Month: May 2016

Ooh, Castle Falkenstein is on Bundle of Holding.

I personally don’t need it…

…because I was lucky enough to track down a complete physical set of the game line in the 1990s. A combination of ample discretionary cash and ready access to NYC’s gaming stores allowed me to devote resources to find some of the more esoteric stuff, which Castle Falkenstein certainly is. Castle Falkenstein is… it is the distillation of all that is romantic and fun about steampunk. It is a 19th century world where historical and fictional figures meet all the time and have adventures together, set in a backdrop of magic, zeppelins, and dramatic reveals. And, oh, yes: the game uses playing cards, because while ladies and gentlemen might readily amuse themselves by pretending to be cowboys or mages for an evening, they will most certainly not use dice to do it.

I love the Castle Falkenstein setting dearly. And, not to brag (I totally mean to brag) I also have a playtester’s credit for the GURPS edition of it. So while I don’t need these PDFs, there are worse ways to burn through twenty bucks than to get the complete game line…

I wonder how the ‘7th Sea call for writers’ thing is chugging along.

I put something together for it, and so did my wife, and so did at least one of my friends. I don’t have an ‘in’ or anything over there, more’s the pity; and I suppose that it’s reasonable to expect John Wick et. al. to take more than three weeks to assess all the applicants. But it would be nigh-infinitely sweet to get a shot at writing for 7th Sea.

Certainly I’m self-confident – or egotistical – enough to think that I could credibly write for that game line. It’s been a while since I wrote gaming material… and I should rectify that, huh?  I mean, there’s an entire set of mental muscles that might need exercising, or simply stretching. Sure, I’ve been writing constantly for the last fifteen years; but it’s different kinds of writing, huh?

Yeah, guess it’s time to get back on that horse. God knows I have enough gaming books to choke a whole herd of ’em.

So, good pencils for somebody who is beginning to draw?

Somewhat to my surprise, I found myself drawing eyes again today. I think that there’s a little bit of improvement there, except of course that the dang things are still too angular. But that’s why they call it practice.

IMG_20160508_2238024_rewind

Anyway… I’m using a #2 Bic mechanical pencil for this, and that’s probably… wrong? I know I’m probably holding the pencil wrong, too. Or at least I’m holding the pencil in only one of the correct ways.

Happy Mother’s Day!

I shooed my wife out the door so that she could go do a local Sheep and Wool Festival. And promised to get the next cleaning of the upstairs bathroom (that’s usually her chore). It’s the little things that make the difference, really.

…Look, it’s beautiful here and in a large part of the country. Go outside! Feel the breeze! Nag, nag, nag…

Moe Lane

PS: And call your mother!

So you actually CAN get a DVD where Han. Shot. First.

The 2008 edition of the Star Wars Trilogy (Widescreen Theatrical Edition). It’s the one with Luke and Vader in silhouette fighting on the cover, with lots of blue and IV, V, and VI at the bottom; apparently the other versions of this lack the original theatrical release.  …And it goes for $300 on Amazon, which fascinates me, because I think I only paid sixty bucks or so when I grabbed my copy back in ’08.

Guess that means that I don’t have to wait for Disney to get on the stick with this one after all.  But my sympathies, folks.  It really does make a hell of a lot of difference in Han’s character when it’s established right from the start just what kind of guy he is.

Moe Lane

PS: Needless to say, my children will be taught from this version only… until I think that they’re old enough to handle the horrors that came later.