July 2008
35 posts
I am ready to D&D
I have a Human Cleric, a Dwarf Fighter, a Halfling Rogue, and an Elf Wizard pre-generated, all at fifth level (plus a Tiefling Warlord in case an extra shows up).
I have an adventure ready to go that will take the characters to sixth level during their quest to find a missing cleric.
I have back up games in the case of unforeseen events, such as flu pandemic or an early total party kill...
Been too busy playing the Wii I got Erika for her birthday (mostly with Erika) to post.
I’m almost ready to say this is the best game console since the original Nintendo Entertainment System. It’s really amazing and deserving of all the praise it has been receiving.
my toe is much better now, thanks
June 2008
36 posts
goddamn my toe hurts
Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It... →
A history not only of coffee, but of civilization.
Great writing makes it a pleasure to read. I can’t recommend this highly enough.
Speculation
“HOOVER PUTS BAN ON COFFEE SPECULATION; Acts After Conference with Members of New York Coffeeand Sugar Exchange.”
All this hubbub about oil speculation is history repeating. The price of coffee in the early 1900s was the cause of popular discontent and Congressional hearings.
Now, as then, it’s all mostly political theater. Speculators bet on the price of a commodity, but...
Seinfeld on Carlin
Beautiful eulogy in the NY Times Op-Ed.
can't forget:
fart turd twat
shit piss fuck cunt cocksucker motherfucker tits
“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving...”
– Lin Yutang
About a "Peanut"
Interesting story of Tivo’s remote.
We don’t have a Tivo, but I have already declared this holiday season to be the “HD-Christmas”, so we’ll see what happens.
I Think They're New Here
Several players complain about how hard it is to get past traps in D&D, 4th Edition. A 4th-level fighter that dabbles in disabling traps has a “only” 25% chance of succeeding.
They have obviously never played Original D&D. I don’t have the original rules at hand, but I do have Labyrinth Lord, which is close enough.
Turning to page 13 and the “Thief Skills...
Two more things I don’t like about the 4th Edition Player’s Handbook:
The index is crap.
There is no index of powers, either by class, level, name, etc.
Really inexcusable and especially hard on new players.
But Work Can Be Fun
Not all is doom and gloom, though.
Even though the Players’ Handbook and new mechanics are too much, the Dungeon Master’s Guide is very nice.
It is much easier to create balanced adventures. With the new math, as Dungeon Master (DM) you are pretty much assured of giving the players adequate challenge and reward. There are guidelines for speeding things up and slowing things down,...
Turns Out Having Fun is Hard Work
I’m getting ready to run some friends through a small Dungeons and Dragons, 4th edition, adventure next weekend.
It’s a little overwhelming. There are many new rules and tweaks to the rules to learn. I’m also getting the sense that the players are a little overwhelmed by creating characters. There are just too many options.
A giant chunk of the Player’s Handbook is the...
Barack Obama Facts
Barack Obama has the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE tattooed on his stomach. It’s upside-down, so he can read it while doing sit-ups.
Barack Obama says that Americans cling to GUNS and RELIGION because they are AWESOME.
More at Slate
Why can’t magazines figure out the web?
I want two things when I go to a magazine’s web site:
Access to their archives.
Contact info for the editors and contributors.
Bonus points for online exclusives and highlights from the most recent issue.
Not having your archives online is just insane. They can sell advertising or charge a subscription. I don’t care. Just make it...
Mustard Herb Sauce for Pork
Had this a few weeks ago on grilled pork loin and a couple weeks ago on pan fried pork chops. Delicious! It really enhances the pork flavor, instead of hiding it like other sauces (especially barbecue or plain mustard) tend to do.
Ingredients:
1 tsp oil (I prefer olive, but canola is fine)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 Cup broth (I prefer Swanson Vegatable Broth, but Chicken is OK)
1 Tbsp...
Out to Lunch
Listening to Out to Lunch I have to wonder, whatever happened to the use of flute and clarinet in pop music? When done well it is awesome.
I Have Character
I’m working on my first 4th Edition character made from scratch.
The process is going a little more slowly than I had expected. I will be making a character out of each race-class pair so it should go much more smoothly when I’m actually getting players ready (or need a quick NPC!).
This first is a dragonborn cleric (Battle-Cleric build), the first race and class in the...
Behold, the Future!
We have digital converter boxes for a couple TVs, and the new antenna showed up yesterday. It works great, much better than rabbit ears, so my weekend project is mounting it in the attic and running coax into our existing cable plant. Might have to get a pre-amp, but we’ll see. I’ve been spending the $80/month from not subscribing to cable on expensive bourbon. Life is good.
ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT FOR PRESIDENT GEORGE W....
Resolved, that President George W. Bush be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:
Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment...
iPhone 3G
Somewhere between the iPhone, the Kindle, and the XO (One Laptop Per Child) is a device as revolutionary as the Original Mac.
But the iPhone and Kindle are too opaque and expensive to ever be as successful as the PC. The Xo lacks the design prowess of Apple or the ubiquity of the CDMA/GSM network.
Perfection is the enemy of the good. Still, the release of the 3G iPhone yesterday is several...
Unacceptable
Ken Troop, Executive Producer of D&D Insider, on when D&D Insider—which was promised to launch on Friday with D&D 4th Edition, which has been hyped non-stop by Wizards to everyone who would listen since the announcement of 4th Edition last year, and which is pumped in the core rulebooks, including full page ads in the backmatter—will actually be available to use:
...
Not Such a Nerd God After All?
I do have to admit that I didn’t attend D&D Game Day today.
It was a perfect June day in North Dakota: 72 degrees, a few clouds, and a light breeze. There just wasn’t any way I was spending the entire afternoon inside.
Instead we went to Rib Fest at the Fargodome with some friends to feast on pork ribs. It was “riblet fest” at the rib fest which meant free admission...
D&D 4th is still D&D, and It's Great
You can still take on the role of a human, elf, dwarf, or halfling. Your character can still be a fighter, cleric, wizards, or thief (a.k.a. rogue). You are still playing as a hero in a fantasy world of magic and evil monsters. Speaking of which, all the monsters you would expect to fight are here, including goblins, orcs, giants, dragons, mind flayers, beholders, and oozes and jellies.
With 4th...
WatchBloody Honor
A short movie directed by ANTONIO LINHARES and ARTHUR WARREN, written by CASSIO KOSHIKUMO and produced by GUSTAVO CHIAPPETTA, INTI GRESPAN and BIA RODOVALHO.
With ADRIANO LOURENÇO, MARCO AUGUSTO HANADA and PAULA PALMIERI.
Made at the UNIVERSITY OF SÃO PAULO, Brazil.
This is awesome.
I’m off to my Friendly Local Game Store to pick up the 4th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons!
Nice Schwag
Obama, Clinton, and McCain all have merchandise stores on their websites.
McCain is the only one selling polo shirts (including one going for $100!).
Clinton’s signature t-shirt is pretty hip. Nice design.
But Obama’s propaganda posters take the prize for awesomest campaign schwag this year.
Shepard Fairey’s posters are sold out at Obama’s store, so I went to eBay...
This is Awesome →
If the browser is really the platform of the future, Javascript will be the programming language of that platform since it is the only language that all current browsers grant access to the three jewels of content, document object model, and style.
Safari’s new Javascript interpreter is a milestone. Apple’s Safari team did very important work here that the other browsers will be...
McCain
McCain on the Iraq War: The United States military could stay in Iraq for “maybe a hundred years” and that “would be fine with me.”
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/01/6735_mccain_in_nh_wo.html
McCain on the Economy: “I’m going to be honest, I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to...
Just saw, coming home from the hardware store, we now have a “Balkan Foods” grocery store in the neighborhood to the west of ours.
There is already an “African Foods” grocery a block away from this new grocer.
The small gas station a block from our house secretly holds a Japanese market and a few blocks north is a Vietnamese grocer that I hear has the best noodle bowl...
Fargo is not Fargo →
The case for the Iraq War was bullshit. It was clear as this administration was selling it. The American news media as clearly failed in its duty as the Fourth Estate as it took President Bush’s propaganda for war in Iraq and spewed it to the public without serious question.
Scott McClellan’s “tell-all” is a boring story because it’s not news.
The responses from...