I am not sure what I want to write about. Prolly about gaming but I am not sure which paticular gaming topic I want to latch onto. There is something to be said about how lackluster I am finding this current generation of gaming consoles to be and how computer gaming seems to be enjoying a nice micro rennisance but I mean there I said it. That's it. Right now you either agree with me or you don't. No matter what I say I am not going to convince you one way or another.
It is weird cause this generation started pretty strong too but it seems to be running out of steam. That and there is a distinct lack of wonderful japanese games that are the bread and butter of my console gaming experience. So? What I dunno. I play Dwarf Fortress. All the pretty graphics in the world aren't going to interest me. I do wish I had the time for fighting games though. That is a distinct lack in my life that pc gaming can't effectivly fill up. This wouldn't be a problem but it seems like the days of cross console arcade sticks are over which is complete and utter bullshit because they both have fucking usb ports. There is literally no reason why there can't be cross compatible sticks. See I have a loaned 360 but 99% of all fighting gaming happens on the PS3 prolly due to its free online or something like that. Who knows. Stitching from one controller to another means a LONG series of lost matches while you adjust. I also prefer 6 button to 4 button but that's mostly a me thing. Currently the thing I am most insterested in is a Vida but that won't be for another year or so when the second generation of hardware comes out.
Thus we turn to gaming unplugged. Man it has been kind of a banner year for table top gaming. Right now I am veering into the realm of historical war gaming and I am loving it. I am not sure where I want to go with it though. I think I am going to keep it on the hex and chit level. If I ever want something new all I have to do is to pick up the latest issue of Strategy and Tactics and I am good to go. This way I will have a wide variety of historical games from all sorts of different time periods to play, but also have them be easy to store and transport. As much as I love Sekigahara it is a pain in the ass to transport and break out and play. There is also the issue that so many historical war games are just two players. I love the two player game play experience. I think it is far more intense than a group game and it provides a much more focused style of play. Unfortunately, gamers tend to come in groups and you gotta accommodate that. Though I am seriously thinking that some of the larger ASL scenarios would go much better as a team game. Especiallly some of the larger Code of Bushido scenarios where you have multiple waves of reinforcements and stuff like that it would be best to have teams of players to help keep track of everything. I feel the same way about Eastern/Western Front. I don't own these games but I'd love to. The thing is that 100 bucks of a game that I'm not gonna play very often makes me cry a little.
Also it makes me swell with pride just how much I got right with the ASL rules. It was a slog but I understand them now. HOORAY!
Going back to the 100 bucks thing I am considering more and more getting into Warmatchine. Warmachine rides the boundary between being a full on miniature war game and a skirmish game, it has big robots, and I love the Cryx. So I am looking into it more and more. Furthermore we have a pretty large warmachine community around here. I am looking to expanding my gaming play groups and the best way to do that is to start playing some other games that people play. That and well you know it is Warmachine the game is amazing. Here is the rub though. See there is a two player battle box and it is full of factions I don't wanna play. But if I got that I could get other people to play with me a little easier. Or something. I dunno. I might just quietly buy some because I want to put some models together and the cryx look nice. I'll start with that and see where it goes. Also the starter kits come with quick start rules! Hey! Well that settles that then. I'll pick them up eventually.
Something that will happen much sooner is that I've been rebitten by the Game of Thrones bug. I bought a chapter pack at random and man that just happened. As much as I love that game I am not sure what to do with it. James and I are just more into it than everyone else is. I wanna keep playing it but I dunno. I do know that I want the Brotherhood without Banners cycle. That cycle is amazing and it will make my Greyjoy deck thunder about in an unstoppable wave of destruction. It will also give the Lanisters some snazzy options as well as some other things. I also want the Lannister box set. I also want to tweek my Stark deck so that I can break my reliance on the Bear people and that Agenda that seems fun until you realize that it should be for the Greyjoys not the Starks. Rawr! Oh well I wish all the houses had a unique agenda that only they can play. It would be nice. Maybe in a future set.
In other news I want the panty nazi game. The panty nazi game is just a card game but it costs more than a warmachine starter. However, the panty nazi game seats 4 and that's pretty exciting. Or I might just buy some more ASL stuff. I don't really care but I have to go to work.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Frosted Flakes
I was never allowed to have delicious cerial as a kid. Well I was but only every other weekend when I went to my mom's house and even then not very often. Anyway for lunch I had a medium sized salad and two bowls of frosted flakes. Holy shit I forget how much I love this stuff until I eat it. As much as I love it though it isn't really worth buying for me because I get tired of eating it about half way through the box and it goes to waste.
However, as a once and awhile snack? Frosted Flakes are thing of glory. In other news I don't have much time left of my lunch. I was busy catching up with the internet and stuff like that. I got a new powersource ordered so hopefully I will be internet enabled again real soon. After that it will be a hop skip and a jump away from dealing with my other minor but perpetually annoying problems. Like the lack of music in my car, the fact that I want a new computer, and that I have to go back to the dmv on friday and give them even more money because things beyond my control happened to me. Oh well. I swear to god there are few things more annoying than the DMV. Just the whole idea of it all and how inefficient it is. Actually it seems to be almost deliberatly inefficient. Like take a more recent situation. James and I go down to get the car registered. They can't because they have to visually confirm the vin number. So they have to issue you a temporary tag which means I have to go back to the dmv for a second visit. My actual time spent with an agent totalled about an hour and a half between both visits. So we could of saved everyone a pile of time if I just said "fuck your laws I am just going to drive this shit illeagally down here and you can do it then". In fact most of the things involving the DMV are 100% easier if you just lie and break the laws.
One time I went down there because of something only to find out that my liscense was suspended. They handed my liscense back and let me drive away even though it is 100% illegal. They do paperwork, shuffle around information, and nearly 99% of it is unessisary yet there it is just in case something happens or something like that. This is one of those grey area "roles of government" type things that I am just not sure about. I mean these records could really help out in a lot of ways but mostly only if the vehicle is financed. If it isn't then nearly 100% of what the dmv does is just nosey information gathering. Like registration, you are going to have a hard time making me believe that paying a pile of money every year after sitting in the dmv serves some sort of important function for the smooth running of government. I am in favor of emission tests. I don't see why any state who requires registrations wouldn't require emission tests. But ours doesn't. So they don't care if my care if my car drives around bleching black smoke just so long as they know where it is. I don't get it. Perhaps there is a greater purpose that I am just not seeing.
On that note I am going to go back to work and do stuff involving dishes.
However, as a once and awhile snack? Frosted Flakes are thing of glory. In other news I don't have much time left of my lunch. I was busy catching up with the internet and stuff like that. I got a new powersource ordered so hopefully I will be internet enabled again real soon. After that it will be a hop skip and a jump away from dealing with my other minor but perpetually annoying problems. Like the lack of music in my car, the fact that I want a new computer, and that I have to go back to the dmv on friday and give them even more money because things beyond my control happened to me. Oh well. I swear to god there are few things more annoying than the DMV. Just the whole idea of it all and how inefficient it is. Actually it seems to be almost deliberatly inefficient. Like take a more recent situation. James and I go down to get the car registered. They can't because they have to visually confirm the vin number. So they have to issue you a temporary tag which means I have to go back to the dmv for a second visit. My actual time spent with an agent totalled about an hour and a half between both visits. So we could of saved everyone a pile of time if I just said "fuck your laws I am just going to drive this shit illeagally down here and you can do it then". In fact most of the things involving the DMV are 100% easier if you just lie and break the laws.
One time I went down there because of something only to find out that my liscense was suspended. They handed my liscense back and let me drive away even though it is 100% illegal. They do paperwork, shuffle around information, and nearly 99% of it is unessisary yet there it is just in case something happens or something like that. This is one of those grey area "roles of government" type things that I am just not sure about. I mean these records could really help out in a lot of ways but mostly only if the vehicle is financed. If it isn't then nearly 100% of what the dmv does is just nosey information gathering. Like registration, you are going to have a hard time making me believe that paying a pile of money every year after sitting in the dmv serves some sort of important function for the smooth running of government. I am in favor of emission tests. I don't see why any state who requires registrations wouldn't require emission tests. But ours doesn't. So they don't care if my care if my car drives around bleching black smoke just so long as they know where it is. I don't get it. Perhaps there is a greater purpose that I am just not seeing.
On that note I am going to go back to work and do stuff involving dishes.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
So What Did Happen in Feburary?
Welp Feburary happened, and all in all it has been a pretty crappy month for me. I got rear ended which totaled my car and thus turned my life upside down for a good whole week. As a result I didn’t really get anything done I wanted to as I was far to busy dealing with stupid car shit. Everything worked out in the end, but it was stressful, unpleasant, and highly scary. Setting aside the stupid car incident we also ended up down a person at work. Poor Sasha is on a medical leave of absence. I ended up working 10 days in a row to cover things, and that SUCKED. I didn’t have a car the whole time either so I was just kinda drained and unhappy. Once again though things are working out and moving forwards. In other news I have a replacement car already and things are fine though I ended up no where near my writing goal. I feel I am excused on the grounds of excessively time consuming events.
I did get to learn and play Advanced Squad Leader though and that was exciting. I am now a huge fan of the game. The first two games we played only involved troops to help get used to the basic turn order and mechanics of the game. Now that we got that down we will be adding more devastation in short order. Then we will be able to tackle the real game. Once we got the basic flow of the game down it actually plays pretty quickly. I am looking forwards to playing some of the more advanced scenarios.
Our plans are to start with the Japanese units as they are wonderfully fun. Also The New World is quickly becoming one of my favorite games when I need something quick and painless to break out and play. The whole thing seats 6, fits in two deck boxes, is easy to pick up, break out and teach. It isn’t the deepest game in the world but it is fun and fast.
In other news I went to Courtney’s birthday party. Liberty Lanes is by far the strangest place on the face of the planet. That was fun and I’m glad I did it.
Though when it is all said and done I’ve consumed a pretty impressive amount of stuff. It is currently the 4th of the March and already things are much better so onwards and upwards. Pip pip cheerio.
Things Watched
Week 1
Lost Season 5- This will get its own blog post shortly
Chronical- I loved this movie, it got so much right and it used the first person camera thing in clever ways. One of my new favorite superhero origin movies.
Lady in Black- This movie has SO MUCH potential to be good. Oh well.
Quills- This is the first DVD I bought. It remains one of my favorites. I will never tire of this movie.
Carnage- Holy crap this movie was brilliant and I really wanna watch it again.
Rampart- SO GOOD. James Ellroy co-wrote this movie and it shows. Rampart is a nasty man. Such a good movie.
Win/Win- This movie is heartwarming to the extreme. I love movies about marriages in progress, and this movie was just so good. See it or die in my eyes.
Week 2
Sleeping Beauty- Oh man one of the best alternative sex movies I’ve ever seen. On its own merits such an amazing movie.
Let the Bullets Fly- Chinese and this movie was a ridiculously good time.
Week 3
Lost Season 5 Finished
Lost S6
Snow Town- I had a hard time following this movie at first. Everything was kinda quiet and I didn’t understand what was happening until the end. Now that I get it I really wanna see it again.
Week 4
Secret World of Ariete- This movie is so picturesque and nice. It is a wonderful film even though nothing happens in it.
Ghost Rider 2- Nick Cage said it best when he said, “Every line in the movie is either whispered or screamed and everything is on fire” I couldn’t give it a more roaring endorsement.
Zebraman 2- I was actually shocked at how much fun this movie was. I should watch the first one some day.
Things Played
Dominion 5 games
Puerto Rico
Super Dungeon Explore
Summoner Wars 2
HeroClix 1
ASL 2
Kill Dr Lucky twice
Twilight IMPERIUM!
New World 2
Dungeon Run
Sekigahara 1
Things Read
Week 1
War of the Green Lanterns Aftermath- A wonderful comic. I like how they took the time to show the aftereffects of the horrendous events that happened to the green lanterns instead of just carrying on like nothing happened. There is some pretty powerful writing in here.
Secret Avengers Vol 1- This book is good. It took me a minute to remember what happened and it is fun but I dunno I wanna read the second book but I don’t wanna run out and buy the first one.
Future Foundation Vol 2- I was a little disappointed with this volume. First the art is terrible. The multi Mr. Fantastics is being wrapped up to quickly and I am not sure I like where the Kree and the Inhumans are going. That said I will buy the next volume without question.
Invisables Vol 7- SO GOOD
The Filth- Every time I reread the invisables I reread this as well. The Filth is a nice addendum to the invisables. Thematically they are opposite and yet they have similar messages. It is a strange but wonderful book.
American Vampire Vol 2- Oh man Sinder is going to be one of the new rising stars in comics. No question.
Week 3
Chew 1-3- Reread and loved once more!
Week 4
Batman Gates of Gotham- Wow this book is wonderful. It is a nice history of Gotham That tells the story of the city as well as Dick’s struggles to become Batman.
I did get to learn and play Advanced Squad Leader though and that was exciting. I am now a huge fan of the game. The first two games we played only involved troops to help get used to the basic turn order and mechanics of the game. Now that we got that down we will be adding more devastation in short order. Then we will be able to tackle the real game. Once we got the basic flow of the game down it actually plays pretty quickly. I am looking forwards to playing some of the more advanced scenarios.
Our plans are to start with the Japanese units as they are wonderfully fun. Also The New World is quickly becoming one of my favorite games when I need something quick and painless to break out and play. The whole thing seats 6, fits in two deck boxes, is easy to pick up, break out and teach. It isn’t the deepest game in the world but it is fun and fast.
In other news I went to Courtney’s birthday party. Liberty Lanes is by far the strangest place on the face of the planet. That was fun and I’m glad I did it.
Though when it is all said and done I’ve consumed a pretty impressive amount of stuff. It is currently the 4th of the March and already things are much better so onwards and upwards. Pip pip cheerio.
Things Watched
Week 1
Lost Season 5- This will get its own blog post shortly
Chronical- I loved this movie, it got so much right and it used the first person camera thing in clever ways. One of my new favorite superhero origin movies.
Lady in Black- This movie has SO MUCH potential to be good. Oh well.
Quills- This is the first DVD I bought. It remains one of my favorites. I will never tire of this movie.
Carnage- Holy crap this movie was brilliant and I really wanna watch it again.
Rampart- SO GOOD. James Ellroy co-wrote this movie and it shows. Rampart is a nasty man. Such a good movie.
Win/Win- This movie is heartwarming to the extreme. I love movies about marriages in progress, and this movie was just so good. See it or die in my eyes.
Week 2
Sleeping Beauty- Oh man one of the best alternative sex movies I’ve ever seen. On its own merits such an amazing movie.
Let the Bullets Fly- Chinese and this movie was a ridiculously good time.
Week 3
Lost Season 5 Finished
Lost S6
Snow Town- I had a hard time following this movie at first. Everything was kinda quiet and I didn’t understand what was happening until the end. Now that I get it I really wanna see it again.
Week 4
Secret World of Ariete- This movie is so picturesque and nice. It is a wonderful film even though nothing happens in it.
Ghost Rider 2- Nick Cage said it best when he said, “Every line in the movie is either whispered or screamed and everything is on fire” I couldn’t give it a more roaring endorsement.
Zebraman 2- I was actually shocked at how much fun this movie was. I should watch the first one some day.
Things Played
Dominion 5 games
Puerto Rico
Super Dungeon Explore
Summoner Wars 2
HeroClix 1
ASL 2
Kill Dr Lucky twice
Twilight IMPERIUM!
New World 2
Dungeon Run
Sekigahara 1
Things Read
Week 1
War of the Green Lanterns Aftermath- A wonderful comic. I like how they took the time to show the aftereffects of the horrendous events that happened to the green lanterns instead of just carrying on like nothing happened. There is some pretty powerful writing in here.
Secret Avengers Vol 1- This book is good. It took me a minute to remember what happened and it is fun but I dunno I wanna read the second book but I don’t wanna run out and buy the first one.
Future Foundation Vol 2- I was a little disappointed with this volume. First the art is terrible. The multi Mr. Fantastics is being wrapped up to quickly and I am not sure I like where the Kree and the Inhumans are going. That said I will buy the next volume without question.
Invisables Vol 7- SO GOOD
The Filth- Every time I reread the invisables I reread this as well. The Filth is a nice addendum to the invisables. Thematically they are opposite and yet they have similar messages. It is a strange but wonderful book.
American Vampire Vol 2- Oh man Sinder is going to be one of the new rising stars in comics. No question.
Week 3
Chew 1-3- Reread and loved once more!
Week 4
Batman Gates of Gotham- Wow this book is wonderful. It is a nice history of Gotham That tells the story of the city as well as Dick’s struggles to become Batman.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
ALL FUCKING RIGHT!!
I am about to make me a blog post. I really need to start writing at home again, or to find a late night venue that I feel comfortable in. My comfort level is important for this purpose. I've also discovered that I can't write to relax, I write because I am relaxed. Or at least I write because I am not stressed out. Normally when I get stressed out I do all I can to fix the problem so I can go back to my normal life. For example tonight I am seeing the Lorax, hopefully with some people other than Corey but I can't be certain.
I could write about the whole car situation but it really doesn't interest me. What does interest me is the way knowledge is conveyed within an essay format. Anyone who knows me fairly well knows that I have a bizzare interest in foreign policy. I mean seriously of all the hobbies to have, I read foreign policy journals. I am pretty sure that if it wasn't for chance meetings I'd still be a virgin. Anywho so yeah I do that that for fun. I also have been amassing a suprising amount of historical information, some of it is a side effect of foreign policy reading, historical war gaming, EU3, pleasure reading, and my ability to take knowlage from a wide variety of sources and to make it into a coherent narrative. I've also read my fair share of historical journal articles while doing stuff for english.
It was the other day when I read 5 whole pages of the ASL rulebook without having to look something up that it hit me, why the fuck are English, and philosophy papers so obtuse. Lets set aside the actual scholarship on the subject and look at the orginal texts. So right now this means we are focusing on philosphy. When you compare Spivak, Deluze, Kant, Heidegger, Lacan, and even Wittenstein's the Tractatus (I don't feel like looking up how to spell it) all these authors set out to explain unusually complex ideas but they do so in unusually complex ways. Deluze and Lacan pretty much just do it to be annoying. I know this because Deluz's book on Masochism is extraordinarily clear and easy to understand and Lacan comes right out and says he likes to make his ideas overly complex. I am pretty sure Spivak wrote her works in her "distinctive" voice so that she could get respect from her male dominanted peers, the others have their reasons too I'm sure but I think there is something to be said for not writing in a dense impenatrable way.
I like it. But I enjoy reading forgiegn policy journals, A Serbian Film, and sadomasochistic sex rituals so it isn't like I am a good yard stick for judging these things. Also fine. The original texts are complex. I've come to realize that sometimes you need to use highly elevated language to get an idea across at first. Then you can use less elevated language to make the idea clear to others. That old maxim of, "If you can't explain the concept to a 3rd grader then you don't really understand the concept" rings true for me. So it would seem to me that a certain part of the scholarship would take place of a verbally deelevated level in order to enhance the understanding of the base concepts.
This is not the case. One pleasently interesting observation was made by one of the TTC lecturers at the start of the existentialism class. He said that a lot of people get trapped into a "cult of nessesity". It is the idea that scholars paticularly in the english/philosphy side of things get antsy about not being needed anymore. This is especially true since most people from either discapline can't eloquently verbalize a set of reasons for their nessisity. Personally I think that in order to upper division classes in an english department you should have to submit an essay to the department stating why you think your course work is nessisary and worth persuing but that's just me. Still I think that the cult of nessesity is really killing both English and Philosphy as disicplines. English went through that horrible period where they tried to make it more like a science so that people would stop cutting their programs and trust me, that was a terrible idea. Now it is coming back in a form much more insidious as we try to make ourselves seem so important by making our ideas incomprehensible.
There is a huge difference between making an idea deliberatly difficult for the sake of sounding more important, and making an idea sound difficult because you are straining your brain's ability to articulate ideas.
Anyway it sucks and people should produce actual good ideas not just complex sounding ones.
People should also have the ability to do it in plain language without the fear of being budget cut. I have more to say on this topic but work is calling me.
I could write about the whole car situation but it really doesn't interest me. What does interest me is the way knowledge is conveyed within an essay format. Anyone who knows me fairly well knows that I have a bizzare interest in foreign policy. I mean seriously of all the hobbies to have, I read foreign policy journals. I am pretty sure that if it wasn't for chance meetings I'd still be a virgin. Anywho so yeah I do that that for fun. I also have been amassing a suprising amount of historical information, some of it is a side effect of foreign policy reading, historical war gaming, EU3, pleasure reading, and my ability to take knowlage from a wide variety of sources and to make it into a coherent narrative. I've also read my fair share of historical journal articles while doing stuff for english.
It was the other day when I read 5 whole pages of the ASL rulebook without having to look something up that it hit me, why the fuck are English, and philosophy papers so obtuse. Lets set aside the actual scholarship on the subject and look at the orginal texts. So right now this means we are focusing on philosphy. When you compare Spivak, Deluze, Kant, Heidegger, Lacan, and even Wittenstein's the Tractatus (I don't feel like looking up how to spell it) all these authors set out to explain unusually complex ideas but they do so in unusually complex ways. Deluze and Lacan pretty much just do it to be annoying. I know this because Deluz's book on Masochism is extraordinarily clear and easy to understand and Lacan comes right out and says he likes to make his ideas overly complex. I am pretty sure Spivak wrote her works in her "distinctive" voice so that she could get respect from her male dominanted peers, the others have their reasons too I'm sure but I think there is something to be said for not writing in a dense impenatrable way.
I like it. But I enjoy reading forgiegn policy journals, A Serbian Film, and sadomasochistic sex rituals so it isn't like I am a good yard stick for judging these things. Also fine. The original texts are complex. I've come to realize that sometimes you need to use highly elevated language to get an idea across at first. Then you can use less elevated language to make the idea clear to others. That old maxim of, "If you can't explain the concept to a 3rd grader then you don't really understand the concept" rings true for me. So it would seem to me that a certain part of the scholarship would take place of a verbally deelevated level in order to enhance the understanding of the base concepts.
This is not the case. One pleasently interesting observation was made by one of the TTC lecturers at the start of the existentialism class. He said that a lot of people get trapped into a "cult of nessesity". It is the idea that scholars paticularly in the english/philosphy side of things get antsy about not being needed anymore. This is especially true since most people from either discapline can't eloquently verbalize a set of reasons for their nessisity. Personally I think that in order to upper division classes in an english department you should have to submit an essay to the department stating why you think your course work is nessisary and worth persuing but that's just me. Still I think that the cult of nessesity is really killing both English and Philosphy as disicplines. English went through that horrible period where they tried to make it more like a science so that people would stop cutting their programs and trust me, that was a terrible idea. Now it is coming back in a form much more insidious as we try to make ourselves seem so important by making our ideas incomprehensible.
There is a huge difference between making an idea deliberatly difficult for the sake of sounding more important, and making an idea sound difficult because you are straining your brain's ability to articulate ideas.
Anyway it sucks and people should produce actual good ideas not just complex sounding ones.
People should also have the ability to do it in plain language without the fear of being budget cut. I have more to say on this topic but work is calling me.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Learning to Play ASL part 1
I have 20 minutes. I've decided I would like to spend some time talking about ASL. I actually want to turn this into a series and if I were better organized it would have its own blog, but I am not better organized so this is how this is going to look. Sorry. Moving on. So I am about to get into ASL and that is very exciting to me. It really is. Unfortunately in order to do so I need to resort to piracy. I legitimately feel bad about this but I am a dishwasher and some other things gotta come first. I am pretty certain that if it catches on with me I'll end up honestly picking up a rule book as well as Beyond Valor and then maybe Yanks if they ever reprint it. Then at least I will feel better about myself. But before I commit that much money, or any more beyond my initial 30 dollar investment I want to play a game or two...or you know 5. I dunno and in order to do that I am gonna have to teach people.
Teaching people how to play games is one of my strong suits though and I think I am up to the task. It has FINALLY gotten to the point where when I read the ASL rules I am not going, what the fuck does that mean, every 5 minutes. So that's a big help. I can now explain concepts such as residual fire, encirclement, and I have a pretty good handle on fire lanes. Not that most of those concepts are in the starter kit rulebooks at all but hey, whatever, lets keep going.
I decided pretty much at the onset the best way to learn/teach ASL is to just take it in steps. I have PLENTY of senarios that involve just troops. So we can start there. I've also found senarios that involve just vehicles. So we can learn how to use those in a nice controlled environment. Then there is the artillery. Artillery isn't that complex to use and it is never really present in enough force to really muck up the game. So once we get down how to use vehicles, troops, and vehicles with troops artillery should be a snap. While it is exciting to use everything at the same time it just isn't that smart. Getting down the fundamentals and mastering all the basics is what needs to be done so that way when we add new elements into the game play it won't be as tactically crippling as it would be then it would be if we tried to learn everything all at the same time.
Patients is the key. Take it slow and learn each element throughly along with how it interacts with other elements is gonna be key to mastering the game. Troop usage is the most important thing though, especially when you want to do some of the larger, more exciting scenarios.
However, now my 20 minutes are up and I am going to back to toiling in the dish area.
Teaching people how to play games is one of my strong suits though and I think I am up to the task. It has FINALLY gotten to the point where when I read the ASL rules I am not going, what the fuck does that mean, every 5 minutes. So that's a big help. I can now explain concepts such as residual fire, encirclement, and I have a pretty good handle on fire lanes. Not that most of those concepts are in the starter kit rulebooks at all but hey, whatever, lets keep going.
I decided pretty much at the onset the best way to learn/teach ASL is to just take it in steps. I have PLENTY of senarios that involve just troops. So we can start there. I've also found senarios that involve just vehicles. So we can learn how to use those in a nice controlled environment. Then there is the artillery. Artillery isn't that complex to use and it is never really present in enough force to really muck up the game. So once we get down how to use vehicles, troops, and vehicles with troops artillery should be a snap. While it is exciting to use everything at the same time it just isn't that smart. Getting down the fundamentals and mastering all the basics is what needs to be done so that way when we add new elements into the game play it won't be as tactically crippling as it would be then it would be if we tried to learn everything all at the same time.
Patients is the key. Take it slow and learn each element throughly along with how it interacts with other elements is gonna be key to mastering the game. Troop usage is the most important thing though, especially when you want to do some of the larger, more exciting scenarios.
However, now my 20 minutes are up and I am going to back to toiling in the dish area.
Monday, February 6, 2012
The Lady In Black
My friend Cortney gave it meh out of meh stars. I agree that it was a solid 3 out of six. The problem with the movie is that it could of been better. Oh so much better. But it instead decided to be average. I suspect that its averageness was forced upon it by some uncaring producer who wanted to make some quick mega bucks but I have no real way of supporting that opinion so I am just left with my consipracy theories.
In many ways the movie itself isn't really worth writing about and at the same time it is because it felt almost like it was being haunted by the better version of itself. You could see it, pounding frantically against the corner of the movie, in all of its vast empty spaces doing its absolute best to escape before being thrust back into the eternal purgatory of hollywood mediocrity.
See if there is one thing I love it is big creepy house movies. There is just something so traditional about it that the whole movie could of and should of been an omage to all that have come before. Best of all this movie happened in the victorian times so the set was lit by candles and lanterns which is ever so much better than a bunch of assholes running around with flashlights and it always will be. This is one thing the movie got right. The whole thing movie has an atmosphere of dread to it. Not just the house but also the town, which is arguably more creepy than the house itself. The combination of these two setting elements gives the movie a prevading sense of dread and the desire to find out what is behind that dread. The problem is that instead of paciently cultivating that dread and exploring that mystery they decided to have loud sudden sounds and sudden visual imagry which can be effective in moderation but jesus god people give it a rest. Also when you do a loud shocking thing like that it functions like a reset. Once you are traumatized the sense of dread disapates and needs to be rebuilt. Unfortunatly the movie doesn't really get a chance to do that as it is far to busy running around using scary sounds and crappy camera angles. As a result it really missed the opertunity to develop its interesting story.
The movie could of been easily made so that you would of sided with the ghost. I think they should of done that. Some of the most interesting parts of the movie is watching Harry Potter unravel the details behind what happened at the house and whatnot. Now one person I saw it with said that it would of been better if there was some sort of thing where the ghost was being framed and that she was a good woman who had her son taken away. I think it would of been better if Harry Potter THOUGHT that there was something more malevolent going on and it turned out that she really was crazy. That would of made the ending a lot more poignant.
The other theme that movie totally fucked up is the theme of imperical rationalism vs. spiritualism. You had it EVERYWHERE in the movie but they didn't have it mean anything. Like the rich guy who is all rational and knows what is going on and his medium wife. You have harry potter who is both a lawyer, a man of laws and figures, but with his dead wife he starts looking into spirtualism more and more. So you have all these elements lying around the movie but they didn't tie them together or attach them to the plot or anything like that.
Oh well like I said if they focused on the plot more instead of fucking around with loud stupid noises it would of been ever so much better.
In many ways the movie itself isn't really worth writing about and at the same time it is because it felt almost like it was being haunted by the better version of itself. You could see it, pounding frantically against the corner of the movie, in all of its vast empty spaces doing its absolute best to escape before being thrust back into the eternal purgatory of hollywood mediocrity.
See if there is one thing I love it is big creepy house movies. There is just something so traditional about it that the whole movie could of and should of been an omage to all that have come before. Best of all this movie happened in the victorian times so the set was lit by candles and lanterns which is ever so much better than a bunch of assholes running around with flashlights and it always will be. This is one thing the movie got right. The whole thing movie has an atmosphere of dread to it. Not just the house but also the town, which is arguably more creepy than the house itself. The combination of these two setting elements gives the movie a prevading sense of dread and the desire to find out what is behind that dread. The problem is that instead of paciently cultivating that dread and exploring that mystery they decided to have loud sudden sounds and sudden visual imagry which can be effective in moderation but jesus god people give it a rest. Also when you do a loud shocking thing like that it functions like a reset. Once you are traumatized the sense of dread disapates and needs to be rebuilt. Unfortunatly the movie doesn't really get a chance to do that as it is far to busy running around using scary sounds and crappy camera angles. As a result it really missed the opertunity to develop its interesting story.
The movie could of been easily made so that you would of sided with the ghost. I think they should of done that. Some of the most interesting parts of the movie is watching Harry Potter unravel the details behind what happened at the house and whatnot. Now one person I saw it with said that it would of been better if there was some sort of thing where the ghost was being framed and that she was a good woman who had her son taken away. I think it would of been better if Harry Potter THOUGHT that there was something more malevolent going on and it turned out that she really was crazy. That would of made the ending a lot more poignant.
The other theme that movie totally fucked up is the theme of imperical rationalism vs. spiritualism. You had it EVERYWHERE in the movie but they didn't have it mean anything. Like the rich guy who is all rational and knows what is going on and his medium wife. You have harry potter who is both a lawyer, a man of laws and figures, but with his dead wife he starts looking into spirtualism more and more. So you have all these elements lying around the movie but they didn't tie them together or attach them to the plot or anything like that.
Oh well like I said if they focused on the plot more instead of fucking around with loud stupid noises it would of been ever so much better.
Friday, February 3, 2012
And So I've Taken January By Storm
Taking things by storm now that's an expression I love. I really do. So now here I am at the crux of Febuary with a nice little month to review. So lets get some disappointing news out of the way. Totally fucked my writing goal. I got about half done and that's pretty sad. At one point I got a fire lit under my ass and I made some serious headway but I made the conscious decision to not complete it. The whole thing is to manage my time better not to ram all the stuff I want to do at the end of the month. Still I suppose I could of done much better. I didn't even get halfway done. Still live and learn. This month I am going to amend the writing goal to edit a lot of the stuff I have written as well as producing new stuff. That way I can start feeling my progress a little bit more.
Moving on. I rekindled my minecraft addition. I am not sure how I feel about it. I do love me some minecraft though, good god let the stone flow. I have one map on survival mode and while that is fun and all I recently started one on creative. I like creative mode and I am starting to have a lot of fun with it. More so than survival even. Sometimes it is just nice to cut loose and build things.
I also started playing Europa Universallis 3. I've been wanting to play this game forever but I've been intimidated. Still I somehow got James addicted to it and I decided to take the plunge. All I can say is what an utterly worthwhile expendature of time. I am having a great time playing it. I've made some mistakes and I am having some problems but more and more I am getting a better handle on things and having a great time with it. It is such a good game.
I've also started learning Advanced Squad Leader. I was aiming to get the 3rd starter set but I ended up with the second one. This was disapointing to me then but now I realize that I made the right choice. The rules aren't that complicated but seriously, no really seriously, fuck whomeever wrote those damn things. Fuck them right in the ass. They use abriviations for everything and their ability to make simple things sound overly complicated puts shit english majors to shame. Anyway I got the basic troop movement and stuff down and I have a pretty good working knowlage of how artillery works so on Monday I think I am going to try to teach it to cory. I've also worked out how to make new chits based off of some scans I took of one of the chit sheets before I punched them out. So once I figure out the best way to mount them we will have full access to any scenario the game can throw at us. First though I want to play a few games with what we have just to make sure we like it and that we find it something worth persueing. On a personal note should Corey and James not find it to their liking I'll persue the solitair options that the game has to offer and online play. Still nothing beats table talk.
In other exciting news I went to not one but two birthday parties full of strangers. This is really exciting for me. One because I am 29 years old and I have never been to a party where I might know only one maybe two other people there. I am anti social and the whole thing was nerve wracking to say the least. But I did it not once but twice. I was nice, I met new people, told stories, had fun, and I genuinely enjoyed myself which is kinda awesome. I'll be a little honest I did it mostly for myself but hey I did it and I've overcome a major part of myself.
That's pretty much the month in review. It was a good time. Lets see what the next one will bring.
Well now onto the media summery.
Week 1 12/29 to 1/4
Movies:
Into the Void- Gasper Noe at his finest. I adored this movie thought the flashing lights did give me a pretty severe headache.
Funny Games- The remake I wrote a blog post about it. Good times I love the idea of the consent of the viewer.
Boardwalk Empire S2- FANTASTIC. I am not even gonna get started.
Little Deaths- Kinda meh. Horror shorts broken into 3 segments. The first could of been better the second one was whatever and I loved the third one. BDSM going wrong is one of my favorite themes.
Asphalt Jungle- Nice old school noir. Grand movie.
Games:
Tanto Curo twice
Diplomacy once
Tower of Babel twice
Battle Grounds Fantasy Warefare once
Hero Clix
Read:
Eclipse Phase Gatecrashing from cover to cover
1/5 to 1/11
Lost S3 16-24
Amilie- Cutest movie EVER
Zatoichi (newest)- Every time I watch this movie I am stunned as to how good it is.
Samurai: Rebellion- Oh man this movie was fantastic.
Samurai: Part 1- About the like and times of Musashi. It isn't very good.
Games Played
Tanto Curo Twice
Diplomacy once
Tower of Babel Twice
Dominion 4 times
Segigahara once
On The Edge
Read:
War the of the Green Lanterns- I should write a blog post about this to show how utterly different this book is to Mavel's fear itself.
Batman: Black Mirror- Oh man Scott Snider writes a bad ass batman story. Pick this up.
Lock and Key vol1- It is unfair how good these books are.
1-12 to 1-18
Movies:
Samurai Part 2- Yeah well I realized the second one wasn't very good either
Eastern Promises- Cronenburg! Russian mafia movie. This movie was fucking intense.
Lost S4 1-4- Still loving lost.
Guilty of Romance- Oh man. This movie is the ultimate celebration of murder sex and madness.
Games Played:
Pandemic 3 times
Confusion once
Super Dungeon EXPLORE! once
Segigahara
Read:
Invisables 1-4 Every time I read these books I have a hard time comprehending how they can be real
1-19 to 1-25
Lost S4 E5 to end By lost season 4. I liked this one a lot though the show is undergoing some massive changes.
Cold Fish- This movie is insane. This is coming from someone who loves insanity. This movie is all of it and more. SEE IT!
The Artist- This is damn near a perfectly entertaining movie. I simply adored it.
Underworld 4- This movie is terrible. It was made so much worse because I watched it 5 minutes after seeing the Artist. The only reason I went to go see it is because sneaking into things is delightful.
Games Played:
Confusion once
1-26 to 2-1
Things Watched
Lost S5 1-8 Man I didn't watch shit this week. I am really digging the 5th season of lost. Lots of good Ben moments and Sawyer is really come into his own.
Games Played:
Summoner Wars 4 times
Agricola Twice
Cosmic Encounters 4 Times
Puerto Rico twice
Things Read:
Lock and Key 2-3 - The second volume seems a little bit like a place holder. Don't get me wrong it is good but it is utter eclpsed by 1&3. It sets up 3 perfectly and the whole series is a delight.
Morning Glories 2 NEW FAVORITE INDIE SERIES
Fear Itself- God this things was just aweful.
Invisables 5&6- These two volumes are actually my favorites.
Moving on. I rekindled my minecraft addition. I am not sure how I feel about it. I do love me some minecraft though, good god let the stone flow. I have one map on survival mode and while that is fun and all I recently started one on creative. I like creative mode and I am starting to have a lot of fun with it. More so than survival even. Sometimes it is just nice to cut loose and build things.
I also started playing Europa Universallis 3. I've been wanting to play this game forever but I've been intimidated. Still I somehow got James addicted to it and I decided to take the plunge. All I can say is what an utterly worthwhile expendature of time. I am having a great time playing it. I've made some mistakes and I am having some problems but more and more I am getting a better handle on things and having a great time with it. It is such a good game.
I've also started learning Advanced Squad Leader. I was aiming to get the 3rd starter set but I ended up with the second one. This was disapointing to me then but now I realize that I made the right choice. The rules aren't that complicated but seriously, no really seriously, fuck whomeever wrote those damn things. Fuck them right in the ass. They use abriviations for everything and their ability to make simple things sound overly complicated puts shit english majors to shame. Anyway I got the basic troop movement and stuff down and I have a pretty good working knowlage of how artillery works so on Monday I think I am going to try to teach it to cory. I've also worked out how to make new chits based off of some scans I took of one of the chit sheets before I punched them out. So once I figure out the best way to mount them we will have full access to any scenario the game can throw at us. First though I want to play a few games with what we have just to make sure we like it and that we find it something worth persueing. On a personal note should Corey and James not find it to their liking I'll persue the solitair options that the game has to offer and online play. Still nothing beats table talk.
In other exciting news I went to not one but two birthday parties full of strangers. This is really exciting for me. One because I am 29 years old and I have never been to a party where I might know only one maybe two other people there. I am anti social and the whole thing was nerve wracking to say the least. But I did it not once but twice. I was nice, I met new people, told stories, had fun, and I genuinely enjoyed myself which is kinda awesome. I'll be a little honest I did it mostly for myself but hey I did it and I've overcome a major part of myself.
That's pretty much the month in review. It was a good time. Lets see what the next one will bring.
Well now onto the media summery.
Week 1 12/29 to 1/4
Movies:
Into the Void- Gasper Noe at his finest. I adored this movie thought the flashing lights did give me a pretty severe headache.
Funny Games- The remake I wrote a blog post about it. Good times I love the idea of the consent of the viewer.
Boardwalk Empire S2- FANTASTIC. I am not even gonna get started.
Little Deaths- Kinda meh. Horror shorts broken into 3 segments. The first could of been better the second one was whatever and I loved the third one. BDSM going wrong is one of my favorite themes.
Asphalt Jungle- Nice old school noir. Grand movie.
Games:
Tanto Curo twice
Diplomacy once
Tower of Babel twice
Battle Grounds Fantasy Warefare once
Hero Clix
Read:
Eclipse Phase Gatecrashing from cover to cover
1/5 to 1/11
Lost S3 16-24
Amilie- Cutest movie EVER
Zatoichi (newest)- Every time I watch this movie I am stunned as to how good it is.
Samurai: Rebellion- Oh man this movie was fantastic.
Samurai: Part 1- About the like and times of Musashi. It isn't very good.
Games Played
Tanto Curo Twice
Diplomacy once
Tower of Babel Twice
Dominion 4 times
Segigahara once
On The Edge
Read:
War the of the Green Lanterns- I should write a blog post about this to show how utterly different this book is to Mavel's fear itself.
Batman: Black Mirror- Oh man Scott Snider writes a bad ass batman story. Pick this up.
Lock and Key vol1- It is unfair how good these books are.
1-12 to 1-18
Movies:
Samurai Part 2- Yeah well I realized the second one wasn't very good either
Eastern Promises- Cronenburg! Russian mafia movie. This movie was fucking intense.
Lost S4 1-4- Still loving lost.
Guilty of Romance- Oh man. This movie is the ultimate celebration of murder sex and madness.
Games Played:
Pandemic 3 times
Confusion once
Super Dungeon EXPLORE! once
Segigahara
Read:
Invisables 1-4 Every time I read these books I have a hard time comprehending how they can be real
1-19 to 1-25
Lost S4 E5 to end By lost season 4. I liked this one a lot though the show is undergoing some massive changes.
Cold Fish- This movie is insane. This is coming from someone who loves insanity. This movie is all of it and more. SEE IT!
The Artist- This is damn near a perfectly entertaining movie. I simply adored it.
Underworld 4- This movie is terrible. It was made so much worse because I watched it 5 minutes after seeing the Artist. The only reason I went to go see it is because sneaking into things is delightful.
Games Played:
Confusion once
1-26 to 2-1
Things Watched
Lost S5 1-8 Man I didn't watch shit this week. I am really digging the 5th season of lost. Lots of good Ben moments and Sawyer is really come into his own.
Games Played:
Summoner Wars 4 times
Agricola Twice
Cosmic Encounters 4 Times
Puerto Rico twice
Things Read:
Lock and Key 2-3 - The second volume seems a little bit like a place holder. Don't get me wrong it is good but it is utter eclpsed by 1&3. It sets up 3 perfectly and the whole series is a delight.
Morning Glories 2 NEW FAVORITE INDIE SERIES
Fear Itself- God this things was just aweful.
Invisables 5&6- These two volumes are actually my favorites.
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