Free Comic Book Day May 6th!

What a cool idea. Free comic book day is in it's 5th year. The idea is simple - comic stores around the country give out special editions of comic books out for free. everyone wins- the stores get increased foot traffic, kids get free comic books. whats not to love? so head out to the local comic store this coming saturday and bring the kids.

From the Blog of J. Steven York

I have the small distinction of being able to say that I am a published writer. I have had several gaming articles published in a real (not online) magazine. However, I do not consider myself an Author by any means. One fellow who is an author and makes his living by the word is J. Steven York. Steven is an online friend of mine; I was looking over his Blog the other day and came across this gem on aspiring writers.

Dave the Barbarian

Usually I'm too busy rushing around in the morning to do more than hear the headlines and weather. This morning however, I had a few extra minutes and found myself watching cartoons with my kids they were watching a show on the Disney channel called Dave the Barbarian. Being the Sword & Sorcery fan boy that I am I got quite a kick out of it. The show had the type of humor that was reminiscent of the old underdog series, many of the gags worked more for adults than for the kids. I think I just found something new to fit in during my morning regimen, plus I get a few more minutes with my boys so it’s all good.

I love this picture

I forgot I had this.
A player once had the audacity to question one of my rulings. Feh.

Thank Heaven

Being the gamer geek that I am, I enjoyed the hell out of Kingdom of Heaven. I’ve always had a n affection for period pieces, especially lavish ones, and KoH is truly lavish. Like many other fans I wish it would have done better at the box office, but the truth is that epics like this rarely do. The wonderful news is that KoH is scheduled to be released again on DVD in a “director’s cut” edition with over 45 minutes of unseen footage which goes a long way towards clearing up some of the movies more ambiguous scenes. Additionally there is a ton of bonus material and features including a much needed directors commentary. Read about it here.

Airfix memories

A few days ago I mentioned that my Grandfather would usually buy me a toy after Sunday mass over at the Payless drugstore. The toys I chose were usually either Mego action figures or Airfix HO soldiers. I knew nothing about war gaming or the miniature battles that these were created for, all I knew was that these figures kicked ass over the little green and tan soldiers everyone else had. There was no way I was going to settle for a plastic bag of 20 green soldiers and an out of scale tank when I could get Romans, Ghurkas, Hussars, paratroops, and commandos. And for a few dollars more ($8.00 back then I believe) you could get frontier forts, foreign legion outposts, and Sherwood Castle.
It really was a cool time to be a boy.

59 things a man should never do past 30

1. Coin his own nickname.
2. Use a wallet that is fastened with Velcro.
3. Rank his friends in order of best, second best, and so on.
4. Hacky sack.
5. Name his penis his name plus junior.
6. Hang art with tape.
7. Hang The Scream, unless he stole it from the Munch museum in Oslo.
8. Ask a policeman, "You ever shoot anybody with that thing?"
9. Ask a woman, "Hey, you got a license for that ass?"
10. Skip.
11. Take a camera to a nude beach.
12. Let his father do his taxes.
13. Tap on the glass.
14. Shout out a response to "Are you ready to rock?"
15. Use the word collated on his resume.
16. Hold a weekly house meeting with roommates.
17. Name pets after Middle Earth characters.
18. Jokingly flash gang signs while posing for wedding photos.
19. Give shout-outs.
20. Use numbers in place of words or locations, such as "the 411" for information, or "the 313" for Detroit.
21. Hug amusement-park characters.
22. Wear Disney-themed neckties.
23. Wake up to a "morning zoo."
24. Compare the trajectory of his life with those of the characters in Billy Joel's "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant."
25. Request extra sprinkles.
26. Air drum.
27. Choose 69 as his jersey number.
28. Eat Oreo cookies in stages.
29. Volunteer to be a magician's assistant.
30. Sleep on a bare mattress.
31. End a conversation with "later skater."
32. Hold his lighter up at a concert.
33. Publicly greet friends by shouting, "What's up, you whore?"
34. Wear Converse All Stars with a tuxedo.
35. Propose via stadium Jumbotron.
36. Decide anything based on the ruminations of Howard Stern.
37. Call "shotgun" before getting in a car.
38. Dispute someone else's call of "shotgun."
39. Whine.
40. Mist up during Aerosmith's "Dream On."
41. Purchase fireworks.
42. Google the word vagina.
43. Ride a pony.
44. Sport an ironic moustache.
45. Hit 13 against a 6.
46. Organize a party bus.
47. Say "two points" every time he throws something in the trash.
48. Buy a novelty postcard in another country of topless women on a beach and write, "Wish you were here" on it.
49. Keg stands.
50. Purchase home-brewing paraphernalia.
51. The John Travolta point-to-the-ceiling-point-to-the-floor dance move; also that one from Pulp Fiction.
52. Put less than ten dollars' worth of gas in the tank.
53. Keep a minuscule amount of marijuana extremely well hidden.
54. Read The Fountainhead.
55. Watch the Pink Floyd laser light show at a planetarium.
56. Refer to his girlfriend's breasts as "the twins."
57. Own a vanity plate.
58. Whippits.
59. Say goodbye to anyone by tapping his chest and even so much as whispering, "Peace out."

**just a quick note: This aint my brainchild. In true Blogger fashion I stole it from the net...I can't even remember where.

There is a God

I’m not much into the celebrity gossip thing but when I heard that David Spade has been dating Heather Locklear, I just felt it was proof positive that every average Joe fan boy out there has a shot. I mean jeez, “Joe Dirt” is nailing “Sammy Jo”? How cool is that?
Growing up in the 80’s, if you didn’t spank it to Heather Locklear at least once through puberty you were either Gay or a Communist- probably both. Now Dave has also nailed Lara Flynn Bole and Kristy Swanson-which is nothing to sneeze at, but scoring with Heather is like finding the frickin’ Holy Grail. This chick is apple pie personified (crazy fact: Heather Locklear didn’t make the cut during cheerleader tryouts at her high school, WTF??).

David, well played-you could die tomorrow a winner in the game of life.
Nailed Heather Locklear…does he even play a guitar??

Rome on HBO

I spent Friday evening and the majority of Saturday enjoying a Rome marathon. Rome is a series on HBO there are 12 episodes in this first season. The series is some of the best television I have ever seen, not surprising since it’s made in collaboration with the BBC and the last time I sat through a Roman marathon was the BBC series “I, Claudius”. The intrigue, the characterizations, the action, the sex – simply great. The story is as follows from the Rome website:

The series begins in 52 BC, as Gaius Julius Caesar completes his conquest of Gaul after eight years of war, and prepares to return with his army to Rome. While Caesar's self-interested niece Atia and long-lost paramour Servilia anxiously await the general's return, ruling patricians despair that Caesar's homecoming will disrupt the status quo, and threaten the extravagant prosperity they've enjoyed at the expense of the lower class. In the Senate, old-guard leaders plot to undermine Caesar's influence by convincing his old friend, Pompey Magnus, that the general is a threat. Back at the front, two mismatched soldiers, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, see their fortunes rise following several serendipitous missions. As Caesars legions move closer to Rome, allegiances are put to the test for soldiers and civilians - and the escalating tensions climax with a full-scale conflict destined to change history.

What really sold me on this show was the authenticity that went into the writing. While there are good and evil characters, most of the Judeo-Christian ethics that we seem to naturally feel are the basis of a functioning society are non existent. The Romans have their own codes of ethics and honor and from our modern day standpoint they might as well be from Mars- there are universal themes such as honor and duty to family, but the way they approach these are completely alien. And as to your morals, well hang them at the door because Rome is a wild ride in a culture at the height of their hedonism. And lest we forget who we are, I have to say the fight scenes ROCK! Forget “Gladiator” Rome has one of the coolest, most brutal Gladiatorial battles you’ve ever seen. Titus Pullo (my favorite character in the series) kicks some major ass! I just checked Amazon dot com and the Rome series DVD isn’t out yet but once it hits the shelves I heartily recommend it.

Friday was a good day

Part of my Sunday ritual growing up was the visit to Payless and Woolworths after Mass. I would go there with my Grandparents and they would stock up on all of life’s necessities: Kleenex, sardines, Tang, Ben Gay, diet 7up, 1lb bars of Hershey’s chocolate, etc. One thing I could always count on is my grandfather buying me a toy at Payless. My two favorites at the time were the Airfix HO scale soldiers and the Mego action figures. Both cost around $2.50 which was low enough for my grandpa not to have to give it a lot of thought. One particular Sunday I made my way to the toy section at Payless and lo and behold, were the coolest figures I had ever seen. The Knights of the Round Table -Ivanhoe, Galahad, Lancelot, the Black Knight, and King Arthur, sitting on the shelf in all their glory. My grandfather must have seen the look of awe on my 10 year old face cause he bought me all five that same day.
Years have passed, and so have my grandparents. My childhood toys have long been lost to that place where toys go when boys stop thinking about Hotwheels and start thinking about girls. But on Friday I was at a thrift store with my wife, when lo and behold, I again found the coolest figures I had ever seen. They were all still in the box with the original price tags on them (Toys R Us- $2.96). They cost a little bit more than they did back then ($15.00 each), but I still had the same smile on my face from 1974 when I took them to the check stand. Friday was a good day.

Cerebus - AKA "Joey"

Behold the guardian which now defends the gates to the lair of the Evil DM!
Tremble mortals beneath his steely gaze and know fear! All hail the new puppy!

We finally played Heroscape!

And it was a blast! My son and I were one team. Fred and his son were on the other team. We lost but we took a lot of them with us. My forces consisted of a Sgt. Rock kinda guy, an angel and a bunch of airborne troops. My son had an elven archer, a horde of Vikings and a dragon. The other team had a combination of battlemechs, men in black, samurai, and slime monster guys. I blame my troops for the loss- the cool thing about the airborne troops is that they can land anywhere. The bad thing is they need a 14 or better roll on a D20 to get into the game- I kept rolling low- It was like Operation Market garden all over, and I was the Polish regiment grounded by fog. By the time I got my boys in play all their support had been eliminated. And we all know what happens to airborne troops without support…