Max: This Made Me Chortle

Jericho: Disappointing Weekend

I had a heck of a weekend lined up.

Then it fell apart and I ended up feeling like an idiot - twice.

Friday night I was planning to hang out with a friend. I ended up canceling that due to catching a stomach bug that Steph had earlier in the week. I thought the bug would be worse - but it just ended up being uncomfortable. I ended up feeling like a whiny ass and like I disappointed my friend.

Saturday was pretty good. I spent the morning playing WoW and enjoying the heck out of that. That evening, Steph and I hung out with friends. As we were leaving the friend's house, snow began to fall. The snow was pretty heavy and the temp was low and looking to get lower. By the time we got home, the forecasts were looking pretty nasty.

My plans for Sunday were pretty fun. I have a new D&D game going with some old and new friends and I'm excited about it. I even blogged about it.

However, the weather and the temp and the forecasts were looking like there were going to be icy roads and lots of traffic issues. On top of that - I'm a terrible driver. So, I did what I thought was the adult, responsible thing: I called the game.

I slept kinda late - might as well, I didn't have a game to look forward to. By the time the game would have rolled around, 10 AM, it was about 38, clear and bone dry. No icy roads.

I ended up feeling like a whiny ass and like I disappointed my friends.

Jericho: The Dungeon Master is Dead

For those of you that don't know, yesterday, March 4th, Gary Gygax died.

I've been a Role Playing Gamer for many years. I started off in 7th or 8th grade, some twenty two or so years ago. I've been a gamer for two thirds of my life. My first game, like most role players, was Dungeons & Dragons. My mom bought me the red D&D box for Xmas after I had begged for over a year. Funny, to this day when I think of the intrepid adventurer facing the imposing red dragon standing on top of a pile of gold coins, the image that adorned that boxed set - it still gives me a zing of excitement.

Gygax was not the only person responsible for D&D, but he is the one most associate with it. He worked very hard to see his vision continue in the right direction. Because of his work and his vision, I have had hours and hours, probably months of hours, of fun. Time spent thinking, conjuring up entire worlds out of pure imagination. Then, I got to share those worlds with my friends. Instead of going out and drinking or partying with my friends and then regretting my excesses the next day, I sat around a table with my friends and enjoyed their company and helped them help me tell a great story of adventure and action and excitement. I cannot think of a single night of gaming I regretting the next day. Gygax is in part responsible for that.

I slipped away from D&D to play other games. As did many gamers. Eventually I even came to criticize the game. Now, looking back, reading what happened at TSR and what happened to Gygax, I see some of the reasons that I criticized the game were valid. And, maybe, had TSR and, later, Wizards of the Coast, listened to Gygax, maybe the game would have been better. Now, we will never know.

No matter. We gamers have all lost something irreplaceable. I and many gamers like me owe a good portion of the fun we have had in our lives to men like Gygax, Steve Jackson and Kevin Siembieda.

Gary, we will miss you. Good Journey.

(This post will be cross posted on my gaming blog: DustyDice.com)

Jericho: Someday the Internet will make me rich ...

Ummmm ... yeah. Whatever! :)

I love the Internet and I love blogging. I keep hoping I can find a way to at least make a normal living off my love of blogging. We'll see ...

In the mean time, I have started a new blog: DustyDice.com. The site is aimed at role playing game enthusiasts - like me! I want to share my thoughts and feelings on the subject in a more focused manor than what we do here on IWDC.

I've bought it for a year. We'll see how it goes. I'm always excited about the new project, leaving other unfinished projects in my wake. Believe it or don't, I have twice started blogs with a porno theme. I keep stopping because I don't have much confidence in my ability to write erotica.

This new site will be geek porno. Go have a look when you get the chance - there's not much there but there will be more to come. Have fun!

Max: The Masons

Open Sesame

Mammoth sphinxes guard the House of the Temple of the Scottish Rite, a formidable neo-Classical building in the heart of Washington, D.C. Inside, Egyptian hieroglyphics adorn a soaring atrium. The building's nine-foot-thick walls hold human remains. Bronze coiling snakes flank a large wooden throne, canopied in purple velvet, in a second-floor inner sanctum called the Temple Room, where men from around the world gather behind closed doors every two years. Over the centuries the select membership has included signers of the Declaration of Independence; George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, Gerald Ford and 13 other presidents; Senators Charles Schumer and Robert Dole; Chief Justice Earl Warren and other Supreme Court justices. Formally they are known as Freemasons, but most people know them simply as Masons. And this artfully forbidding edifice, a mile from the White House, is their southern headquarters.

Jericho: Bigger Geeks than I

I am a tremendous geek. But even I must point and laugh at these guys. Oh, dear!

Who would take the time to build a life size Beholder? Who? Only a yogurt!

Jericho: Worst Run Ever

People like this give the rest of we socially inept roleplaying geeks a bad name.

For those of you that have played Shadowrun, you know for a fact this guy is lying or was a terrible player. I mean - break into the facility after dark after you have ganked the guards. Or, hack into their inventory computer and just have the goods mailed to you. Five finger discount in the middle of the day? Chummer is a total poser!

Max: For Jericho And His Fellow Mac Heads

Using the terminal to access hidden games in OSX.

Max: Hack The GP2X

GP2X, an open source game console. To see it in action, download episode 122 at dl.tv. They demo the GP2X at about the 28 minute mark.