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Showing posts from September, 2012

Sunday Comics: The Adventures of Hiro Arturian, Samurai (Day 22)

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The Adventures of Hiro Arturian, Samura i.  Chapter 2, Page 5. Click here to see the page at full size . Unfortunately, this is the last page of The Adventures of Hiro Arturian, Samurai .  Kevin and I never finished the story.  Well, I wrote the story, but something happened in Kevin's life--I don't remember what--that prevented him from drawing any more of the pages, and I never even considered trying to find another artist. So from the standpoint that this is a story about a samurai looking for a way to defeat an ancient and powerful evil, it remains unfinished. As a metaphor for today's soldiers, however, I think it works pretty well in its current form.  Here's Hiro, separated from his family and not on the best of terms with them, trying to fight an enemy he barely understands.  It seems obvious that the traditional methods of battle will be useless to him.  He must find work to find another way.   And in a larger sense, the battle isn't over.  In

Suite Madame Blue '76

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It's just that kind of morning...

Article Link: How Do You Fit It All In? (Part 1)

I've got a new article up on Triathlon.About.Com.   Here's the link . Enjoy!

Friday Mad Science: The Refs Win!

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The New York Times football blog,  The Fifth Down , wrote this week that  the NFL failed with its lockout of the referees’ union because it undervalued competence in the workplace , and that that’s a failing that’s epidemic in Corporate America.  Personally, I couldn’t agree more.  Corporate America wants to treat its workers like  Bill Belichick  treats his players—as fully replaceable interchangeable parts.  Because if we define a job strictly in terms of tasks—and therefore required qualifications for those tasks—then we can establish a market rate for those specific qualifications and hire the lowest bidder regardless of quality.  Running a business then becomes a question of putting in place the right procedures and business model rather than finding and managing the right mix of talented people.  Ed Hochuli is by far the most famous NFL referee. This is a file picture from Wikipedia . Which is fine if you’re an HR professional in charge of minimizing payroll and explai

Friday Hair Metal: Let It Be

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Hannah just started taking voice lessons, and one of the songs she's working on for her first recital is Let It Be .  I suggested it because her teacher wanted song where the singer was the focus of the song more is typically the case in a lot of the bubblegum pop that is normally the centerpiece of Hannah's listening experiences. She ought to rock this song if she works at it. On a side note, that's got to be the most beautiful crowd I've ever seen.  Where is that, Rio?  Good God, wherever it is, it's where supermodels grow on trees. Finally, gonna have to try to Friday Mad Science up tonight.  As usual this month, it's not ready right now.

Top Ten Forgotten Realms Novels (Part 1)

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Forgotten Realms  novels  are by far and away my favorite vice.  For me, they’re like salty potato chips.  Even when they’re good, they’re not really good for you, but... once you get started, they’re awfully hard to put down.   D&D has been on my mind this week because I just finished reading  R.A. Salvatore’s  newest Realms novel  Charon’s Claw  ( reviewed here ) and because with the advent of  D&D Next , I’ve been considering how I’m gonna start teaching the game to my kids.  My friend  Keith  and I discussed this a bit at one of the neighborhood birthday parties over the weekend, so this family D&D project is slowly starting to come into focus.  Bottom line, this thing is looking like it’s really gonna happen. With that in mind, and because I've done nothing but D&D on this site all week, I figured now might be the time to count down my favorite ten Forgotten Realms novels.  I was gonna do the top five, but as I started putting the list together, I cam

PAX 2012 Acquisitions Inc. D&D Next Game

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Every year, the guys from Penny Arcade play Dungeons and Dragons before a live audience at one of the larger gaming conventions, and it's always hilarious.  They then release the game as a podcast, and apparently as a two-part YouTube video as well. I listened to this podcast yesterday, and it was a riot.  Enjoy!

The Stone Priest's Wife, Part V: The Tower of Al-Kafiri

The sewer tunnel under the Tower of Al-Kafiri was a dark, compact place with a squishy floor covered in the gods-alone-knew-what.  The air was foul with the inescapable stench of excrement.  Combined with an already wretched headache, it made Alaira feel more miserable than she’s ever imagined possible.  “You sure you’re all right?” Belle asked.  Alaira turned and looked up.  “I’m fine!”  It wasn’t true, but Alaira didn’t want to waste time answering her supposed friend’s stupid questions.  Lying in a pitch black sewage pipe covered to her elbows in human waste would tend to put anyone off her game. “Okay,” Belle said, “Whatever you say.  It’s just that with your hangover and whatnot, I thought maybe...” Alaira turned and looked Belle in the eye.  “Will you shut up, so I can concentrate?  Picking this lock is harder than it looks.”  Alaira turned back to the lock and again tried to focus, but it was tough with her headache.  It didn’t help that the sewer slime was making her

Book Review: Charon's Claw

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I finally finished reading R.A. Salvatore 's latest novel, Charon's Claw , the third and final of the Forgotten Realms ' Neverwinter trilogy . Charon's Claw by R.A. Salvatore. The Neverwinter trilogy is Salvatore's contribution to the Forgotten Realms, post-Spellplague.  Salvatore has been around for awhile.   Drizzt , the hero of this particular series, is a renegade dark elf Ranger and one of the foundational characters of the modern Forgotten Realms.  Moreover, Salvatore in general is one of the architects of the story behind what Dungeons and Dragons has become since the early 1990's, and it's his work that has defined the smaller, more party-based approach to fiction that the company has pursued with its novels since his first novels came out way back in the day.  I personally discovered Salvatore's work at West Point when, as a Cow (Junior) squad leader, I borrowed Starless Night from one of my Yearlings (Sophomores).  I really, really lik

More RPG Test Results: Spellsword!

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Because I haven't taken enough of these today.  Plus, I mean, I think the Necromancer result (below) was a little extreme. You ask me, this one was a little more accurate than the last one. 'Course, I prefer the term Swordmage.  But still... Your result for The RPG Class Test: Spellsword 52% Combativeness, 37% Sneakiness, 82% Intellect, 36% Spirituality Aggressive, but with the brains to back it up: You are a Spellsword! Score! You have a prestige class. A prestige class can only be taken after you've fulfilled certain requirements. This may mean that you're an exceptionally talented person, but it probably doesn't. Spellswords combine arcane might with combat know-how. They're much tougher than mages, like to wear armor, and can cast spells through their weapons. They're very, very, good at doing lots of damage to a single target very quickly, and while not quite as tough as most fighters, are still pretty hard to kill. You're

The Score Says It All

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This screenshot is off of the NFL's official site . Also: They ran Home Run Throwback! Wow!  Second quarter.  How much longer can this last? God, I love football.

RPG Personality Tesy

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Mwhahahahaha! I love all these crazy Internet surveys.

Sunday Comics: The Adventures of Hiro Arturian, Samurai (Day 21)

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The Adventures of Hiro Arturian, Samurai .  Chapter 2, Page 4. Click here to see the page at full size. As always, to read the story from the beginning, use the  Hiro  tag.  Or to read all of the Sunday Comics entries, use the  Sunday Comics  tag.

Soccer Emma!

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Sleepy Saturday, Random Thoughts

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I'm supposed to be at the gym right now.  But I can't find the motivation.  I've been looking; it's just not there. I've been training pretty hard this offseason, to the point where it's occurred to me that I might actually be over-training considering that it's the offseason.  By the time next Spring rolls around, if I haven't gotten any rest, I'm afraid I might be a burnt and crispy critter.  But I've kind of lost perspective on it.  I can't tell if that thought is legitimate fatigue talking or if it's just laziness because, honestly, who in the world wants to get up at 6:00 am on a Saturday just to head to the gym? It's a conundrum, I tell you. On the other hand, this is Connecticut, and as they say, "Winter is coming." \ It's tough to be a triathlete with a foot of snow in the streets.  I probably ought to keep training while I can. *** Emma has her first soccer game this morning.  It's now 7:00, and

Friday Mad Science: Tim Pawlenty Memorial Edition

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There’s not much going on in the world that I care about this week.  But there were a couple of things, so here we go. *** Tim Pawlenty quit Mitt to pursue his own personal interests this week. Republican political strategists are apparently already discussing the causes of Mitt Romney’s loss in the upcoming presidential election  and how they’re going to re-shape the Party after the election itself is over.  Granted, it’s not a done deal, but the GOP as a whole has never been fond of Romney, and given the number of mistakes the guy continues to make, folks who care about the future of Conservatism in America are discussing what the future is going to look like in real and concrete terms.  Hell, even  Tim Pawlenty quit this week to take a lobbying job on K Street , and that’s usually political suicide right before an election.  Given that no one’s complaining about it…  I mean, that’s bad, right? Personally, as you probably know, I’m way past ready to have the disc

Friday Hair Metal: Something to Believe In

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I Really Want One

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Introducing the new TRON cycling skinsuit . Tron Cycling Skinsuit from Podium .  $149.99. Cool, huh? Or... Also from Podium.  Same price .

Movie Trailer: An Unexpected Journey

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We see trolls and worgs in this trailer, and so I was thinking that might be where this particular movie--the first of three being made from this book--broke off.  But then I remembered that we also see Golum at the end of the trailer, so I guess they're gonn break the movie at the point I said initially was the logical breaking point--when the dwarves emerge from goblin kingdom under the mountain.  That occurs about halfway through the novel, it's a high point in the story, and it ties into the story's end.  So, logical stopping place. But then...  where are they getting that third movie from? I've read that these new movies are going to incorporate parts of The Silmarillion --which I've not read--so I suppose that anything is possible.  And then, too, they seem to have added quite a bit to the story, especially in regards to the elves, so...

Lately I've Been Reading...

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1.   The Founding by Dan Abnett .   The Founding is an omnibus, collecting the first three of Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts books, part of the Warhammer 40K series of genre novels. Now, I know what you're thinking because I was thinking it, too.  "Ugh.  Warhammer?  Seriously?"  But this book was really, really cool in the way that only dystopian British sci fi can be.  Like a lot of British sci fi writers, Abnett got his start writing for 2000 A.D., and that spirit shows through clearly in The Founding .  So  does the book's paranoia and epic scope. I loved this book and can't recommend it highly enough.  It was easily the best thing I've read in the last six months or so. 2.   The Massive #1 through #4 by Brian Wood (Dark Horse) .  When I started getting back into comics, I mostly started with superhero books because the thing that drove me back to comics in the first place was my kids, and they--especially Emma--massively prefer superhero sto

The Stone Priest's Wife, Part IV: Xarian Awakens

Despite having what promised to be a legendary hangover, Xarian woke up happy.  This was because he awoke between two beautiful women.  And though they’d both spent the night with him, they could hardly have been more different in host of other ways.  The girl on his left, for instance, was no conversationalist.  Her fiery red hair, generous curves, and enthusiasm for her work more than made up for it, of course, but still, it was one of the ways in which she was entirely unlike the girl on his right.  Plus, Xarian knew, the girl on his left would leave when it was time for her to go.  This too was not likely to occur with the girl on the right.  For the girl on the left, the whole affair had been nothing more than a job, and one for which she was well qualified.  Reticence, enthusiasm, and professionalism were desirable traits in a working girl, after all.  And after she was gone, Xarian wouldn’t miss the girl on his left.  The girl on his right, however, was a different proposition