Nick is five today!

Happy Birthday “Lody-Dody”! Daddy loves ya!

Sunday Gifs

I enjoy a good animated gif every once in awhile. here are some cool ones I've found.

Wow, Summer is hot!

I can't wait for Serenity to hit the theaters. I love the series, the DVD set is excellent. if you missed the Firefly the series when it was on FOX you can now catch all 15 episodes on the Sci Fi channel.

The Russian Empire - in color

A few years ago I ran across this website. Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii was the official photographer to Czar Nicholas. He was given permission to travel the Russian empire and photograph people, places and things. What makes this collection so special was that he used a photographic technique that creates color pictures. Color pictures of people back in the 1900’s. there are some stunning photographs here. The gaming applications for these photographs are readily apparent.

Sword & Sorcery

A few months ago I heard about a sword and sorcery character named Imaro created by Charles Saunders. Since then I had been looking everywhere for the book, I found it on EBay of course but never for less than fifteen bucks. Cheap bastard that I am I blanche when I have to pay eight dollars for a paperback. I finally found it online at a decent price. I'm about halfway through and it’s a good read. It’s definitely a different approach to the traditional S&S hero. I also found a very well done website called Heroes of Dark Fantasy. There is a great deal of information on not only Imaro but also Karl Wagner’s “Kane” and David Gemmel’s “Druss”.

The gaming is good

Over at the Basher’s game, Fred has taken the reins and is moving the game at a nice clip. Folks are posting and everyone seems to be falling into character quite nicely. I'm playing a Psionicist for the first time in ages. On paper she’s kind of weak offensively but that was the plan. I want to see what I can do with a thinking character, rather than a combat machine. Since it’s a brand new character for me I've been trying to find a hook for her, I found one yesterday. Still working on the details, more to come.

The Conan game has started. We have seven players; all but two are new to me. It seems like a pretty good group so far. All the guys are at my age range and have similar gaming experience or thereabouts.

The Hell you say?

some of these places are great inspirational fodder for a good horror game. Could one of these actually be an entrance to Hell?

Heromachine

It's been a while since I last plugged Heromachine. It's one of the most entertaining programs out here on the net. and the 2.0 version allows you to create not only humans but Skeletons, fantasy races, and superheroes of all types. If you cant draw and you want a picture of your favorite character, this is the program for you. And here's a link for a free online copy!

GI Joe and D&D (hey, it's all Hasbro)

A couple of months ago Dragon magazine came out with a cover that had a character that could only be described as the complete dungeon delver. It gave me the inspiration to come up with my own. Now this is still a work in progress so I’m still tweaking it. But here he is, so far…

Geek Goddesses, I wonder if they print their character sheets on scented paper?

I always see these gals at conventions but never in a real honest to God game store...why is that?

Pulp Megos versus the "Iron Assasins"

I ran across these Medablok robots over at Kaybee toys in the bargain bin. not bad for $5.00. they are a little too short to use with the 12" inch guys but they make a pretty formidable team of "Iron Assasins" for my pulp era team of Megos to go up against.

Hyborean Adventures

I'm starting up a Play by email (PBEM) game set in Robert E. Howard’s Hyborian era. Despite all the great support Mongoose games is giving their Conan D20 system, I decided to give the old Conan Role-playing game rules from TSR a try. I'm thinking the stripped down mechanics of the TSR system will translate well to the PBEM style of gaming, which relies a great deal more on flavor than mechanics. But as I said earlier, Mongoose is putting out some Top shelf support for their Conan game so I'm sure I’ll be mining those supplements for ideas as well. we should be into the adventure by Monday. if anyone is interested in having a look, feel free to Stop by.

What the???

The other day on one of the many game/action figure boards I haunt someone brought up the subject of gaming in a “lost world” setting. I immediately informed the person of one of my favorite gaming supplements of that or any other adventure genre. “Lands of Mystery” by Aaron Allston. As I was writing about it I realized that it was published in 1985, 20 FRICKEN YEARS AGO! Where the hell did the time go? I cant believe I have character sheets older than most interns at medical school…

The wheels are in motion

The other night, as part of my secret plan to turn my wife into a proper Nerd spouse, I introduced her and my oldest son Anthony to that staple of gamer geek goodness “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” I sat there and watched as my family took it all in –the cocoanuts, the French taunting, the dead collector, the witch trial, the Killer rabbit, the bridge keeper. There are few things as satisfying as introducing newbie’s to a time honored tradition, and few traditions in geekdom are as sacred as the first viewing of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It’s been a week now and I still hear my wife and son exchanging lines from the movie “What is yourrr name, what is your quest?” “I feel happy!” “one, two, five!” It does this old gamer’s heart good to see the family bonding this way, just one more cobblestone on the path to true family geekdom!

One game at a time

I have found out a few things about my style of pbem play. I'm better at one-shot games than I am at campaigns. And, I can only manage one game at a time.

My first effort on the old Action Heroes group was "Destiny of kings" and it went great. Then I tried a long game "Swords of Erisa" and it started out good but ended up dying towards the end.

My second effort "Mal's folly" was pretty good. Then I tried to follow up with a larger adventure dealing with an extra planar invasion of Erisa, and it tanked.

Then came my latest group of players “the Bashers”. "Valley of the Earth mother" was fun. It had it's moments, it was also slow going in some places, but overall I had a good time. When it wrapped up I was ready for a break, but somehow against my better judgment I decided to go on. And it didn’t last, which is where Dono stepped in.

There were other reasons why some of the games died. In Swords of Erisa one of my players had a virtual meltdown and kind of put me in a “funk” about playing in general.

In the “Invasion of Erisa” I was trying to get used to 3rd edition D&D and like it ( I didn’t). And I was soo going through the motions about it, it was like dating someone purely for the sex, and knowing once someone better comes along you are gonna dump them in a heartbeat.

With the basher game I was just too extended, work and life in general were coming at me full bore. I should have stopped when I was ahead instead of running the risk of looking more like a flake.

One of my favorite genres is the Pulp era. On two separate occasions I tried to run a pulp style game. The characters were interesting and the players were enthused, but I was running an Erisa D&D game at the same time and playing in a couple of others. So a really fun game crashed (twice) cause I was unable to handle running more than one game at a time.

I think my answer for this is to one only one game at a time and then for only for a short adventure (which in PBEM terms STILL can last 6 months).

Run one game.
Play one game.
Switch genres after each.

Oy Vey!

I Know..i'm waaay overdue in posting here. but I'm reaching the end of my undergraduate experience with just 5 credits to go and at the moment i'm on an accelerated class scheddule which means that i'm fitting two 16 week classes into 8 weeks. UGH.

every now and again i see a pic on the net that makes me go "wow." this aint a Hot babe blog, but every once in a while...

Happy birthday to me

Well happy birthday to me and all that. 41 years old and still playing D&D, reading comic books and buying GI Joes.
I so refuse to grow up.
Yesterday I did a little showing off regarding my winning entry in the kit bash section of the Annual fantasy net challenge. I also mentioned that I submitted another figure, this one being my version of the comic book favorite Grimjack. Alas, my efforts failed to place amongst the final winners, but I'm happy with the result nonetheless.

We have a winner!

Well it looks like the Evil DM actually placed in the world famous Fantasynet figure contest I submitted two figures, one in the kit bash category and the other in the star frontiers (Sci-Fi) category. My Grimjack figure didn’t place among all the stiff competition.
However, in the Kit bash category I took home 1st place! My entry was a traveling merchant and his burro. The figure was a first generation SOTW head on a third generation SOTW body. The robe was from a star wars figure and the armor and cloak were custom pieces from Ed Cassar. The burro was from a power team set and the equipment was a hodge-podge of stuff from my parts bin.

Fantasy net

Fantasy net is a message board for action figure collectors who enjoy creating figures within the genres of fantasy fiction, myth and legend. Ogres, Elves, Sorcerers, Warriors, Amazons and Demons can all be found there.
The first annual Fantasy net figure contest is in full swing. This is an opportunity for the members of the group to show off their kit-bashing and customizing skills in several genre specific categories: Good characters, Evil characters, “Star Frontiers” (Sci-Fi), and Kit-bashing. The members of the message board do the peer judging, but visitors are most welcome to visit and have a look at the jaw dropping creations of our talented artisans. To have a look go to:

http://p087.ezboard.com/ffantasynetfrm67

Note: the Evil DM submitted entries in the Star Frontiers and Kit-bash categories. Can you guess which entries are mine??

Pete the Barbarian

Mc Farlane came out with a conan figure a few months ago. I waited to get one and now I'm glad I did they are now on clearance at Kay-bee toys for $5.00 I just can't get over the resemblance. Surly stoic Barbarian or Surly ex-ball player?

Nor-Cal show

I had a great time at this years Northern Cal. GI Joe show. The show had plenty of tables, plenty of deals and some really great custom work. Rather than show you a bunch of pictures of middle aged guys dickering over dolls, I thought I would highlight the featured Diorama. The featured theme this year was Fantasy! Fred Jeska one of the shows organizers created a huge 15' long dungeon corridor complete with cavern dressings and monsters (A Necromancer, animated skeletons, a goblin war-band, and a monstrous Troll) . The rest of the Norcal group provided the requisite heroes. Rex and Ed brought Dwarven warriors, Pete brought a Human warrior and a Mage, Fred brought a Halfling ranger, and Human warrior (I think Filch was there as well, but he was either hiding in shadows or looting bodies, cause I never saw him during the fighting). I brought in A female Sorceress and Thaco the Ogre.

Blechh

Well the "cold from hell" continues to linger on (almost a month now). Part of the problem is that some of the medication I'm on for another condition prevents me from taking cold medicine- so I just got to tough it out. Making me tired, and irritable. I've missed a ton of work, my online game is on the road to ruin, my blog has remained frozen in January, a new group I launched is floundering, my tabletop game hasn't met in weeks, and I got into a flame war with a putz on an action figure board. I seriously need to get a grip. I got an action figure show coming up this weekend. I'm going to help a buddy (Ed) tend his booth. And believe it or not Legends of Steel is still going strong. In fact, I have re-examined my objective so to speak and am in the process of moving more in a true Sword & Sorcery direction and away from the "D&D clone" I feel it was becoming.

Dungeon crawl Saturday night

Saturday Night was the first session of my new Greyhawk campaign. Our group has 3 players and myself. Fred is playing a Desert Ranger named Katar, his daughter Is running a Human Fighter named Amrius, and my oldest son Anthony is running a half-Elven Mage from Ekbir named Akira. For added punch I am running an NPC Priest of St. Cuthbert named Stern.
As I stated in an earlier post the campaign is beginning in the Barony of Ratik. Amrius is left with an inheritance from his father. The inheritance is a horse ranch. Horses are very rare in Ratik, so the inheritance is a valuable one. Recently Amrius's horses have begun disappearing, he and his ranch hands headed out in search of the culprits. They were soon caught in an ambush near the foot of the Rakers by a band of Goblins. Amrius and his ranch hands managed to escape and return to the ranch. Knowing that however well intentioned his men were they were no match for goblins, Amrius decides to head to town to get some "professional" help. In town Amrius meets a Ranger from the deserts of the great Rift, named Katar. A Mage from the land of Ekbir, known as Akira, and a Priest of St. Cuthbert, named Stern who hails from the Southern land of Idee.
The quartet heads towards the Rakers and soon makes contact with the Goblin lair, and some good old fashioned Dungeon crawling ensues.

Greyhawk

Tomorrow night we are playing AD&D. Good ol' fashioned Greyhawk campaign! a few years ago I ran across an article in praise of Greyhawk as a campaign world. I thought I would post it here since all references to it in a recent 'Google" search came up with dead links. so here it is.


What Makes Greyhawk Greyt?

By Randy Richards

1) Nostalgia
The World of Greyhawk is the first published role-playing world. Many AD&D fans have been playing in Greyhawk since its inception in 1975, as "Supplement I: Greyhawk". When you get used to something, you begin to desire it more. Original Greyhawk patrons are now in their 30's and 40's.

2) PCs As Heroes
The PC's are the heroes of the adventures and campaigns, not ultra-godlike NPCs who have powers the PCs can't even possess. Greyhawk is the ultimate role-playing world. Greyhawk's heroes seldom kill the bad guys, only temporarily put a crimp in his or her plans. Success brings the PCs notoriety, and NPC heroes exist to recognize these accomplishments, but they will have likely played little role in the victory itself. The major events in recent Flanaess history are all presented in such a way that the PCs may play a role, perhaps even a leading one. PCs fought the Greyhawk Wars, defeated Zuggtmoy and the her Temple of Elemental Evil, Iggwilv's daughter Drelnza, the Giants and Drow in league with Lolth, and could have helped Iuz defeat Vecna.

3) Medium Fantasy
The World of Greyhawk is what might be called a "medium" fantasy setting. Masque of the Red Death is a low fantasy setting; the Forgotten Realms is a high fantasy setting, and the World of Greyhawk falls in the middle. The structure of the world is grounded more in reality than a heavy reliance upon powerful magic and encumbering PCs with magical items. This emphasizes role-playing over roll-playing, and helps prevent the "Monty Haul" campaign blight without denigrating magic overall.

4) Neutrality
While there are good vs. evil conflicts, Greyhawk has historically been anchored deep in active, almost militant, neutrality. A prime example of this is the Circle of Eight, but the Flanaess druids certainly deserve some credit. Conflicts may also include good vs. good, good vs. neutral, evil vs. neutral, or evil vs. evil. The world is not black and white, but a firm shade of grey.

5) Personified Adversaries
The complexity of a sentient mind are too often diluted by the simplistic nine alignments. Adversaries in Greyhawk have both desirable and undesirable traits at the same time making the line between god and evil seem a bit blurred.

IUZ is a diabolical overlord who controls a vast realm, and who has caused many problems over decades and decades. A fiendish cambion born of Iggwilv and Graz'zt, he was imprisoned by Zagyg for years, then set free to wreak havoc upon the Flanaess for even more years to come. He became a demi-god, and a force to terrorize and threaten even the mightiest of parties for many a campaign.

THE SCARLET BROTHERHOOD was founded in 5091 SD to prevent the "dilution of Suel virtues". As a result, the most determined Suel nobility who escaped the Rain of Colorless Fire gravitated toward the Tilvanot Peninsula. The Brotherhood seeks to re-establish the glories of the ancient Suloise society: slaveholding, assassination, ritual torture, and employment of goblinoid mercenaries. Their methods of conquest usually involve assassination, duplicity, and mutants. In contrast, they also revere the highest magical and materials arts.
In the "Fate of Istus" module, we discover the Scarlet Brotherhood learned its monk-style fighting abilities from Oriental Kara-Tur natives (they came through a portal). They are responsible for giving the Scarlet Brotherhood one of its unique traits. Sadly, monks were eliminated in this adventure, blanding the Brotherhood mystique a bit.

RARY seeks order on his own terms. Rary was a member of the Circle of Eight who killed several of his colleagues, namely Tenser and Otiluke. He is now living in exile with Lord Robilar, his military advisor, in the Bright Desert. Rary is currently examing the remnants of the Flan Empire of Sulm, and attempting to obtain a cursed artifact the "Scorpion Crown" from Shattados. His future plans are presently unclear.

6) Celebrity Magic
Magic of the Flanaess is personalized. Take a gander at the magic items, spells, and artifacts even in the "Core Rules" Dungeon Masters Guide. AD&D players are familiar with the Quiver of Ehlonna, Boccob's Blessed Book,
Murlynd's Spoon, Heward's Handy Haversack, Bigby's Crushing Hand, or Tenser's Floating Disc? The World of Greyhawk has its share of famous artifacts too. The Hand and Eye of Vecna, the once lich, now demi-god, are first to come to mind, as is the Sword of Kas (Kas being Vecna's treacherous friend turned nemesis). The Rod of Many Parts first appeared as part of that setting, as well as Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut, both of which are now generic AD&D modules. Let us also not forget Heward's Mystical Organ, the Mace of Cuthbert, Wand of Orcus (recently appearing in the Dead Gods product), glowing ruby Rod of Asmodeus, and the acid secreting wavy-bladed Sword of Graz'zt. All of these personages originate from the World of Greyhawk. Magic in Greyhawk has a documented history.

7) Unexplored Territory
The Flanaess, and in Oerth as a whole, unlike so many other worlds is still relatively unexplored. The Flanaess residents are only just now uncovering the remnants of the old empires. Like the Aztec-styled Olman Empire, remnants of the Aerdi Empire, and the Flan. The Flan Empire of Sulm produced the Bright Desert, and is currently being explored by Rary. The Suel Empire became the Sea of Dust after the Rain of Colorless Fire.... difficult to reach ruins are now being explored there, as well as easier to reach ones in the migrated eastern lands. The Baklunish Empire has few ruins since most buildings were destroyed by the Invoked Devastation, however, some Bakluni relics like Tovag Baragu still remain, as do the buildings of the Baklarran dwarves.
On the fold-out Darlene map we notice Hepmonaland, Land of Black Ice, Amedio Jungle, and the Sea of Dust as unknown quantities. Oerth has other areas besides the Flanaess, as sketched by quasi-deity Heward in Dragon Annual #1. The map contains labels such as the Celestial Imperium, Empire of Lynn, Hyperboria, Erypt, Polaria, Fireland, Tharquish Empire, Nippon Dominion, Orcreich, Dragons Island, Kingdoms of the Marches, and Elven Lands among others. And don't forget Greyspace with Luna, Celene, the Grinder and more. We've only touched the surface of Greyhawk!

8) Plots Within Plots
Wheels within wheels. Subplots with even more acute subplots. As demonstrated by early modules, and the later Falcon trilogy, we see a plot avocado peeled away to reveal even deeper layers of plots. In the center we find an unexpected enemy who can be thwarted by the PCs.

9) Linked History
Greyhawk's history is a delicately part of the setting that links the races, monsters, countries, and gods into a complex whole. Greyhawk products build on this history and incorporate it, but leave enough loose threads to allow for further development by the DM. This is a special Greyhawk quality.

10) No Gunpowder
Gunpowder does not work on the planet Oerth, although it does work in other areas of Greyspace. The only published exception to this rule is the quasi-deity Murlynd (played originally by Don Kay). There has been talk of allowing priests of this demi-deity to be allowed to use them.

11) Fan Support
The World of Greyhawk was discontinued and then brought back into the mainstream by fan support. This fact alone speaks volumes on its popularity and appeal to the average gamer.

Heroic Adventure

I just started up another Yahoogroup. I love Adventure fiction. Whether it's "Sword and Sorcery", "Sword and Planet" or historical fiction in an exotic setting. There are lots of different groups out there that cater to specific writers such as Robert E Howard (Conan, Kull) and Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan, John Carter). There are also groups that deal with a specific aspect of the genre: Comics, B-Movies, Role-playing games Etc. What I have found though, is that one can only stray so far before someone yells "off-topic".
What I hope to create with this group is a place where any of these aspects can be discussed without fear of being "off-topic". Where the merits of REH's tales of the Crusades can share the spotlight with the infamous "Deathstalker" movies. Where a person can post questions regarding a Runequest game, or trade episodes of the Beastmaster TV series.
So if this type of community appeals to you then have a seat, pull up the keyboard,tune out the wife, and join me at: Heroic Adventures. The setting for the group states that membership requires approval- thats mostly to keep the spammers and a couple of nutcases that haunt the gaming and action figure lists from joining to troll.

Old school gaming

The group I'm playing with on Saturdays is my LoS playtest gang, but we are taking a break from the playtesting while I right more stuff for LoS. and since Erisa is already being done on the net I wanted
something easy, Greyhawk is like a pair of nicely broken in slippers. I even allow elves!

So here is an outline of my Greyhawk campaign that starts this saturday:

Ratik
The Campaign will be set in the world of Greyhawk (otherwise known as
Oerth). It will be centered in the northeastern corner of the
continent, in a land known as The Arch Barony of Ratik.
Ratik was once the northernmost Barony of what was once the Great
Kingdom of Aerdy (which was simply known as "The Great Kingdom").
After the collapse of the Great Kingdom, Ratik declared its
independence. The Great Kingdom was too weak at the time to do
anything about it.

The land
Ratik's climate is very similar to that of the northeastern U.S. and
Lower Canada. Ratik is bordered to the south and west by mountains,
to the north by a great forest known as the Timberway and to the east
by the Solnor Sea. It's a frontier country whose population consists
primarily of humans, dwarves, gnomes, and the usual smattering of
Halflings, there is also a small community of wild-Elves in the
Timberway forest.

The humans dwell along the coast, central valley, and guard the
southern pass from incursions from the Humanoids in the neighboring
Bone march. the Dwarves are mostly in the western mountains, Gnomes
and hobbits are in the hill regions.

Ratik is rich in natural resources: timber, furs, minerals and fish.

Adventuring

Warriors- if you're a local you could be part of the Army, Navy or
the local constabulary.
Ratik maintains a very large, well trained garrison at both ends of
the realm. To the south is the pass that must be guarded against
incursion by Humanoid raiders from the Bone March. And to the north
there are a series of posts standing watch against an overland
invasion from barbarian raiders from the north.
Navy and marine characters could find lots of action protecting
Ratik's burgeoning shipping trade from privateers and other raiders.
The constabulary in Ratik is very similar that of a "highway patrol",
where groups of constables travel a circuit of villages and Steadings
suppressing banditry and keeping the peace.

Rangers- as a frontier nation Ratik is well served by Rangers in the
borderlands. Rangers patrol the high mountains and deep into the
northern forests. The Rangers of Ratik usually work hand in hand with
the Druids to combat any evils that would threaten the lands or the
people.

Paladins- the presence of Humanoid and barbarian hordes on the
borderlands gives several of the more martial deities reason to
maintain a show of force in the region and in some cases young
Paladins from the southern kingdoms are sent to these "far off
regions" to hone their skills and learn the lessons of service and
humility. Several sects of worshippers serving lawful Good deities
such as Heironeous, Mayaheine, Pholtus, and St. Cuthbert operate
Keeps and Abbeys in Ratik.

Priests- priests of deities whose area of concern is the wilderness,
agriculture, freedom, and trade can be found in Ratik preaching to
the folk and promoting the doctrines of their deity.
While adventuring priests serving a myriad deities can be found in
Ratik, the following are a listing of the gods most worshipped by the
local population-
Beory (Nature), Bleredd (Smiths), Ehlonna (Forests), Fharlanghn
(Travelers), Kord (Strength), Merikka (Agriculture), Norebo (Luck),
Procan (Sea), Trithereon (Liberty), Xerbo (Merchants), and Ulaa
(Mountains).

Rogues- the city bred thief will find slim pickings in the streets of
Marner (Ratik's Capital) in fact the capital of Ratik will be of
scant interest to those who have seen the great cities of the south.
To such a rogue, Ratik's urban areas will be a miserable
disappointment. Most of the roguish activity takes place on the roads
in the form of banditry. Adventuring rogues however do find a
challenge in exploring to many ruins located near the wilder areas of
the barony.

Druids-Druids hold a great deal of influence in Ratik. Though they
are small in number, they are guardians of the land and insure that
the miners, hunters, foresters and farmers treat the land with
respect. The Druids get on well with the Dwarven, Gnomish and
Halfling communities, and are the only humans that usually treat with
the Elves. But they often meet resistance from the growing Merchant
class in Marner, who feel adherence to the "old ways" is stifling
Ratik's progress as a developing nation.

Bards- Bards have no trouble at all fitting into Ratikkan society.
The thirst for news and tales of adventure are even more pronounced
in a land so far from the fabled cities of the shining south where
golden palaces dot the hills and silver dragons carry knights upon
their broad backs. - You get the idea.

Mages-Mages are the rarest of the rare in Ratik. There are several
expatriate Mages of small ability in the employ of the Baroness in
the capital. The military also employs several mercenary "War
Wizards".
But apart from a few witches in the hinterlands, and a trio of
retired Adventurer Mages living in seclusion, that's about it.

Psionicists- Surprisingly enough there is a larger than normal
concentration of people with Psionic ability living in Ratik. It is
thought that since the general populace of Oerth mistrusts
Psionicists because of their talents and potential power, many
Psionicists become fugitives, hiding their powers and trying to fit
in as best they can. What is not known to the general populace of
Oerth is that the Baroness of Ratik is herself a Psionicist. And
through an underground network has aided many Psionicists of varying
powers and abilities to escape to a better life free from the abuse
and control that many governments and other organizations impose upon
them.

Wow

As some of you know I'm working on my own RPG that uses the genre of the Sword and Sorcery movies and comics of the 70's and 80's as its backdrop. As such I have been doing a awful (and in some cases it truly is Awful) amount of research reading every S&S novel and comic book from the 70's I can get my hands on. And watching every S&S movie ever made in the Reagan era.
well last night I finally had time to sit down and watch the beastmaster DVD uncut and in its entirety. I had seen tiny bits through the years on USA network and Galavision, but I never saw the whole thing at one time. And I missed something that would have probably made my heart stop twenty years ago...Tanya Roberts.

wow.

Tanya Roberts in 1982 with no top on. Wow.

I cant believe I've been around all this time and never saw her before...Wow.

My Aptiva

After seven years of faithful service our IBM Aptiva computer finally died. it had received a couple of upgrades , but it looks like the old horse just had to call it a day. All in all I'm pretty pleased with the length of time it served. It was windows all the way with no apologies. it went from 97 and 98 to the horrors of ME and finally to 2000. It was a present from my in-laws when Scarlette and I returned to college. My Aptiva and MS Office took us through dozens of papers, class projects, PowerPoint presentations, and many, many late nights.

I rediscovered GI Joe when I found the action heroes group and I found a new way to game with the original Erisa PBEM game. We downloaded a lot of pirated stuff on Napster and Kazaa (ARRGH matey!), kicked the shit outta the Nazis in "Close Combat" and got the shit kicked out of us in "Age of Empire". We started a web site and then a blog. We paid our bills and did our taxes online and in between watched many a porn AVI.

I learned about the 9/11 tragedy while perusing my morning emails. That was a day I'll never forget.

My Aptiva has been a blessing and a bit of a curse. I made friends all over the world but I've had to deal with some real whiney nut jobs as well. I got published for the first time thanks to my Aptiva, but I also discovered a site called EBay (so much for the college fund for the kids).

My Aptiva was my Yin and Yang.

Adios Amigo