Bumbershoot

Bumbershoot was this weekend. I went on Saturday. Here is a list of bands I saw.

The Avett Brothers - Bluegrass Punk. These guys started out calm for a few songs, twanging on their banjo and upright bass. Then they started screaming and all the old people left.
Gogol Bordello - Gypsy Punk. These guys had tons of fans in attendance. I watched them while eating Chicken Tikka Masala behind their stage. The music was okay but the chicken was delicious.
Devotchka - Gypsy Pop. I have most of their albums. I didn't hear anything I hadn't heard before.
Saturday Knights - Not everyone can be the Beastie Boys. These guys look like they have fun trying, though.
Aqueduct - These guys were having a ton of fun on stage. The crowd was really into them. In terms of music I'd never heard before these guys win first prize.

I wanted to go saturday to see The Damnwells and Wu Tang Clan, but I stayed home and painted baseboard and window trim instead.

Wednesday Commute: Bike to work. Bus home
Wednesday Exercise: 19 miles biking

Thursday Commute: Bus to work. Bus and Bike home
Thursday Exercise: 5 miles

Friday Commute: Bike to work. Bus and Bike home
Friday Exercise: 25 miles biking

Saturday Exercise: 9 miles running

Sunday Exercise: None

Monday Commute: Holiday
Monday Exercise: None

Cluck

The Savage Worlds game we played was a chicken themed survival horror game in the vein of Black Sheep. It was also the only game that our band of three played all together (aside from a twenty minute dungeon delve). The module was called Chickens in the Mist and is put out by a company called 12toMidnight.

The game was a lot of fun. It was certainly a great start to convention gaming. This picture is from the climax of the game, where I heroically leapt from the back of the truck and tossed a bundle of dynamite at a five hundred pound chicken blocking our escape.



Monday Commute: Bus to and from work.
Monday Exercise: None

Tuesday Commute: Bike to work, bus home.
Tuesday Exercise: 19 miles biking, 6 miles running, 1 hour yoga

Dungeons & Dragons

So I guess Dungeons and Dragons is entering into fourth edition. I have to admit to not being aware of the announcement while I was at GenCon. Like many others I've seen posting on the web this news doesn't really impact me. Games I'm involved in rarely use the system. I also imagine that when I do sit down to play some narrative-light simulationist tactical roleplaying I'll have my choice of editions.

I think of D&D as being much more the summer blockbuster type of game system. It's a beer and pretzels game enjoyed by a wide audience but lacking the nuance required for more mature role-playing. My current interests run closer to what various independent role playing games are trying to do. These are the art house movies of the games industry.

This makes me a gaming snob.

At GenCon I played two separate DnD events. The first was the Dungeon Delve. You and five others attempt to get through three combat encounters in twenty minutes. You recieved tokens redeemable for semi-fabulous prizes depending on how far through the module you got. D&D is well suited to this sort of thing. At its heart the game is about simulating fantasy combat. Most of the rules are dedicated to this. The other section of the rules is about how to make your characters more powerful as they gain in experience and wealth. Look on the forums dedicated to the game and you'll mostly see guidebooks for player class builds and rules clarification discussions. I end up with the distinct impression that the pen and paper game is now looking to the video games it spawned for its guiding design principles.

Also I am playing D&D tactics for the PSP.

The other D&D event I played in was the first round of NASCRAG. Claiming to be to the RPGA what the Shriners are to the Masons. After running through the first round module with a juvenile minded group (our group name was Richard Head and the Jizz Juice Brigade (team cheer: Boner, Brah!)) I was left with little interest in playing in a D&D tourney ever again.

The game was a mishmash of combat encounter followed by some puzzle solving followed by an encounter that was solvable through the use of game mechanics. Points were given to teams based on solving the puzzles and roleplaying. The roleplaying points were assigned based partly on genuinely being in character, and mostly on hitting bullet points on the provided character synopsis (which is really just another puzzle to solve: "What should I have my character do that will make the GM think I'm playing him in-character?"). My little group ended up talking to one of the GMs in the airport on our flight back, which gave me some insight into these proceedings.

Still, 4th Edition! Exciting!

Saturday Exercise: None

Sunday Exercise: 5 miles running with hills.

Or Not

So much for posting more over the next few days. I haven't even posted my exercising/commuting for the past week.

To remedy both I present a list of the game systems I played at GenCon followed by the exercise/commute log for the week.

AT-43
Savage Worlds
Star Wars d20
Dungeons & Dragons
Dread
Wild Card


Monday Commute: Bus to and from work
Monday Exercise: 5 miles running

Tuesday Commute: Bike to work, bus home
Tuesday Exercise: 19 miles biking

Wednesday Commute: Bus to work, bus and bike home
Wednesday Exercise: 5 miles biking

Thursday Commute: Bus to work, bus to a friend's house, then a ride home.
Thursday Exercise: 5 miles running

Friday Commute: Bike to work. Bus and bike home
Friday Exercise: 24 miles biking

Gencon

I'm off to GenCon. It's four days of magic and mayhem. I'm going in a party of three, and we're traveling to swampy Indianapolis with very little planning. Even our plans for lodging are tenuous at best. We might be sleeping under the stars for all I know.

Being out of town for a week means I'm going to give my legs a much-deserved rest. They've been getting kind of beat up with my sudden increase in activity. I'm hoping the week long hiatus gives me sufficient time to recover, but isn't so long that I will start losing muscle and endurance.

And of course there's the danger of eating too much junk food and gaining a bunch of weight.

Saturday Exercise: None

Sunday Exercise: 9 miles running

Monday Commute: Vacation
Monday Exercise: None

Tuesday Commute: Vacation
Tuesday Exercise: None

Week Highlights:
Ms. Limelight and Mr. Mitzvah getting kicked off Who Wants to be a Superhero
Spirit of the Century
RoqLaRue opening where I met Jason D'Aquino

Coming Soon:
GenCon, Indianapolis

Monday Commute: Bus to work, ride home from friend
Monday Exercise: 4 miles running

Tuesday Commute: Bus to work, ride home from friend
Tuesday Exercise: Yoga Flow Class

Wednesday Commute: Bus to work, Bike home
Wednesday Exercise: 5 miles running, 19 miles biking

Thursday Commute: Bike to work, ride home from friend
Thursday Exercise: 19 miles biking

Friday Commute: Bus to work, Bike and Bus home
Friday Exercise: 6 miles running, 5 miles biking

Rebirth

Went to the Ren-Faire this weekend.

High Points:
Thomas Wood the Pyro-Juggler
Jousting
Pickle Wench
Mead

Low Points:
Dust and Dirt
Fairies and Furries
Mead

Saturday Exercise: None

Sunday Exercise: None

It's A Nice Day

A friend is getting married today. I'll be driving my rented Yaris to the ceremony and reception. The Yaris looks almost exactly like a Prius, but without all the fancy hybrid insides. Still claim about thirty-five to forty miles per gallon, though. This is pretty good since the Prius I had never really got better than forty-five, and the 2007 Yaris is five grand less than I paid in 2005 for a 2002 Prius.

I remember a year ago they were marketing the Yaris pretty heavily to the hipster crowd. They had a craft fair sort of thing you could go to and some lady would show you how to embroider your T-Shirt.

Also, the Blue Angels were booming along overhead today. Thanks, Seafair!

P.S. I do not like Seafair. It is mainly a celebration of why the rest of the world does not like the United States.

Thursday Commute: Bus to work, ride home from friend
Thursday Exercise: None

Friday Commute: Bike to work. Rental car home.
Friday Exercise: 19 miles bike, 4 miles running.

After Action Report

Dark Angels vs. Imperial Guard
500 pts.

Dark Angels
Librarian
(Alpha) Tactical Squad w/Plasma Cannon
(Beta) Tactical Squad w/Lascannon and Plasma Gun

Imperial Guard
Junior Officer w/grenade launcher, missile launcher, chimera
5 Ratlings
2 Storm Trooper Squads w/meltaguns
Leman Russ Tank


Turn 1:Dark Angels
Alpha Squad advanced into cover on the space marine's right flank, with the librarian following closeby.
Beta Squad fired it's lascannon at the missile launcher on the hill, missing.

Turn 1:Imperial Guard.
Chimera advances on the IG left flank and pops smoke. Left Storm trooper squad advances into cover. Officer squad and remaining storm troopers advance forward. Leman Russ comes from behind the hill.
The ratlings and guard open fire on Alpha Squad, killing 1 marine. The Leman Russ fires its battle cannon at Beta Squad, deviating but still catching two marines in it's deadly blast. The missile launcher on the hill misses.

Turn 2: Dark Angels
Alpha Squad and Librarian continue their advance. Beta Squad holds its position.
Alpha Squad fires into the StormTroopers on the space marine's left flank, killing two and causing them to fall back. Beta Squad fires its lascannon at the tank, but the massive front armor of the leman russ shrugs it off.

Turn 2: Imperial Guard
The fleeing storm troopers rally. The chimera advances towards Alpha Squad. The officer realizes he's quite exposed and begins moving towards cover. The remaining storm troopers advance towards Alpha Squad.
The chimera unleashes gouts of promethium, incinerating two of the marines. The Leman Russ and the rest of the guard fire into the squad, and when the smoke clears only three marines are left standing, but they make their leadership save and do not fall back. The missile launcher on the hill misses.

Turn 3: Space Marines
Alpha squad contiues its inexorable march across the battlefield. The librarian breaks ranks and moves towards the storm troopers on the space marine's right.
Alpha Squad kills the the officer's honor guard. The librarian summons power from the warp and incinerates two storm troopers in a coruscating ball of hellfire. Beta squad continues to pound lascannon fire into the Leman Russ.

Turn 3: Imperial Guard
All the damaged squad from the previous round of shooting make their command checks and the're off to the races. The chimera rolled towards the remnants of alpha squad. The rallied storm troopers move up to cover the officer, the storm troopers on the right flank move up for some shots on the librarian. Even the Leman Russ abandons the hill covering its right side and rolls forward to assist.
Between the chimera, officer, and left stormtroopers Alpha squad is reduced to a single plasma cannon. The Leman Russ opens up with its three heavy bolters, finishing off the last of alpha squad. The storm troopers and ratlings manage to inflict just a single wound on the librarian. The missile launcher on the hill misses.

Turn 4: Space Marines
The brave librarian turns his back on the pitiful guard before him, and strides across the the middle of the battlefield towards the chimera, reciting the litany of hate as he does so.
Channeling the power of the warp, the librarian vomits forth another blast of hellfire, but it's not strong enough to penetrate even the light armor of the chimera. Beta squad opens fire with some well placed shots and destroys the remainder of the storm trooper squad on the space marine right flank.

Turn 4: Imperial Guard
The chimera drives around the stagnant pool of water, the officer and remaining storm troopers advance on the hapless librarian.
The chimera, officer, and storm troopers cut the librarian down. The ratlings pick off a marine from Beta squad, but the real luck comes when the Leman Russ lands a cannon shell smack in the middle of the remains of beta squad, killing five of them. The missile launcher on the hill misses.

Turn 5: Space Marines
The brave marines hold their ground and fire at the chimera that moments before destroyed their beloved librarian. The lascannon's shot went wide, but the plama gun's ball of fiery death burned through the tracks of the chimera, stunning the crew and immobilizing it.

Turn 5: Imperial Guard
The remaining guard advance on the remnants of the once-proud space marines.
Adding their fire to that of the Leman Russ, the space marine army is reduced to a single marine with a lascannon. The missile launcher on the hill misses.

Sensing victory, the battle tank and remains of the guard advance on the lone marine, intending to cut him down and make their victory complete.


Tactical Post-mortem
Imperial Guard:
Pretty much everything went well for the guard. I was able to bring the majority of my fire to bear on individual space marine squads and drastically reduce their effectiveness in a few turns. The frustrating part was when I was trying to finish off a single damnable model. That's when the guard's low ballistic skill and underpowered weapons versus the marine's impressive armor and toughness really started to hurt me. It took as much of my army to kill a single model as it did to take out an entire squad. Also that damnable missile launcher never hit once. I don't know who was manning it but they're in desperate need of a court martial for incompetence.
Space Marines
The space marines struggled a bit. They probably should have capitalized on having the first turn by moving Beta squad towards the center of the table. This would have put the plasma gun in range, and allowed them to lay bolter fire into my squads. Instead they got hung up on putting a single lascannon into the Leman Russ every turn. Also, Alpha squad probably could have just advanced into the cover on their first turn and then just hunkered down and held their position. Getting caught out in the open where everything in the IG army could take a shot at them was disastrous.

Wednesday Commute: Bus to work, ride home from friend
Wednesday Exercise: 6 miles running

Drop-In gaming

I went with a friend to a drop-in rpg session on monday. The system was Forgotten Futures.

The group we played with had an interesting house-rule mechanic. At any point a player was allowed to introduce a complication for another character. In effect taking over the narrative for a bit to add a side-plot to the main narrative. This had its pros and its cons. It was nice in that it allowed the story to flow in unexpected directions, and allowed the story to progress beyond the confines of the pre-written adventure we were using. It did, however, have the unfortunate side effect of bogging down the game, and made it difficult to gain the attention of the group when you wanted to act.

Still, a good time was had by all, and the adventure is not over yet, so we will see how skillfully the group is able to juggle the plot threads and bring them all to a satisfactory conclusion.

Sunday Exercise: Sunday was a rest day

Monday Commute: Bike to work. Ride home from friend
Monday Exercise: 4 miles running, 19 miles biking

Tuesday Commute: Bus to work. Bike home.
Tuesday Exercise: 19 miles biking. 1-hour yoga.

Exercise Roundup

I should probably do this at the end of the month, but I'm curious and want to do the calculations now.

Since starting my bike to work program Let's see how many miles I've logged in July

Week 1(July 1-7): 4 miles running, 37 miles biking
Week 2(July 8-14): 9 miles running, 76 miles biking
Week 3(July 15-21): 25 miles running, 76 miles biking
Week 4(July 22-28): 10 miles running, 76 miles biking
Total: 48 miles running, 265 miles biking

I think what I can take away from this is that my running regimen is suffering. By splitting up my bike commute across two days I end up fairly tired. Indeed, this Thursday's bike commute in the morning was slow and painful. I was just very tired. I may need to bite the bullet and start commuting to and from work on the same day. That would leave every other day for running and also give me the all-important rest day.

Friday Commute: Bus to work, bike home
Friday Exercise: 19 miles biking

Saturday Exercise: 5 miles running

Web-Comic Roundup

Here's a list of webcomics that I enjoy. I usually visit these sites even on days when they don't update, just in case a bonus comic gets posted.

The list is provided as much for the reader as for the writer.

Penny Arcade
XKCD
Diesel Sweeties
Achewood
Perry Bible Fellowship
Scarygoround
Dr. McNinja

I hope I didn't forget anyone.

Thursday Commute: Bike to work, bus home
Thursday Exercise: 19 miles biking

Pork Chops Taste Good

It's recipe day. Here's a delicious way to prepare pork chops.

Ingredients:
4 pork chops
1 green apple (Granny Smith)
1/2 onion
2 TBsp Vinegar
Bacon
Salt
Pepper

Trim the fat from around the edges of the chops. Sprinkle one side with salt and pepper and rub salt and pepper in with fingers. Wrap the bacon around the pork chops and secure with toothpicks (You might have to use two slices of bacon depending on the size of pork chop.
Using a grater, shred the apple and onion. Mix in a bowl with the vinegar.
Flip the pork chops over. Rub top side with salt and pepper. Distribute the apple mixture evenly on top of the pork chops. Put the pork chops in a baking dish.
Cook at 425 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Check with a sharp knife and fork to be sure chops are done.
Serve and enjoy.


Tuesday Commute: Bike to work, Bus home
Tuesday Exercise: 19 miles biking

Wednesday Commute: Bus to work, Bike home
Wednesday Exercise: 5 miles Running, 19 miles biking

Dressed in Yellow

I got to play Arkham Horror with some friends on Saturday. Fantasy Flight Games has been consistently making some high quality games with interesting gameplay. Arkham Horror is notable mainly in that it is a cooperative game. Everyone playing either wins or loses.

On Saturday we mixed in the King in Yellow expansion which provides a new way to lose at the game. Playing off the fictional play of the same name (which is referenced in a number of Mythos writings), the expansion forces the players to make choices between allowing the play to advance in acts (causing problems and headaches for the players) and allowing the Big Bad Guy to advance in power, which lets him appear earlier which means the players have less time to prepare.

It's a great game. The rules aren't complex, but there are a fair number of things to do. The biggest complaint is that the rulebook is not set up for quick and easy reference, so it can take a bit to get all the rules down. The flip-side is that it's a cooperative sort of game, so if you can't seem to find the place where it tells you what the red-bordered monsters do that's special, just don't have them do anything and move on.


Sunday Exercise: None

Monday Commute: Bus both ways
Monday Exercise: None

Reading is FUNdaMENTAL

Just finished the Ultramines Omnibus, which is really three books in one. This means I can get back to the fourth book of The Dark Tower. I'm also working through the newly discovered (to me) Geek Monthly. How did I not know about this magazine 4 issues ago?

Finally, I'm starting a lookout for The King in Yellow, first edition.

Thursday Commute: Bus both ways
Thursday Exercise: 6 miles running

Friday Commute: Bike both ways. In the rain. Lots of rain.
Friday Exercise: 38 miles biking

Saturday Exercise: 6 miles running. Hill workout.

Goings On

The forecast calls for an event-heavy weekend with predictions of more events for the next weekend. And of course there's the everpresent work to do on the house and painting of miniatures.

Thursday:
West-side Industry night - Video games industry night at the garage

Friday:
14/48 - Real theater, real fast

Saturday:
14/48 - More real theater, real fast
Board games with friends

Sunday:
Innertubing on the snohomish? Should be cold!

Next Week:
Rat City Rollergirls - second to last bout of the season

Tuesday Commute: Bus to and from work.
Tuesday Exercise: 5 miles running

Wednesday Commute: Bus to work. Bike home.
Wednesday Exercise: 19 miles biking

Formula De

Formula De is a wonderful little game that is soon to be out of print (again). I got together with some friends last night to take a lap around the track. Now that everyone knows the rules I think we'll be able to sit down and do a multi-lap race later in the week.

Also, in case you live in Seattle and don't get out much, go to Ezell's if you're hungry. It doesn't matter what you get, just be sure to pick up some extra rolls. You can never have enough.

Sunday Exercise: 8 miles running

Monday Commute: Bike to work, ride home from a friend
Monday Exercise: 19 miles biking

An Evening of Art

RoqLaRue kicked it like they always do, putting on a great show. Nicoletta Ceccoli's stuff was especially awesome.

Not so interesting to me was BLVD next door. They rarely have art that piques my interest. However, since this month's show was tikki themed they did have an entire roast pig for people to enjoy. I helped myself to some delicious roasted porkness and went back to Roq.

14/48 was kickass like always. My only complaint for this go-round was that more writers than usual seemed to have no idea how to end their plays without being trite or going for the cheap heartstrings. I'm talking to you, Soldier in a Casket, Teenagers Standing Around in a Cave, Runaway Husband Returned, and Wife Hurt by Husband's Affections for Another.

The beginnings and endings of the plays are as a rule thought-out, well-executed and often hilarious. I think the format of the festival lends itself to writers being able to explore a theme or topic or situation, but like improv theater simply exploring the boundaries of a scene doesn't give you the plot lines you need to have a good conclusion, so the writers end up falling back on something trite or nonsensical. I think the best 14/48 plays leave you in the middle of the scene where the audience is able to construe for themselves what the conclusion is going to be (thank you, "Dr. Nussbaum 3:30").


There's still three more nights of the festival this weekend and next. If you like fun you'll like 14/48.


Friday commute: Bus to and from work.
Friday exercise: None. Day of rest.

Saturday exercise: Bike 19 miles

Minus Eighteen Point Five

Yesterday (Wednesday) marked the end of the zipper weight loss challenge. My team took home the winning honors and the pot of cash. One month ago I weighed in at 171 pounds, and yesterday (after a run in ninety degree heat) I weighed in at 152.5. The other two members of my team rallied as well, coming in 16 and 8 pounds lighter than when they started.

My one-month weight loss experiment has revealed the following weight loss secrets:

Eat less (this one is key). Some simple steps to eating less are to avoid snacks and soda. One of my team members did nothing except switch his Dr. Pepper intake from regular to diet. To stave off my munchies I upped my green tea intake. Caffeine is a natural appetite suppressant and green tea has a number of other weight loss and health benefits.

Exercise is important not only to burn calories but to keep your metabolism up. Suddenly diminishing your food intake can cause your body to go into storage mode and you need it to keep going. Also important so that your body burns fat instead of just consuming its muscle.

Was I hungry? Sometimes. But I didn't stop eating anything or hold myself to a strict diet. I still included carbohydrates because those are important for exercising. I still had a week where I had made a chocolate cake and worked my way through that. I occasionally indulged in soda and I occasionally had a piece of candy. The point was that such things should be treats. By eating candy every day or going out to dinner all the time we make this things an every day part of our lives and consuming them becomes so commonplace we don't even think about the repercussions.

That's my weight loss rant.


Wednesday's commute: Bus to work and home.
Wednesday's exercise: 4 mile run. Temperature outside got up to over 100 degrees.

Thursday's commute: Bike to work. Bus home.
Thursday's exercise: 19 miles biking.

Easing in to it

Since I'm just starting out on my bike to work gig I'm trying to ease myself into it. I'm making sure I don't try biking to and from work on the same day until I've got a couple of hundred miles under my belt (and some bike shorts around my waist. My butt's killing me). So far this is working out pretty well.

The thing I have yet to figure out is how to stop taking so much stuff. I'm packing a giant REI backpack full of clothes and books and shoes to work every day. I'm in desperate need of some better planning in this department.

Tomorrow ends the weight loss contest we've been having at work.

Monday's Commute: Bike to work in the morning. Ride home from an out of town friend around midnight.
Monday's Exercise: 19 miles biking.

Tuesday's Commute: Bus in the morning. Bike home in the evening.
Tuesday's Exercise: 5 miles running, 19 miles biking.