Thursday, 29 September 2011

You know, the best tablet propper upperer I've used so far is my brain shaped stress ball.

You know, the best tablet propper upperer I've used so far is my brain shaped stress ball. Until now a mandarin was winning but after I ate it I needed a substitute!

I think I love Al even more now.

Originally shared by Rob Masters

I think I love Al even more now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCSA7kKNu2Y

Because the one thing a rainforest really needs is a superhighway going through it.

Because the one thing a rainforest really needs is a superhighway going through it.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/bolivia_stop_the_crackdown/?copy

I had seen some of the comments before, but I had no idea it had got to that level!

I had seen some of the comments before, but I had no idea it had got to that level!

Love you!

I know some computer game type people who might be interested in this.

I know some computer game type people who might be interested in this. The Humble Bundle has had good press in the past.

Originally shared by Cheshire Noir

via Jay Dalziel
Humble Synapse Bundle! I bought this one last time and it has some EXCELLENT games in it. Trine is AWESOME and I am looking forward to the sequel when it comes out
http://www.humblebundle.com/
http://www.humblebundle.com/

Wednesday, 28 September 2011

For all Kingdom of Loathing people who have not yet logged in and seen the urgent message to change your password...

For all Kingdom of Loathing people who have not yet logged in and seen the urgent message to change your password there, go and change your password. Plus, Ravengyre played some really awesome music for his first show and he sounded great. Thanks!

Tuesday, 27 September 2011

I got some mirror dory fillets from AFD today.

I got some mirror dory fillets from AFD today. It wouldn't be very healthy to douse it in gluten free beer batter and deep fry it with wedges for dinner tonight, would it?

Tuesday, 20 September 2011

Look Sue!


Look Sue!

Originally shared by Joseph Lee

Between a rock and a hard place
Archaeologists have recently uncovered two skeletons dating back to the 700s in Ireland with stones wedged in their mouths. They believe this was done to prevent the corpses from rising back up from the grave as zombies. This anti-zombie countermeasure wasn't performed on all bodies though, only to the ones considered dangerous or ordinary people that died suddenly due to strange circumstances.

"The mouth was seen as a key part of the body for such a transformation.
It was viewed as the main portal for the soul to leave the body upon death. Sometimes, the soul could come back to the body and re-animate it or else an evil spirit could enter the body through the mouth and bring it back to life"

It's good to know we have hundreds of years of zombie fighting techniques to rely on should the walking dead choose to reanimate en masse. You're next vamps.
http://news.discovery.com/history/zombie-skeletons-ireland-grave-110916.html

Sunday, 18 September 2011

41 registered players!

Originally shared by Rob Masters

41 registered players! Twelve spots remaining! 1 week to go - and there is a massive storm on the day that Leece and I were planning on doing a walk-through to check timings. Eeek! Pressure!
http://rdmasters.livejournal.com/40500.html

41 registered players!

Originally shared by Rob Masters

41 registered players! Twelve spots remaining! 1 week to go - and there is a massive storm on the day that Leece and I were planning on doing a walk-through to check timings. Eeek! Pressure!
http://rdmasters.livejournal.com/40500.html

Saturday, 17 September 2011

An interesting and quite a light hearted night which is quite bizarre considering where the characters ended up.

An interesting and quite a light hearted night which is quite bizarre considering where the characters ended up. Steveg has been excluded from this entry for now as his characters are unaware of what has gone on.

Firstly, Orthrus gets a note from Prince Convruth apologising for his and "Lord Setanta's" absence - they are pretty much both grounded while Lord Setanta recovers, they'll probably be able to resume the sightseeing on the day after.

Meanwhile the papers are full of the Dead Fishman on the Thames report.
Some broadsheets suggest that there's been as many as 10 people killed by the beast before it was killed by the brave mudlarkers!

Orthrus goes to report Convruth's note to Harry, and furthermore regales him with tales of fishmen tunnelling up from the bowels of London to invade, and that they should go and kill them.

Harry takes this with a grain of salt, and Orthrus goes off to stir the Decayed Elf, Lord Fingolfin, who also rejects immediate action on account of his lady friend's presence.

Orthrus does a little shopping, scaring Wilkes the weaponsmith, who eventually consents to sell him a sabre. He also runs into one of The Chinese Master Chef's apprentices, who arranges for some spices and herbs to be sent to Orthrus's workshop, as he hopes, (as I understand it, this was early in the session and I might have remembered wrong, and it's bloody 1 am now) to either try cooking them himself or to get Sung Pao in to show him how or just to cook generally. He also tells the apprentice of the note from Prince Convruth.

People get themselves together and off everyone went to the Crystal Palace, to see if the captive fishman there was still captive. In goes Kuval and Harry, but to their, and the Crystal Palace owners eventual dismay, Kuval discovers that not only is the fishman display an illusion - chillingly - so is Lawrence, his owner.

They go back outside to where Fingolfin and Orthrus are eating pies and waiting impatiently for the chance to go and kill some fishmen, and inform them. At this point there's something of an argument. Harry and Kuval want to go to the Society, alarmed that the Fishman body there being dissected is actually a masterful illusion cast on Lawrence's live or dead body.

These two go there, and meet Terry Alcyone, a miniture engineerest and some sort of relative to Mrs Alcyone. He directs them to Dr Cuthbert, who is in the middle of dissecting the Fishman corpse. Everyone keeps their lunches, except the Fishman whose last meal appears to be the hands of at least two individuals, a child and a woman, perhaps. Harry is horrified, he's missing a messenger. And Mrs Alcyon isn't around.

Kuval and Harry instruct that Mrs Alcyone be checked to make sure she's real, and leave to meet the others who meanwhile....

Have returned to above where Lord Tan was found. Orthrus looks around - "Can I see a bit of solid wood?"

Yes, there's a door lying over there...no handle though...he picks it up and to his surprise there's a hole underneath. Of course he and Lord Fingolfin wander down it, at least having the sense to leave chalk marks.

Orthrus begins to hear a familiar voice calling him. He tries stuffing his ears but it seems to be coming from in his own head. He tries to ignore it, with some success.

The passage they're in is bricky and earthy, not very damp. It doesn't at first seem to relate to the area where they found Tan...leaving chalk marks they find some tracks, but then Fingolfin has a vision through the floor of massive gates, a dark, dark river and an amazing three headed snake furred dog howling. Not having a Classical Education, he has no idea what this means.

Orthrus proclaims that he will drink a potion to turn himself into a two headed dog (apparently he's working on the third) and Fingolfin says, beauty, tracking!

Orthrus turns into a two headed, snake tailed dog, 8 feet high.

http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/L3.1B.html

They follow the tracks which appear to be that of a human fleeing a Fishman, and after a brief distraction and dead end - although Orthrus had a nice dig in a fresh pile of earth with bones! bones! bones! and came away with a nice beef bone out of it - they turn torward the damper tunnel which suddenly opens out onto a huge cavern and a dark river flowing.

Far out on the water a dark ship floats, and comes towards them.

The Ferryman who has a nice wide hat and a pleasant manner, greets Orthrus in a friendly fashion and says his brother is after a chat. Orthrus starts fretting about change for Fingolfin. The right change. The ferryman is insistant that Fingolfin shouldn't wander away from Orthrus, "If he's your mate, if he's with you."

Lord Fingolfin has never, of all places, been to Greece and knows nothing of Hades. He's just enjoying the trip and Just Can't Understand why Orthrus is so concerned that he has the right change. He's also thinking that this is a big river to be serviced by just one boat. They need some competition around here! Another ferry at least. But there's something funny about this place, that everyone else knows about, which annoys him, (the values of a classical education) and he doesn't. He gets on the Boatman's good side by offering him some pork pie.

Kuval and Harry turn up on the shore of the great subterranean river which is probably the Acheron or maybe the Styx. (Kuval - of course we know dogs are into sticks!) On the boat, the passengers and the ferryman become aware of them, and after a great deal of worrying about whether there's enough matching coins to get them there and back, goes and picks them up, before they Wander Off - definitely not a good thing to happen here! But they'll be all right if they stick with you.

They are ferried across into Hades proper, to the descent to the Gates. There they meet the 20 foot high fire breathing snake tailed and furred, black, red and white Cerberus http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/M12.1.html, who has a chat to Orthrus about Certain Other Matters, who definitely gets on his good side by submitting the beef bone to him. Cerberus seems very well disposed toward Orthrus who he names as his brother in the hearing of the other characters.

Kuval's snake charming skills allow the characters to discern that Lawrence, the owner of the captive fish man is still alive - Kuval's music buys them the information from the snake who know all who pass the various multi afterlives doors.

After expressions of good will all around, although Cerberos looks askance somewhat at the perplexed Decayed Elf, the party turn their backs on the gates of Hades. Going down is easy.

There are some rather uneasy jokes about Charon being a pickpocket and noone having any change to get back with.

Fingolfin starts to look back, but finds his way blocked by a concerned 8 foot dog who says "It's traditional not to look back". Just in case.
http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/M12.1.html

Friday, 16 September 2011

Smartpower tips.

Smartpower tips. (In Western Australia if you opt in to this you pay considerably less if you use your power off peak.)

I load the dishwasher and set its timer to run it when the off peak time occurs. So simple, but not everyone thinks of it.

The other thing I do is have a timer on my computer set to go off at the off peak time. If it's been cloudy I can switch the booster for the solar during the off peak time

No Steveg tonight but rpging can still occur.

No Steveg tonight but rpging can still occur. I will send the usual food sms later to those who are unable to respond here. We are thinking Nando's but can pick up anything at the usual suspects in the area.

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

This article is great!

Originally shared by Michael Lee

This article is great! An alternative viewpoint to the doom and gloom of current economic analysis: remember back in the day when people thought technology would give us more free time? "What we lack is not employment, but a way of fairly distributing the bounty we have generated through our technologies, and a way of creating meaning in a world that has already produced far too much stuff."
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/09/07/rushkoff.jobs.obsolete/index.html?hpt=hp_bn1

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_ocean_clear_cutting/?r=act

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_ocean_clear_cutting/?r=act

Please consider adding your signature to the petition to raise your voice against this unsustainable, wasteful and just plain dumb way of fishing.
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_ocean_clear_cutting/?r=act

Sunday, 11 September 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2011/09/06/06climatewire-board-game-brings-the-difficulties-of-climat-22531.html?pagewan...

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2011/09/06/06climatewire-board-game-brings-the-difficulties-of-climat-22531.html?pagewanted=1
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2011/09/06/06climatewire-board-game-brings-the-difficulties-of-climat-22531.html?pagewanted=1

Hal Spacejock Web comic episode 3 is out! In this one, Hal's a real fun guy...

Originally shared by Simon Haynes

Hal Spacejock Web comic episode 3 is out! In this one, Hal's a real fun guy...
http://www.spacejock.com.au/ComicCurrent.html
Feel free to share!
http://www.spacejock.com.au/ComicCurrent.html

"Rooted in the World of Terris, a brutal, dark fantasy setting envisioned by authors Robin Laws and Scott...

"Rooted in the World of Terris, a brutal, dark fantasy setting envisioned by authors Robin Laws and Scott Hungerford, Battue: Storm of the Horse Lords is a strategy board game in which players take control of a horde of Horse Lords bent on looting Tarsos, the City of Brass Pillars."


You know, because the one thing a Horse Lord has always really wanted is a Brass Pillar.

Friday, 9 September 2011

Such an awesome game tonight.

Such an awesome game tonight. It could have all gone so badly for my gamers tonight, in my Alternate Victorian London Gurps game, but instead they showed leadership and alacrity and saved someone from a nasty fate. They don't really know how close it was…because, surprisingly, they made a cascade of correct decisions.
Nando's it is or stuff nearby

Thursday, 8 September 2011

May I ask all my friends to kindly copy, paste and share this status to support all those who have or had someone...

May I ask all my friends to kindly copy, paste and share this status to support all those who have or had someone in their life, or them personally, suffer from depression and just needs to know someone cares. Do it for all of us. This disease is as serious as cancer...life or death. I hope to see this on the walls of my friends. Just for moral support.
Just booked our room for Villaincon. Yay!

Tuesday, 6 September 2011

Missed last week's entry. Oh well.

Missed last week's entry. Oh well.

In the past two Fridays we've played boardgames rather than rpging, due to gamer absence or, in the case of last week a little lateness and a general feeling of fatigue all around, so a couple of short games worked better for us. So we've been playing 7 Wonders with the Leaders expansion, and Glory to Rome, and Forbidden Island.

I went out with ratfan to see Finger in the Dyke and had lunch at her local cafe - very cool and heaps of GF choices. Also did quite a bit of cooking.

We've also had great viewings at Poss's and at her hotel stay in Scarborough - we caught the bus there and back for fun and to not leave our car unattended in Scarborough for temptingly too long.

We've been getting back into fitness full on on the Wii, and of course our league and club games of disc golf are certainly helping. There was a league game on Saturday which was very pleasant, the nice weather and certainly the fact that it wasn't the Perth Open which we also had recently contributed I'm sure.

The chooks are laying like anything...5 eggs a day at the moment. I see reviewing my chook of the day posts I mentioned that Adana was giving us 2 or 3 eggs a day in winter - clearly a typo, I meant 2 or 3 eggs a week! That would've been an extraordinary feat for any chicken.

Rob has been on call and is now on earlies, so up at 5.00. blear

I've been reading a bit lately. Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde is quite a read. I highly recommend it. Not many books these days have me wanting to immediately re-read them. Such a strange world...but great characters. Really good stuff. Every couple of chapters your mind trips on a bizarre concept that's just part of the world, but it's really compelling despite this, because he buffers it all with delightful characters and charming settings.

The fourth Sharing Knife by Bujold book was okay - a couple of the books from the Swancon showbag were fairly dark but not oppressive, if you know what I mean? The Thief-taker's Apprentice and The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms both had me wanting to know the endings.

The Ace Race is coming. The first players packs have arrived and we have lovingly stuffed them with their two discs, their Discraft pencil and sticker and the mini disc.

It's pretty exciting!

More excitement pends with The Western Australian Boardgame Association meeting in Mt. Claremont this Saturday, followed by the Genghiscon Quiz Night that same evening.

As for the rest of this week? Some Ace Race wrangling, taxes, and some drawing.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/australian_carbon_price/?copy

http://www.avaaz.org/en/australian_carbon_price/?copy
http://www.avaaz.org/en/australian_carbon_price/?copy

Monday, 5 September 2011

I liked your playing today, that was awesome!

I liked your playing today, that was awesome! You should make it a feature of your radio show, people send in suggestions, and you pick the one you most feel like playing.

Friday, 2 September 2011