Musings Of A Belligerent Nature

Been In Effect For A While But Let's Make It Official...

2008-05-06T23:51:30Z

You want in, comment and let me know who you are.

The British Journey

2007-10-17T17:07:44Z

As I talked about in a previous post, the wife and I are hoping to take a vacation sometime this summer. We are pretty sure we want to head out to Britain but the problem is that we haven't the faintest idea of how to plan this. There is always a travel agent but they end up just being very pushy and pricey.

So, any travel resources you folks use out there?

I appreciate any help.

Necro, Necro, Necro!

2007-10-04T22:29:34Z

After a year of waiting and preparation, we are finally going to Necronomicon tomorrow.

We have the costumes and the friends we all wanted together. We have not only exploded with our writings and publications but we are now also publishers.

We have a lot to showcase this year and I'm excited.

Woot. Can't...wait...

I AM A GOD!

2007-10-03T20:19:48Z

"Rebuke" To Iran: Did It Just Get Nuclear In Here?

2007-09-28T17:34:49Z

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/26/4128/

The scary part about this whole thing is that is "bi-partisan". Did we learn nothing from Iraq?

The world just got a whole lot scarier...

Literatur'd!

2007-09-27T14:28:20Z

I've been reading so much modernism and ancient civilization writings lately that my mind is going to explode. Two very different ends of the spectrum and now, I need something to put the balance back into place.

So, your mission as my literature worshipping friends, is to give me something to read.

I'm looking for something that is neither ancient nor modernist. Otherwise, go for it.

Hit me with your best book!

Wait A Minute...

2007-09-26T18:20:59Z

I was in the middle of posting a rant about how "polyamorous" and "polygamous" are entirely two different things when I realized something.

The article I was ranting about was labeled correctly, I had just seen it wrong.

Here is the article I am talking about, dealing with Warren Jeffs of a splinter group of Mormons being convicted.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20974526/?GT1=10357

The article is headed "Polygamous-sect leader convicted" and I thought it had said "Polyamorous-sect leader convicted". My bad. Maybe my coffee and cough medicine drugged mind should stop reading and just go to bed.

Heh heh.

It's Business Time!

2007-09-24T01:20:49Z

Heheh, thanks Davin!

Ode To Goblins

2007-09-20T13:32:05Z

Goblins chew and goblins bite,
Goblins cut and goblins fight,
Stab the dog and cut the horse,
Goblins eat and take by force!

Goblins race and goblins jump,
Goblins slash and goblins bump,
Burn the skin and mash the head,
Goblins here and you be dead!

Chase the baby, catch the pup,
Bonk the head to shut it up!
Bones be cracked, flesh be stewed,
We the goblins—you the food!

(Found this on the WoTC FR boards and just had to share. The original creator is unknown as this was in several people's signatures. Whoever they may be, they kick ass for givin' my favorite fantasy race some lovin'!)

Robert Jordan Passes...

2007-09-18T03:32:49Z

Robert Jordan passed away yesterday. I'm saddened by the news as he was a decent guy and was getting people to read. That's enough in my book to mourn him.

More news on it here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070917/ap_en_ot/obit_jordan_5

Welcome To My World!

2007-09-10T18:12:47Z

Stolen from Ann:

Your Score: Song of Ice and Fire

Your world is 68% Sophisticated, 28% Unconventional, and 54% Intense!

You have the dubious honor of residing in Westeros. I say dubious because while your world is very intense at times, and has tons of cool-yet-mostly-generic noble houses and knights and evil Others, it is also sophisticated and very, very real. Main characters have no innate protection against untimely death. None at all. Protagonists drop like flies. In fact, the only characters who die more often than protagonists are... everyone else. That's right. You'll starve, be raped, dismembered, frozen to death, or thrown off a thousand foot precipice. If you're lucky you'll just have your face split in two by an axe and live to tell the tale. But it's sure going to be fun for us to read about.

Link: The Which Imaginary World Fits You Test written by Azurain on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

The Life To Come

2007-09-04T13:56:01Z

I've been reading E.M. Forster for my British Literature II course and I think I've found a writer that I need to dive into headfirst.

No puns intended.

He wrote "A Passage to India" and other novels during the early-mid 1900s. He was also a short story writer and it was one of his short stories, "A Life to Come", that really got me interested in his work.

The story focuses on a missionary and his homosexual relationship with a native chief he converts to Christianity. The chief views Christianity as love and acceptance and the missionary ends up becoming a hypocrite and a cruel overlord when the native society is converted to Christianity. It's a beautiful tale of duality that I highly recommend.

Fantastic story...I wish I could write half as good as writers like Forster.

Review: Monte Cook's "World Of Darkness"

2007-09-04T12:40:17Z

On a whim (as that's how I do all my shopping), I picked up a copy of White Wolf's latest release, "Monte Cook's World of Darkness". White Wolf essentially let the father of the 3.5 Revised d20 system take their setting and mold it to his whim.

And what a vision he came up with.

Now, the background of Monte Cook's WoD is very different than what we are all used to, at least those of us who have been playing any version of the World of Darkness. Instead of it being a world that has always had supernatural shadows cast in it, this WoD has nightmarish creatures of myth in it due to an alien invasion.

Yup, aliens created werewolves, vampires, mages, and demons. All in the name of conquering our reality.

It's very post-apocalyptic with a strange twist of science fiction. It's a very original setting but one that definitely takes a bit of getting used to. I do enjoy it however and it meshes a lot of horror, supernatural, fantasy, and science fiction elements together into a brand new spin on the WoD.

The mechanics are tight. What else could be expected from the man behind 3.5? The line between "race" and "class" is blurred into one 1-20 level progression chart and don't expect a lot of multi-classing options in this game. You pick one class/race, take her to 20, and that's all she wrote. That's how the system works that out, while doing away with the WoD's patented "Merits and Flaws" system, throwing in a good dose of feats and skills, and glossing it all up with the d20 Modern system's Defense and vehicle stats.

It works well enough but one of the few weak points in this game is just how long of a campaign you can truly run with it.

I personally think that this system was designed not for long term campaigns, but rather a few quick sessions and forays into a strange and violent world of alien induced nightmares.

It's ideal for those gaming groups who want something different or for a quick Con game.

Overall, I love this product and highly recommend it to all of you World of Darkness fans out there or just anyone who is looking for something new, strange, yet intimately familiar for their gaming table.

So, You Want To Be A Writer...

2007-08-29T19:59:23Z

I've taken a renewed interest in my college's writing club, the "Swamp Scribes". The college sits next to a lake which I think qualifies as a swamp so that's my theory on the name. That and we live in Florida which is basically a retirement ranch sitting on a sun-baked swampy flat piece of land with sand everywhere.

Regardless of my hate for this sun-baked hell, the writing club was a lot of fun last year and hopefully it will be this year. I promise nothing but expect everything. Heh.

I'm going to be running for President or Vice President of the club this year as it is my last year at MCC (I graduate in the winter) and I want to make a bit of a last minute push to leave something of a mark here. You know, besides the usual belligerence and destruction.

So, they were planning on doing a "Swamp Scribes anthology" but for reasons unknown, it never got off the ground...so I'm taking it over. Or at least heavy handedly helping with it. I've done the publisher gig for a while now, I think I can handle this anthology.

And that will make some people very, very happy to see this finished.

So yeah, that's how the dice have been cast. Let's hope they stay on the double 6s.

Lolz!

2007-08-19T21:08:22Z

And You Thought LolCatz Was Funny...

2007-08-18T18:51:14Z

I proudly present "Lol President"!

http://lolpresident.com/

Rome Season 2

2007-08-18T17:58:46Z

Rome, the HBO series about the reign of Julius Caesar and beyond, has released its second and final season to DVD early!

We managed to find it at the local video store and are now settling in for a Rome Season 2 marathon.

It's a good distraction and we're glad to have found it two weeks before scheduled release (at least, scheduled release as of two months ago when I checked Amazon.com).

Awesome times, awesome times.

And So It Is True!

2007-08-16T13:04:15Z

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=204119

Check the Wizards.com website as well and click on the "Dungeons and Dragons" link.

4th edition IS here. It is being said that it won't be OGL. That means no third-party publishers like OGL 3.5 has.

Well, they don't plan on dropping the OGL and 4th edition will not be released 'til May 2008. That gives us several months to get some material out but the market for 3.5 will still have a few years left in her.

Luckily, we are working on moving out of 3.5 and creating our own gaming system with dE. Let's hope that's a success.

Behold, My New Addiction!

2007-08-07T23:56:06Z

For the longest time, I have been a casual drinker of tea. I have my two staples: Lipton Tea and the tea they serve in Japanese restaurants.

Yeah, a tea virgin in all senses of the phrase.

But, now, behold! I have discovered the greatest tea known to man after a week of trying every tea I have in the house (which is actually a lot, almost thirty different kinds, as I have inheritated a lot from my mother over the years):

Black Spice Chai Tea

It is simply the best tea I have ever had.

I bought like five boxes this week and now I'm in the midst of my fifth cup of the evening. Mmmm, chai...

Any other tea-fiends out there?

Family Conspires Against Me!

2007-08-05T20:52:18Z

Mom calls today to inform me that she, my step-father, and baby are going to be down early Friday afternoon and will be spending the weekend with us.

Surprise visit sneak attack!

Heh, it'll be nice to see my folks again, just wish they would give me more notice than "Hey! We're heeeeeere!". So, my apologies for not being able to make game on Friday or do anything this upcoming weekend.

We should be up there next, next week for LARP or general hanging out stuff.

Sound good?

Have a good week, folks.

Edit: Actually, mom just called and cancelled. So, that sucks. I really wanted to see them too. Well, count on us being there Friday then! And Claire, I'll make sure to bring the dress and the wife has a ribbon she would like your expert touch with, if possible. See ya then!

....Sleep....

2007-07-31T12:56:02Z

So little sleep in the last few days has left me a zombie who still manages to keep going to work each morning and not dying at my desk from exhaustion.

What's the cause of my sleepless nights?

It's not WoW. It's not writing. It's not even sex.

It's...just...no...sleep...

Seasonal insomnia. Gotta love it. Every summer for the last three years I get it. I wonder if it has to do with the heat or something. Or maybe it's just my body's way of saying, "I hate you."

Who knows?

~Headdesk~

MEME!

2007-07-29T04:19:35Z

Stolen from Wallace:

"The Twelve Steps of Writing"
The rules are simple:
a) This one be for people who write fiction.
b) Honest ye be, fer truth will set you free.
c) If yer answers be containing a spoiler, leave it out. This be about the style, not the substance, of yer writing.

1. Name one of your favorite character's you've ever created/written about. They can be hero, villain, or supporting cast.

2. What genre do you enjoy most?

3. Which genre do you enjoy least?

4. Do you prefer to write dialogue, scene description, or fight coreography?

5. Looking over your writing, what of the three do you write the most of regardless of preference?

6. Do you prefer to write short stories, or longer ones, from novella to full novel in length? Size doesn't always matter in this case.

7. When creating a story, how much time do you spend preparing your plot?

8. Have you ever experienced moments of unintentional "trailblazing" while writing, when you suddenly see a new pathway for your story to take, a good path, one you never thought of before? Feel free to give an example.

9. Does your writing include a "stamp" of your personal style that is present in all your work?
For example:
- A character owns an extremely exotic pet.
- Your villains are related to the heroes in some way.
- A character is royalty.
- A character is bi-sexual or homosexual.
That kind of thing.

10. Do you have a habit of stereotyping at least one male or female character as ridiculously:
A) Compitent?
B) Macho?
C) Effeminate?
D) Horny?
E) Angsty?
F) Indecisive?
G) Irrational?
There are more examples and I'm sure you know what they are.

11. Do personal incidents in real life find their way into your writing? Think Stephen King and cancer or speeding vans. It could be a bad breakup with a girl, a character's enjoyment of gardening or taste for fine wines, one or more characters that act like the boss you really hate at work, etc. If so, name one example, it can be as big or small as you want.

12. Finally, confess something about your writing that might surprise others. Do you write barefoot, drink inhumane amounts of coffee, refuse to shower until you've reached a certain word limit, anything.
It could be a one-time incident or a habit, but it should be something that proves writers be an eccentric if loveable people.

Weird...

2007-07-28T15:03:21Z

If you go to the "Trysts and Tragedies" book listing on Amazon.com and click on my name at the top under the "author" credits, it takes you to a page with all of the books that has my "name" on it.

There are two books listed (as of 7-28-07):

1. "Trysts and Tragedies"
2. Changeling the Dreaming: Second Edition

That's just...strange and so very fitting.

I know it's because there is someone named Chris and someone with the last name McCoy (Angel McCoy who is not my relative unfortunately) but hey, it's just strangely beautiful and awesome.

More Potter-Dom!

2007-07-25T14:26:33Z

Check this out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Weasley

According to this article, I share the same birthday (not year, we are 12 years apart) as Bill Weasley, who is actually one of my favorite Potter characters.

Coolness.

Potter Doomsday, Part Two!

2007-07-24T03:03:23Z

So, instead of bickering back and forth with my Lit Friends about Potter and reading some reviews, I decided to take the plunge for myself and just read the last Potter book.

Now, I've read all of the others and I must say that the last book is shaping up to be one of the betters. Dare I say I'm beginning (at the end, of course) to see what's it all about?

I'm enjoying the series and I realize that it's the setting I'm falling in love with, not just the characters. Rowling's world of magic and muggles is a very intriguing world and I'm almost sad to see it come to a close.

Well, at least for Harry and the crew. Who knows what kind of spin-off series she might write up in the future?

Any thoughts on that? Do you think Rowling will maybe create the Potter world into Shared Fiction or do you think she will continue to put pen to paper and create more heroes for her setting?