hey, we all love being right, right?

Both good movies, and I would have to say (while not necessarily worth $7.25 a pop) worth a watch.

Happy Birthday David!

Not that you will actually read this, but know that I thought of you on your birthday. Believe it or not, I actually did think about what to get you, and had every intention of having something in the mail for you this weekend, but I forgot. Le sigh.

On the other hand, I'll be seeing Crank today after my 12:30 Algebra class. It's days like this (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) that I love being a professor! Community College it may be, but for the money and the hours I put in, it is a pretty frelling great job!

Anyway, David, I'll try and get your gift off by Saturday.

Farscape

Farscape, a Sci Fi Channel show from the Jim Henson company, has long been one of my favorites. In fact, I'd say it is tied with Joss Whedon's Firefly as my favorite [science fiction] show ever.

It has numerous geek-culture references throughout, displays amazing far-sight (with respect to plot elements), and has not only great writing, but amazing actors.

And it is funny as all hell!

Sure it has aliens, both strange and human-looking, but it makes them all feel like people. And not your standard Star Trek goody-goodies, either. These are people who aren't afraid to kill, and who frequently display the kind of morality you'd be likely to find Clint Eastwood flaunting in A Fist Full of Dollars.

Definitely worth a gander.

I happen to be on the third season again (this makes three times for me), and it just doesn't get old.

My first attept at blogging

Well, this represents my first forray into the wonderful world of sharing information about myself on the world wide web. I admit that I am skeptical that I can maintain a blog, but I might as well give it a shot.

Today was the day after a wonderful three-day-weekend, and, like everyone else who got off for Labor Day, I didn't want to go back to work. On the other hand, the test I gave at 9:30 this morning was a slightly tweaked version of the same test I always give for this chapter (the Sets chapter of Math for Liberal Arts), so it required almost no prep time. A definite plus.

And my Precalc went well too, largely because I was in good form with the bad jokes today, and the students seemed to bounce back well from largely bad quiz scores (from the previous Firday).

Following those two classes I went out to lunch with Karen, only to find out that she got the rest of the day off due to unexplained power outages. We went to Uno's (turns out their 4-cheese pizza is incredible if you add chicken and peperoni) and I took her home (getting back just in time for my 4 pm office hour).

The only downer to today is that I can't convince her we need to be playing Dungeon Twister. It makes me sad, but at least we played twice yesterday. Hopefully I can trick her into playing tomorrow. We'll see, I suppose.

In other exciting news: We are applying for passports tomorrow or Friday. London, England here we come!

That's it for now, I think. We'll see if I have anything else to add later.