Balsamic · Dragon

Hello all! Having little time to run games lately (kid, job, etc.) I have decided to try running something online. Please drop me a line if you are interested in playing or have further questions.

What: Castle Falkenstein - a Steam Punk Victorian Adventure game. We will be using (with some small modifications) the Castle Falkenstein rules, but purchase of a rulebook is not required. This will be a light-hearted adventure-romance with occasional bouts of intrigue. It is set in a fantastic world based upon the Victorian time period. The fantasy dial will be turned down slightly from the Castle Falkenstein standard, allowing more mundane characters to be fully viable.

Where: On the internets! Players will have the choice of being "in the limelight" or out of it at any given point in time. Players in the limelight must post at least once per day. Players out of the limelight must post at least once per week. Posts should be short (about one paragraph each) and in the Victorian writing style. Yes, this is somewhat contradictory :)

When: I suspect it will take a few weeks after I have picked a list of players until the game actually starts. Probably after Thanksgiving but before the winter holidays.

Who: I am looking for a solid group of players with decent writing skills and a willingness to participate regularly. Knowledge of Victorian history is welcome, but historical purists need not apply, as we will be playing fast-and-loose within the time period.

How: Email me with any questions you may have! If you want to play, feel free to include a _brief_ description of the kind of character you are interested in. Initial characters should be designed to be able to mingle freely with British Victorian high society.

Viv

Anu3bis found this video the other day. It is from the Obamas' Music/Spoken Word night at the White House. Really incredible! Go watch now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNFf7nMIGnE

For those who want more background info before watching random videos, this is a performance by Lin-Manual Miranda, a Tony-award winner and very talented guy. It is the first song from his upcoming hip-hop album about Alexander Hamilton.

After much research, I decided to try an experiment.  I went to Macy's and made an appointment for their free personal shopper service.  It was _awesome_!

First of all, the stuff I was worried about that did not happen:  I was not pressured in any way to buy anything.  I was not pressured to change my personal style.  I was not rushed.  I was not critiqued about my body shape (this will be more slimming on you, that sort of thing).  I was not brought only the most expensive items in the store, rather I was brought a mix, including items on sale, and I was offered coupons!

And now I have a full work wardrobe!  Yay!  Here is what I have:  black dress pants (I already had these), charcoal dress pants, a charcoal a-line skirt, a longer print skirt, a beautiful print dress in neutral tones, two long-sleeved blouses (I already had these, one solid, one print), two solid short-sleeved tops, one print short-sleeved top, and one sort of wrap/sweater thing (it's hard to describe, somewhere between a wrap and a cardagan, it is pretty cool :)

Yay new clothes!  And one less thing I have to worry about before starting my new job :)
 

So, I have a game for Picnicon :)  I like "old school" dungeon crawls, and I especially like updating them a bit.  For this game, I am going to try to emulate the folks who did the latest Star Trek movie:  a reboot of an old classic, which remains true to its roots, but is also lots of fun in its own right. 

I've got a copy of the original Gygax module.  It's a heck of a lot better than the last Gygax module I ran (Decent into the Depths), with a lot of advice for new gamemasters and players that still stands up today.  I'm tweaking a few minor things (so that those who played it before will be able to enjoy it) and adding one major premise to try to tie it together both logically and thematically.  I'm going to be trying to do the whole thing in one day, so there need to be a few cuts of extraneous material as well.  

I've decided to run it in Basic D&D, using the Cyclopedia Rules.  This is a solid ruleset, one that I wouldn't mind handing to the boy when he turns seven or so (that's when I started gaming anyway :)  I'm not using most of the optional rules, just keeping it very simple and streamlined.  I expect a body count, and with no resurrection, that means players may have to make up new characters during the course of the game (or possibly I could have a rotating player pool?).

Anyway, I am really looking forward to it.  There's surprisingly little prep to do, as I'm pretty familiar with the module and the rules :)  I may take the extra time to make some spiffy character sheets or a map or something!

This was requested by anu3bis, and I thought others might be interested. There is an excellent in-depth article here: http://www.canow.org/canoworg/2008/11/prop-8-postmortem-part-1-dissecting-history.html, if you want more details.

As you may know, Prop 8 will change the California constitution, and therefore it cannot be challenged on the basis of unconstitutionality. However, it can be challenged on the basis that Prop 8 should never have been on the ballot in the first place. You can make a specific change to the constitution through the method the Prop 8 folks used. However, in order to make a substantial change to the constitution, it must first be proposed by a 2/3 majority of the California legislature. The argument is that Prop 8 is a substantial change, since previous California Supreme Court rulings have held that the right to marriage is based on not only equal protection, but also due process and privacy rights.

It should be noted that this argument was made before election day, in an effort to take Prop 8 off the ballot. The court declined to hear the argument and did not comment on its decision. Why? I suspect because it is a very tricky issue of constitutional law that will have far-reaching effects. They did not want to tackle it unless it was necessary (i.e., unless Prop 8 passed). Hopefully, they will hear it now and rule that Prop 8 was invalid.

It has been a long time since I have found a new cooking show that I really like :) I wanted to see The Cooking Loft on Food Network because the chef, Alexandra Guarnaschelli, has been a judge on Iron Chef and she is very cool. The premise of the show is sort of like Mario's: instructional with guests who do some of the prep work and ask questions. Except unlike Molto Mario, these guests actually get a word in edgewise occassionally :)

First episode was tomatoes. I've made two of the three recipes so far and they are fantastic! I am making the third one tomorrow night :)

Alaska is a very large state with a ridiculously small number of people living in it. The main pursuits of Alaskans appear to be hunting, fishing, hiking, sled dog racing, native crafts, and selling native crafts to tourists. The latter is done in the summer months in order to afford to do the rest of them during the fall and spring, except the actual crafting, which is done in the winter, since there is nothing else to do.

The main view in Alaska, at least by ship, is grey overcast sky above, grey and white mountains in the middle, and grey and blue/greenish ocean below. Really that was the view for our entire ship. Although anu3bis also saw whales. I did not see any whales, although I stood on the deck of the ship looking for them long enough to get sick (which I hope excuses the snarkiness of this post :)

We did see (in the wild) bald eagles, which was really spectacular :) We also saw (in an animal park) moose, elk, buffalo, bears, and (I kid you not) hummingbirds.

We have pics which will be uploaded soon :)

The con was pretty good this year!

I played in one LARP only, on Friday evening, Fairy Tale Reservation. Many, many thanks to Nuance and the other GMs, as I had a great time playing my character and got to do many cool things :) I don't want to reveal too much, because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who plays this at a later run, but

( minor spoilers! )

The Intercon hotel continues to suck majorly. I have gone so far as to make a (long) list of reminders to myself for next year on how to make the hotel stay bearable. Bring your own bottled water has been added to the list, as their tap water is foul. As is, never accept a room on the first floor, no matter what the hotel staff says. There will be drunken people cursing outside your door at 1:00 in the morning without fail :(

However, in the balance, it was a good run :) Next year, the boy will be talking which should make things even more interesting!