I got up early this morning, determined to get some shit done. Spent about an hour proofing and polishing something for GR, and then cut up about three months worth of accumulated boxes on our back porch and garage. This allowed us to move the Christmas stuff still littering the living room into the garage and reclaim that room a bit from the encroaching tide of stuff.

Around 1 Rick swung by, as we had plans to visit American Eagles AKA the game store that time forgot. The way to American Eagles goes right by Fire and Sword, a miniatures shop near the Northgate Mall. Rick asked me if I wanted to stop in and I said sure. We got inside to find that all stock was 30% off. A cursory glance around showed the racks were pretty picked over. I asked if the store was going out of business and one of the employees confirmed that it was indeed on its way out. After 5 years the owner was packing it in. It’s hard to be a game retailer these days.

I always liked Fire and Sword. It was miniatures focused, which made it unique of all the stores in Seattle. The owner was also pleasant and seemed to be doing it because he loved it. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t that close to me and as I don’t drive I didn’t get there that often. I always meant to go down for one of their DBA nights, but never did get a chance. I’m sorry to see the place go.

I did make a point of buying some stuff there today. I hope it helps the store close in the black. I picked up three Osprey books about the English Civil War. It’s a period I’m considering gaming and while I hadn’t planned to buy those books today I figured what the hell. Also got a couple of army books for the Disposable Heroes game and Ferdinand assault gun for my 15mm Germans. I think the store is open for another few weeks, so if you are in the Seattle area and like minis do stop by and help Fire and Sword go out of business with as much money in pocket as possible.

The media would make me laugh if I wasn’t so busy being sick. Lately I’ve seen a spate of “legacy” articles about the Bush administration. With nearly two years still to go in office and uncountable damage to America and the world still to inflict, George Bush is apparently worried about how he’ll be viewed by future generations. The so-called surge in Iraq is one example of him trying to salvage something from his foreign policy disasters. These media articles ask in all seriousness what his legacy will be and whether it will be positive or negative. When it has become clear to anyone with two brain cells to rub together that the Bush administration is dangerously incompetent and grossly corrupt, is this really a serious question? On almost a weekly basis some new horrifying scandal breaks, to the point that one can’t even keep up with all the ways this administration has made a mockery of the Constitution and the supposed ideals of American democracy. So no, dumbass pundits, the question is not, what is Bush’s legacy. That is clearly to go down as one of the worst, if not the worst, president the history of the USA. No, the question to ask right now is much more troubling.

What has the Bush administration done that we don’t know about yet?

For 6 years these no good liars have done whatever they’ve wanted, the law and decency be damned. Until recently the democrats had no ability to even get a Congressional debate going, never mind subpoena anyone to find out what was going on behind the scenes. Even so, enough information has come out to make the scale of incompetence and corruption jaw-dropping. But it surely can’t end with the scandals we already know about. Behind Dick Cheney’s death mask and Karl Rove’s huckster grin I am certain there are much, much worse things that the administration has done in the name of democracy and freedom that will shame America for decades to come. We won’t really have a chance to know about them until after the next election (one hopes) and even then it’ll probably take at least a decade for something close to the truth to come out. If what we’ve seen so far is the tip of the iceberg, one can only shudder at the possibility of what lies beneath the surface. If the journalists of the fourth estate would remember what it means to actually do their jobs instead of endlessly repeating back talking points while giving equal time to every crackpot idea the right wing idiocracy spews out, we might find out some of this sooner. I’m not holding my breath.

I have been meaning to do an update since I got back from Vancouver but I have overwhelmed with small tasks. There’s no one big project or problem consuming my time, but a seemingly endless series minor things that don’t mean much individually but are collectively important to get done. To quickly sum up a few things:

Vancouver was fun as always. See www.nikchick.com for more details.

The Pirate’s Guide to Freeport is going to rock.

I have less and less desire to argue with my industry colleagues about pointless bullshit.

The Sarah Silverman Program, sad to say, is just not funny.

The Rex Mundi comic is a great read and I can’t believe I never heard about it before last month.

I will not be at GAMA Trade Show this year.

That’s all for now.

I was so on autopilot yesterday morning that I forgot to bring miniatures with me when I left for work. That made it rather difficult to play a minis game last night at Rick’s. Initially we thought we’d give Axis and Allies: Battle of the Bulge a try, but when I was still reading the rules come 9 pm I knew there was no way we’d finish. Instead we played a couple of games of Ticket to Ride, which was fun as always.

Next week we’re going to start a mini-campaign of Blitzkrieg Commander that’ll probably last about a month. Since I have German paratroopers, we’ve decided to kick it off with a theoretical airborne assault in the opening hours of the Battle of the Bulge. I’m trying to seize a vital crossroads for the advancing panzers from Rick’s Americans. Historically, the Germans did try a paradrop during the battle but it went disastrously wrong (in part because at this point in the war very few German paratroopers had actually received jump training!). Our scenario is slightly different but plausible enough. We’ll see if it ends as badly for the Germans. Without tanks or heavy guns, it’ll be a challenge for sure.

Ex-TSR and current computer game designer Warren Spector gave a talk at GDC this week. In it he said:

“If you think that story has no place in games, you’re crazy. If you think story is everything in games, you’re just as crazy. It’s all about balance.”

He’s talking about computer games but I think it equally applies to tabletop RPGs. The roleplaying part of RPG is important but the game part is just as crucial.

Gamespot story here: http://www.gamespot.com/events/gdc07/story.html?sid=6167016

The other night we went to see Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast at the new SIFF Theater. At the show I picked up a flier advertising Essential Art House: 50 Years of Janus Films. I so totally want it. Janus is the distribution company that brought most of the classic foreign films over the US from the 50s on. To celebrate they have released this enormous boxed set that features 50 films, one for each year they’ve been in business. You can see the list at http://www.janusfilms.com and as a collection it is truly awesome. From Kurosawa and Fellini to Wajda and Eisenstein to Truffaut and Bergman, it’s a who’s who of art house directors. Even after a SIFF discount though the set is still $600. That is a great deal considering what you get, but I can’t really justify dropping that much money when I’ve got credit cards to pay down. It is quite tempting though, so I’m considering selling some minis and game stuff on Ebay to fund a purchase. Then it’d be more like trading for it, or so I could tell myself.

If you are a player or GM, you’ve probably read a lot of advice on how to make your gaming more fun. It almost all boils down to one thing though and that’s my gaming maxim: don’t be a dick.

Yep, that’s all there is to it. Don’t be a dick and you and your friends will enjoy your games a whole lot more.

If your GM tells you his game is about heroism and camaraderie and you insist on making a character who is a loner and an assassin, you are being a dick.

If your players tell you they want a break from the current campaign and you respond to that with a total party kill, you are being a dick.

If you beat someone in a competitive game and you then gloat and rub their faces in it, you are being a dick.

Don’t be a dick. It’s that simple.

Any visit to a con makes me ask an age old question: what is it about such get-togethers that cause people to forget how to use the toilet? I seriously don’t get it. I lost count of the number of times I had to wipe down toilets and flush other people’s waste. By the end of each day at ComicCon I seriously feared using the bathroom because the stalls had become so foul. Is seeing girls dressed up in anime costumes so exciting that these guys just don’t have time to aim? Were they in such a hurry to get to the Jedi Stage that they had to plotz everywhere?

At the other end of the spectrum I went to two restaurants with bathroom attendants. Man, do I find them creepy. Look, I know how to wash my hands. I don’t need anyone squirting soap into my hands and giving me towels, and I’m certainly not going to tip for the privilege. Here’s an idea for bathroom attendants. They should hire them at conventions, sporting events, and movie theaters. Their job would be to check the stalls as the patrons exited. If they find the places befouled, they make the mad sprayers clean up their own messes. THAT is something I’d tip for.

Nicole and I got back from NYC late on Monday night. Although the trip was pretty brutal in terms of busyness and sleep deprivation, it was definitely worth it. I always enjoy getting back to New York, which was my home for many years. The city has changed a lot in the last ten years, not always in good ways, but it still has that certain magic that makes it unlike any other American city.

ComicCon was pretty impressive when you consider that this is only its second year. They are reporting 40,000 unique visitors, which already makes it bigger than GenCon. It’s like the city was just waiting for something like this to come along. I went to two seminars and got to walk the floor on a couple of occasions, but I spent most of my time in the booth. The show hours were 2-3 hours longer than most game cons and there were only three of us attending, so that made for some long days. It also meant that people could find me easily though and that proved handy. I got a chance to catch up with a high school friend I hadn’t seen in 20 years, a college friend I hadn’t seen in 10 years, and a punk rock friend I hadn’t seen since I moved out of NYC. The latter isn’t even into comics but her current boyfriend is and he dragged her along to this show. She stumbled upon our booth and we had a happy reunion while her boyfriend spent time in artists’ alley. Saturday night was dinner out with many members of my college game group, all of whom have written for GR at one time or another. It’s always good to see those guys; I just wish it happened more often.

Perhaps the most ridiculous thing I saw there was the “Jedi Stage”. Do you remember the internet video of that kid practicing his light saber moves in his parent’s garage? OK, now imagine dozens of those kids dressed up in Jedi gear having mock fights on a stage while videos of dancing flames and the like show in the background. That was the Jedi Stage. I couldn’t bear to watch it for more than 5 minutes but the room always seemed crowded.

In our free hours Nicole, Steve, and I did what the GR crew usually does when we get together: spend too much money eating out. We hit a nice spread of old favorites like Katz’s Deli and House of Vegetarian and new treats like Artisanal and Ruby Foo’s. I think Artisanal was the meal of the show. Really, I can’t believe that cheese-based restaurants existed in the world and I had never been to one. That was a hell of a meal and has made me want to try to find a “fromagerie” closer to home. Nicole, as always, has documented our culinary adventures in words and photos on her blog. Check out www.nikchick.com for more details.

We’re leaving for NYC tonight for the big ComicCon there. Since GR had the Mutants & Mastermind’s Beginner’s Guide (an intro product) schedule for this month anyway, this seemed like a great place to debut it. Plus, it’s a good excuse for me to visit NYC. I had hoped to have a little more time to spend bumming around the city, but the brutal show hours plus limited vacation days from Flying Lab are making it a lean and mean trip. Still, I will have a chance to see some old friends and hit some good restaurants, so I’m totally looking forward to the trip.

Today at Flying Lab I’m grinding on missions, trying to finish up my most recent block before I head off. These are some of the first mission arcs I’ve gotten to plan out from top to bottom, so that’s satisfying. I got to create all the content, characters, and missions in several towns. That meant researching their history and then riffing off that to create fun storylines. Totally up my alley.

After work it’s home to pack and get ready for the redeye. Wohoo redeye! My internet access will be limited, so I probably won’t have anything to say until next week.