Category: Not-politics

In which I glom onto the electronic publishing RPG craze.

You may have noted that I’ve put up the fact in the sidebar that I’m part of the Drive Thru RPG affiliate program. These guys do PDF publishing, which is actually a pretty handy way to get access to roleplaying game material that’s: a, obscure; b, out of print; or c, privately generated. I bought my copy of Ken Hite’s Dubious Shards there (very good combination of analysis of the Cthulhu Mythos, with a Delta Green adventure added in); I’ll probably pick up Tour de Lovecraft if/when I ever get the money together to get away with buying it.

Also, check out e23, which is Steve Jackson Games‘ own electronic publishing store.  I don’t see anything from that, but it’s got a lot of good stuff in it anyway.

A useful corrective, for us political types.

I’m not saying that Randy Milholland is precisely normal – he’d probably be offended if I suggested that – but he may not be completely incorrect, here.

Something Positive needs some better sharing options, though. Just saying. The way that Achewood and xkcd set things up is pretty good.

Support your local Morris dancer.

Seriously, they’re worried about keeping the practice going.

Morris dancers urge young to strap on the bells

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s morris dancers, renowned for bells on knees, colored rags and flower-bedecked hats, are launching a recruitment drive to convince young people that their stick-slapping art form is not a thing of the past.

The folk revival of the 1960s and 1970s, spearheaded by artists like Bob Dylan, led to a surge in interest in morris dancing in Britain.

But dancers who started out then are now in their 60s and often unable or unwilling to try and keep up with the accordion music.

Continue reading Support your local Morris dancer.

If you’re looking for a handy resource on “dinosaur/prehistoric gaming”…

…and really, who among us is not? – Anyway, I suggest that you check out this post by Yours in a White Wine Sauce!, which appears to be a site that’s all about the Vernian–Wellsian–Castle Falkenstein flavor of steampunk.

No, there’s more than one flavor to the genre.  For example, compare the above to, say, The Difference Engine…

This worked suprisingly well.

The Obama Inauguration Speech Generator. I didn’t know the final version before I tried it out, I swear:

My fellow Americans, today is a actinic day. You have shown the world that “hope” is not just another word for “aliens”, and that “change” is not only something we can believe in again, but something we can actually invade.

Today we celebrate, but let there be no mistake – America faces radiological and stark challenges like never before. Our economy is slimy. Americans can barely afford their mortgages, let alone have enough money left over for invasion fleets. Our healthcare system is tentacular. If your brain is sick and you don’t have insurance, you might as well call a scientist. And America’s image overseas is tarnished like a invasion fleet uranium mine. But mutating together we can right this ship, and set a course for The Washington Monument.

Finally, I must thank my squamous family, my mind-destroying campaign volunteers, but most of all, I want to thank our women for making this historic occasion possible. Of course, I must also thank you, President Bush, for years of leering the American people. Without your mutated efforts, none of this would have been possible.

Earworm excision watch.

Given that pretty much nobody’s heard “The Wild Pair” since this video:

(From the album Forever Your Girl)

…and, honestly: Paula Abdul’s career hasn’t really been a top discussion topic lately either; I think that it’s probably fair to say that opposites do not really attract.

Now maybe I’ll get this song out of my head. Curse you, oldies station. Curse you forever.

TRUE CAUSE OF THE HUDSON RIVER CRASH!

I might have known:

NEW YORK, NY – US Airways flight 1549 made an emergency water landing in the Hudson River just after 3:30pm yesterday afternoon. Initial reports suggesting the plane struck a flock of geese have been dismissed with the discovery of new evidence confirming that the plane struck and killed the religious icon Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Two observations (aside from the usual, which is that I love the Weekly World News)
Continue reading TRUE CAUSE OF THE HUDSON RIVER CRASH!

Looking for something to read? (Harry Turtledove)

(Today’s guy: Harry Turtledove)

I’m actually not a very good book reviewer, mostly because I… I have no idea why, actually.  I’m just not.  You don’t hear very many people matter-of-factly answer Because I just suck at it to that particular question, which is a shame.  There’d be less time wasted if more people did.

Well, despite my sucking at book reviewing, I recommend that you pick up Harry Turtledove’s The Man with the Iron Heart if you were or are at all relieved at the way that the Surge turned out.  Or if you have a Lefty friend whose perception you want to test.

Continue reading Looking for something to read? (Harry Turtledove)