A Book of Views of its Keeper

Wave Riding

2009-12-19T11:24:32Z

Greetings!

I am home I am home I am home!!!

I came in ahead of a winter blitz. if Roanoke were not quite so far away, I would tell theferrett to get his butt up here and we'd play RPGs and drink whiskey eggnog.

I have a pile of Google Wave invitations if any of you crazy folks do not yet have one. Shoot me an email at bookkeeperDOTdtaATgmailDOTcom.

Oh, and if you're on Wave, find me to see the wave where they're trying to gather the Wave-based RPGs (Where else are you going to find Exalted and Shadowrun 2nd Edition?)

I'll be Home for Christmas, but for now I ramble...

2009-12-16T05:18:37Z

It snowed in Geneva last night.

Yup, still here - now in week nine of the mighty negotiation odyssey. It's a funny thing - I suppose being involved in negotiations tends to make one a calculated manipulator of reactions and emotions. I just didn't expect it to be used on the people who work for you. I suppose I should have known better.

The news that Oral Roberts died has unleashed a fresh torrent of anger. He was a con man who claimed that God induced 900-foot hallucinations and occasionally dabbled in extortion. He also lost a tremendous amount of money trying to make a hospital and university work. Perhaps treating him as the Sauron of our day is a bit much.

Other than the occasional "Joyeux Noel" placard in a store window, I haven't seen a lot of indications of holiday here in Switzerland. I'm sure many of my righty friends would tell me this is further sign of the secularization of Europe. I think they're wrong but I wonder why there seems to be an avoidance of the season as annoying in its way as the aggressive way some people use "Merry Christmas." I'm usually much more in the Christmas spirit by this point but I think 15-hour days with no days off keeps me too tired for cheer.

Not so strangely, encountering people for whom such is their life has made me think very hard about what's important to me and why. Politics interests me but also depresses me - both parties kowtow to money masters and demonize the masters of the other party in a form of kabuki theater that is more distraction than substance. The fact that two Presidents who could not be more different in their backgrounds can reach the same boneheaded decisions about war and economics is telling.

But it shall soon be Christmas. So, as we did last year, we turn to Mr. Van Pelt for a moment:

(And yes I've heard the Great Pumpkin-rebuttal. The ability to find the absurd does not, automatically, make one a cynic anywhere but on the Internet)

As one more linky, it's always nice to see one's work in print.

If you've got someone to hug, hug them - you never known when you'll get tossed 4000 miles away for two months (well, maybe you do but you get my meaning).

Be thankful

2009-11-25T19:58:16Z

..for Stimulis:

Once around the Inter Nets

2009-11-14T16:58:34Z

A few links for the weekend:

Racists in your face? Get in theirs. The Scots lead the world once again in showing how to respond to nonsense.

President Obama, for one, welcomes our new Chinese overlords. I know that's not what he said but how tone-deaf does one have to be to welcome a strong and prosperous China during a speech in Tokyo? Or do they all look the same to him?

Hitman Monkey. Just 'cause it's cool.

Entertaining one's self when alone in a sea of people

2009-11-07T18:30:06Z

Wikipedia tells me that over 100,000 people live in Geneva. I can tell you, from walking the streets these past three weeks, that they speak a plethora of languages: French, German, Italian, Farsi, and several I cannot identify. It's an oddly isolating experience. I think, as a linguist by trade, I feel more keenly my inability to intelligently communicate with folks around me and that has grated somewhat on my nerves - It probably also hasn't helped that the only sunshine I've seen has been through my office window: the weather insists on gloom during the weekend.

All that said, the weekends and evening hours have led me to discover a plethora of new old things. Some of these, I am sure, you delightful people have discovered long before I got here, but let me share:

The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer is, in my opinion, one of the best reads a GM can give himself. I'm reading the Gutenberg version for now but I fully intend to acquire The Fu Manchu Omnibus once I'm back home. Rohmer builds a villain that, for the first 72 some-odd screens of text I have read, you see only once and briefly. Yes, Rohmer indulges in Yellow Peril screeds, but keep reading - I think you'll find, as both I and the author of Thrilling Tales did, that Rohmer's stories and outlook are more sophisticated than many people give him credit for: Fu Manchu's victims rarely come off as blameless lambs. And yes, Nayland Smith may be a pastiche (if not an outright copy) of Sherlock Holmes, but the key difference is that Smith has to fight with all his wits to keep up with the Doctor, while Holmes rarely seems troubled by his enemies, except for...

The Final Problem, which I read in Six Great Sherlock Holmes Stories (not currently on Amazon, but the Adventure of the Dancing Men is quite good as well). Here I saw where Rohmer got some of his initial notions for how "The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu" begins. That said, Holmes' final battle with Moriarty is wholly unsatisfying - while I enjoy the short stories, it seems that we very rarely see Holmes struggle against a villain and, as a GM, I'm all about quality villains.

Thrilling Tales helped get me started on this kick. Savage Worlds, in my limited experience, is probably a good setting for these sorts of stories, thought the designers acknowledge that pulp heroes, mightier on average than mere mortals, give the group a rather significant XP boost from the get-go. That said, it is odd to discover that a number of the ideas I've had over the years point to the fact that I should have been reading pulp stories all along. Wicked villains and plots that threaten civilization have long been favorite kinds of games to run and pulp appeals to all of those sensibilities. It certainly behooves the modern GM to remove the most racially-insensitive elements of the stories, but we have to do that with the odd Solomon Kane story, neh? Even so, this is the genre that birthed both sword-and-sorcery and James Bond. Those are the kinds of stories that a lot of players crave, especially when they get tired of the dungeon crawl.

Ironically, the great disappointment during my stay has been Guns, Germs, and Steel, the pulitzer-winning book on history as seen through the eyes of an evolutionary biologist. Spare me one more long-winded tale of "If only people had studied my scientific specialty, everything in history would make sense." Human behavior, especially in groups, is nigh-on impossible to explain through something as unforgivably concrete as the mathematical sciences. We defy reason on a daily basis and Jared Diamond seems to rather miss the point of history - and why it's still a social science.

Next week, the Russians return and I go back to an hour a night to myself as we try to get this monster of a treaty whittled down to language everyone can agree on. I'm beat but not quite so full of self-pity as my last post. That may be the very fine bottle of Red Label talking, but it's better than endlessly morose whining about how no one appreciates translators (which they don't but what can you do?). Besides, I'll have access to BBC One next week, when Dr. Who returns.

Good, Bad, Ugly

2009-10-25T18:00:37Z

Good: I am in Switzerland, helping to put together a Treaty that, with a little luck, the President will sign before the year is out.

Bad: I am working 11-hour days, six days a week. All work and no play make Bookkeeper the protagonist of the Shining.

Ugly: I am separated from my sweetie, whom I miss very much.

This is, if I have anything to say about it, the beginning of the end of my contributions to my country. 13 years and half a dozen moves and what I have to show for it is a nation that treats me more and more like an infant. I can barely read about politics any more and the noxious way in which the new Boss has proven to be same as the old Boss (the only difference being the direction in which the largesse flows) has left me weary. I read a lot of Call of Cthulhu game products and contemplate how much of my life I've poured into railing against a system that exists, in the end, only for itself.

Feh.

The problem with Hate.

2009-10-23T20:29:08Z

You know the biggest problem with hate?

It's a thought.

You know the biggest problem with hate crimes?

They bring up the idea that your thought patterns are prejudicial in criminal mattes (no pun intended).

Yes, I am aware that your thoughts play a part in the severity of the crime (premeditation and what-not). I'm not sure I buy that either.

Why is it worse to kill someone for a bigoted reason?

Here's the thing: the trash that killed Matthew Shepard? Off to jail - one lighter for ratting out his friend, the other in jail forever.

James Byrd Jr? One in prison for life, the other preparing for the walk of the Texas judicial system into the afterlife.

We find these men distasteful because they are racist. We send them to prison or put them down because they killed.

Here's my problem: Killing is already against the law. The notion, enshrined into law, that your belief system, however pernicious makes things worse, is a dangerous principal to enshrine.

Somewhere, someone finds your ideas pernicious and in need of censorship.

If you think, even for a moment, that such laws will diminish those crimes, you hope in vain. If all you hope for is greater punishment, you and I have very different definitions of "justice."

Hate crimes are Thought Crimes.

Now...Not Later...Now

2009-10-12T19:05:21Z

Sam Sussman is of that special breed of teenager who thinks deep thoughts and says overwrought things that make you wonder about his sense of irony. But he makes the point:

No more speeches, no more "wait until tomorrow." If this president and this Congress cannot get this done, they consign themselves to the dustbin of history, good for nothing but corporate welfare.

Equal Protection Under the Law - It's in the damn constitution.

Road to (Rhymes with "Nobel")

2009-10-09T15:17:48Z

Two years ago, the Nobel Peace Prize went to a powerpoint presentation.

This year, we didn't even need the slides.

Apparently, the Prize is less for actual things done to advance peace and more for good intentions. This is the only way I can explain Carter and Arafat getting the prize.

I suppose what really kills me is that his nomination had to be in by the first of February. This means that what he was really nominated for was, apparently, his campaign speeches.

According to USA Today, there were 205 nominations submitted for this year's award. It's a very special blend of weed that would make me think that Obama's stump speeches contributed more that Nicolas Sarkozy's negotiations to end the conflict in Georgia (the ultimate futility of said negotiations being immaterial, as amply demonstrated by the Prize's history).

It's not a prize. It's a punchline.

Hanging Treasure

2009-10-07T22:01:41Z

What's that I hear you say? You wish for new earrings? You pine for something cool to dangle from your lobes? Your life is incomplete because you do not have Barbarian Earrings?

Enter Sumiiro Store to serve all your naked lobe needs! Decorate your ears in all shapes and sizes!

Disclaimer: The preceding is not a paid endorsement - but the owner is cute and happens to be my bride.

ergo...

2009-10-06T02:04:20Z

Observation 1: The majority of people I come into contact with on a daily basis are reasonably intelligent people. (This is not to say that we do not do colossally stupid things, only that it's not the norm).

Observation 2: Most jobs pay because, on some level, they ask you to do something you would not do for free.

Conclusion: Most jobs are stupid.

It's a flawed conclusion, to be sure, but today has reinforced my belief that, for all its flaws, it is basically sound.

More Equal Than You

2009-09-29T20:26:31Z

There's a clear irony to my favorite quote that has been tied to the Polanski story. It comes from Reason Magazine, who found it at the Volokh Conspiracy, who harvested it from a 1944 essay by George Orwell.

In an age like our own, when the artist is an altogether exceptional person, he must be allowed a certain amount of irresponsibility, just as a pregnant woman is. Still, no one would say that a pregnant woman should be allowed to commit murder, nor would anyone make such a claim for the artist, however gifted. If Shakespeare returned to the earth to-morrow, and if it were found that his favourite recreation was raping little girls in railway carriages, we should not tell him to go ahead with it on the ground that he might write another King Lear.

I contrast this with the what many would call Orwellian petitions for his freedom - Neither Woody Allen nor France are interested in Polanski's release because he didn't do anything wrong; only the most addle-pated of misanthropes would suggest such a thing. No, they advocate his release on two separate bases: First, they want him released because his life has been so haaaard, as though a put-upon existence exonerates behavior we might expect from cavemen. The second, more pernicious, has to do with this cockamamie notion that Polanski is gifted. I'm sure Snowball thought he was a terribly gifted pig, but some animals are not more equal than others and the drugging and raping of a 13-year-old girl is against the law regardless of what manner of art you may have produced.

Now it has also been mentioned time and again that the victim of the crime has moved on with her life and really would rather not be dragged through this whole mess again. I understand and sympathize with her plight but the this is not a civil matter. The man (spoken in a technical sense) broke the law. The fact that he has evaded facing the consequences for some arbitrary period of time doesn't change that. The fact that the California judicial system will likely make a hash of the whole case that will needlessly injure the victim in the case again doesn't change it either. If prosecuting a child rapist produces undue pressure on the victim; that is, to me, a wonderful reason to change the law but not to let such matters drop.

Surely we can all find common ground in opposing anything that France and Woody Allen are mutually for, neh?

We live in the future

2009-09-23T21:07:02Z

This may all be premature (nothing in market means nothing is assured).

That being said, if it works like it looks, This will be my new GM book.

That's right, crazy new wi-fi, touchscreen, netbooking tech and I'm thinking about how I will use it for gaming.

Just how I roll. Oh, and you should all drop the 4 bucks to pick up Houses of the Blooded because it rocks like that.

Cheers

Mmmm...maybe ol' Joe had a point...

2009-09-16T00:23:34Z

The AP is nice enough to relate to us the Obama Administration's latest efforts to end those intrusive and freedom-obliterating provisions of the Patriot Act...

The Obama administration supports extending three key provisions of the Patriot Act that are due to expire at the end of the year, the Justice Department told Congress in a letter made public Tuesday.

Lawmakers and civil rights groups had been pressing the Democratic administration to say whether it wants to preserve the post-Sept. 11 law's authority to access business records, as well as monitor so-called "lone wolf" terrorists and conduct roving wiretaps.

well, okay...maybe not.

So let's see if I've got this straight.

Still in Iraq, with the potential to surge in Afghanistan.

Still willing to bail out Wall Street, with the problem of "Too Big to Fail" getting bigger.

Might not be able to pass Health Care reform with a public option despite having a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate (at least when the People's Republic of Massachusetts gets done rewriting the law to suit party whims. Doubleplusgood everybody!).

The Obama Administration finds itself in an odd conundrum. Success at this point will come at the cost of massive horse trading or a very-nearly imperial will to overrun 50% of the electorate's wishes. Outsourcing new financial regulation to Chris "When Irish Homes are Smiling" Dodd and Barney "Fannie & Freddie are Fine" Frank is the kind of brazen political shenanigans I might've expected from a John Edwards presidency. Such decisions could have drastic consequences for the party next November: How many protests does one ignore or belittle before that protest shows up on election day? Might need to consult with W on that one (though his answer, "the first six years", may not be germane).

At the same time, failure gives them the delightful choices of being liars or incompetent. I, for one find it hilarious that the nation might be held hostage to the state of Montana (a gorgeous state that I have recently had the opportunity to visit). Frauds or Fools? Me - I say, "Why not both?" The shift from campaign promises to realpolitik, the arm-twisting of reticent congresscritters, the rather inane attempts to control the narrative - why, lookie, it's politics as usual!

It's Bushite frittering of the commonweal, just on a different set of pigs at the trough. Now that's change I can believe in for Washington. Nothing changes but the dancers on the floor.

Geeking Out

2009-08-26T21:03:45Z

I have had a quick primer on podcasts in the past two days. Technically, it began about a month and half ago, but I needed the other half of the lesson.

I've been listening to 40kradio since June and I've been entertained by just about every show. The hosts are relentlessly mercenary in their self-promotion but there is no mistaking their enthusiasm for the hobby. I credit their podcast for making me want to run a 40k campaign in the new year. When I left California, I sold off my last 40k army and had little intention of getting back into the hobby. I'm now three armies deep and my bride and son are both working on their own.

Yesterday, I listened to another podcast, name redacted to protect the innocent. They were doing a discussion of Eberron. I really like Eberron - I think it's a remarkable imaginative and original setting for Dungeons & Dragons. I could not get through 30 minutes of this podcast. When I looked on iTunes, I saw that this was not a novice podcast - legions of episodes stretching back for over a year were in their library. But every conversation started with something like this...

HOST: So, expert on all things Eberron, tell me about Aundair.
EOATE*: Well, yeah...Aundair's kind of, you know, a typical fantasy place but with some cool elements.

Expert On All Things Eberron

Well, color me sold.

Gamers sometimes seem to have a pathological fear of geeking out over their favorite products. Memories of high school laughter and mockery linger and, in front of strangers, we try to become the cool kids, only indicating a passing interest in the subject matter lest we be called geeks. The problem, of course, is that if you're unwilling to let your enthusiasm or rabid interest in a product show, why the hell am I going to get interested in it?

I just got my copy of Pathfinder yesterday and you should all go out and buy one. I say this now with an admission that, should the opportunity present itself, I'd dive in and play 4e. I'm not down for edition wars or, for that matter, disparaging anyone's game unless I think the game itself is whacked (and that is, almost always, going to be me not liking the rules).

I guess the message here is don't be afraid to be a geek - being ridiculously excited about the things we love is part of what draws others in to come do it with us. Enthusiasm is infectious and the game only gets stronger with each newcomer.

Unhealthy debate

2009-08-20T10:23:26Z

Alrighty, let’s go there.

I’ve seen tons of folks posting about health care, though, oddly, the majority of these posts have been embeds of other folks taking even other folks to task. This is roughly consistent with what I’ve read online – rather than debate a policy on the merits it’s so much easier to hurl epithets, be they “socialist” or “racist” or “fascist” (which has the dubious honor of going both ways in the name-calling competition). Let me give you two reasons I think the government ought to put this proposal aside.

First, I oppose the congressional bills on health care reform for philosophical reasons. A public option health insurance system is an inevitable slide to government control over the health care system. You can deny it if you want but to do so you must ignore some basic economic and business logic – if one competitor in a system can a)write all the rules and b) print money, then it’s not really a competition any more, is it? Eventually you’ll have just as many competing insurance firms as you have people fighting to offer the same benefits that Medicare does – none. New York City has already established that a government that pays for health care will appropriate to itself the right to regulate behavior. Consider this: every government eventually ends up in the hands of people you despise. What will you do when the health care panjandrums are all pro-life? Political pendulums swing both ways. If you thought your civil rights were violated when they could tap your phone, imagine what they can do when they pay for all your prescriptions.

But let’s get down to brass tacks – there is no way under heaven that we can afford to do this in the current economic climate. The Congressional Budget Office says that the budget is unsustainable with our current federal outlays for health care. The Fiscal year 09 debt is expected to push past 12 trillion dollars and the deficit should break 2 trillion this year. Just the policies the Congress has on the table will cost another quarter trillion a year at least and CBO has said that the costs beyond the initial 10-year timeframe could skyrocket (showing that Team Obama has taken a lesson from Team Clinton – backload costs to create faux-savings). Imagine us doubling the debt again in six years. This program becomes a double-whammy in that time frame because the public option will begin to eat all the private ones. I’ve mentioned once before the self-defeating notion of increasing budget costs while destroying multibillion dollar industries. Stripping 116 billion out of the economy while raising spending to extraordinary levels makes no sense. We cannot afford this.

I will not deny that health care needs reform – it costs too much now. But does it sound as ludicrous to you as it does to me that we can make something more efficient and cheaper by handing it over to the government? Has that ever worked? There are ways to reduce the costs involved in health care: non-binding efficiency studies, malpractice tort reform, transparent & up-front pricing. As my Russian instructors often say: “You can do it any number of ways…other than what you just did.”

FaiLGS

2009-08-19T00:15:03Z

So, Pathfinder came out last week. 55,000 people downloaded the beta rules. Paizo sells out their first print run. My local game store got six pre-orders.

How many did they order?

Four.

I stood at the counter and watched as the slack-jawed troglodyte said, "We think they're still available to distributors so we could try and order some more."

This store has been in operation for the four years I have been here and has, reportedly, been around for some time before that as well. In that time, they have not grokked that one might want to make larger pre-orders before August, the month of the largest game convention in the country and a time that often sees new releases.

This makes the second time in the last two months that I've gone into this store to find that a new product, one with a release date in the last 30 days, was not on the shelf - not that it was out, just that they didn't have any. The other clerk stands their and blithely tells me they're out of the new L5R decks, but they've got Lotus and Samurai edition starters stacked two boxes high on the shelf - still selling at retail because they'll let product sit and rot on their shelves for years and years (Three boxes of Spycraft at last count).

This has broken me. I resist buying online at every opportunity and I do my damndest to buy locally and to build events at game stores and encourage folks who join in to buy. I have, subsequently, bought my copy of Pathfinder from Amazon and the PDF from Paizo.com (That is, incidentally, the very opposite of fail - the jump-tagged, cross-referenced PDF is made of win and awesome).

I could do without the new round of Edition War that the release has seemed to provoke on EN World, but where would we be without pointless internet rage?

Kill...Maim...Burn...Wash...Rinse...Repeat

2009-08-07T21:51:44Z

Ever have one of those weeks where you look at the carefully crafted stories your friends are putting together and the nuanced characters you have currently in play and you say, "Fuck it, someone give me a 11th level Orc Barbarian and get the hell out of my way?"

That would be this week.

P.S. - How is that LJ, home to Tolkien fans, D&D geeks, Warhammer nerds, and every other stripe of fantasy goober, does not recognize either spelling of the word "Ork"?

From The Clear Blue Sky

2009-07-17T14:36:38Z

Fear me, puny earthbound mortals! Bookkeeper, with the aid of his loyal minions at AirTran, now has the power to blog FROM THE SKIES!!

Mua Ha Ha.

All I Ever Wanted

2009-07-02T19:26:49Z

....aaaand we're into vacation time!

This now marks the end of my 4th year in my current job and I can already tell this 5th one is going to be the one-year-too-many. Too many recurrences of the same drama, the same nonsense. I walked out of work today and was resisting the urge to run screaming from the building.

But none of that matters now: Monday, my Punkin arrives! There will be International Spy Museum and Six Flags and my high-maintenance whirlwind of a kid, who has recently discovered the L5R card game.

It's a whole new stress, which is, at this moment, precisely what I need. I'm off work for three glorious weeks (though one had to be sacrificed to appease my mother). I think I may turn on a filter to block reports of politics for the next month.

What are we celebrating?

2009-06-24T15:54:35Z

This may be a new low.

The State Department has said that the invitation to the Iranian Diplomats to come on over to the White House for a barbecue on the 4th of July is still on.

We're inviting representatives of the Iranian government over for hot dogs.

On Independence Day.

While the government they represent shoots civilians in the street.

Someone please tell me this is a dream.

EDIT: As noted by nagaina_ryuuoh, the the invitations have been rescinded.

A tale of two...make that one news agency

2009-06-19T23:24:22Z

While enjoying lunch today, I noted that CNN was covering the events in Iran...sort of. Actually, they were at YouTube HQ showing how one could use [Well-Known program I'll not insert here] to find the physical locations of all YouTube users in Tehran. That such a broadcast was absolute gold for the Iranian Security Service probably never dawned on their precious little heads. CNN is the self-aggrandizement agency, like the kid that just had to show off how smart they are, no matter the consequences.

BBC world service announced today that it's adding two satellites to its Farsi broadcast in order to try and get around Iranian jamming. They're also lengthening the Farsi broadcast. The fact that they have a Farsi broadcast puts them ahead of most others; these actions today should shame their so-called peers who spend their energy trying to fill 24-hour news cycles with crap rather than trying to get information to those who need and desire it.

Fraud for the Children

2009-06-11T20:46:31Z

This would be one of the most honest headlines this year but for one word:

This really ought to read "Historic anti-smoking vote to give Philip Morris new power."

This AP report would be the most egregious piece of false reporting I've read today, save that they also reported that the Chrysler deal gives Fiat the "bulk" of Chrysler's assets (Since the UAW gets a 55% stake in the company and Fiat a 35% stake, "the bulk" is some really weird math).

A couple of my favorites: "This legislation represents the strongest action Congress has ever taken to reduce tobacco use, the leading preventable cause of death in the United States,". I'm willing to bet that obesity wins, though Campaign against Fat Kids is probably not as cool a name.

Giving the FDA sweeping new powers only extends, once again, the in loco parentis claptrap that says that government must do what parents are, apparently, incapable of. The hilarious bit is the notion that FDA regulations are going to somehow curb teen smoking - teenagers smoke because smoking is illicit and cool, not because it comes in candy flavors. Teens, who tend to be poor, buy cheap cigarettes - restricting flavors and nicotine levels is nibbling around the edges.

The bill, said American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown, "provides a tremendous opportunity to finally hold tobacco companies accountable and restrict efforts to addict more children and adults."

Umm, when do we get around to holding smokers accountable? This ongoing cockamamie notion that tobacco companies are either using mind control or violence to force the cancer stick upon an innocent populace is getting really really old.

The tobacco lobby, contended Durbin, has long been the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill, "and they managed to create an exemption in virtually every law so that no federal agency could take a look at them and regulate them."

So, how, Senator Durbin, did the Congress, known largely for its willingness to engage in Donkey Show-levels of self-abasement for lobbyist cash, come around and find the chutzpah to finally stand up to the evil Tobacco overlords?

Its main rivals, however, have voiced opposition, arguing in part that FDA restrictions on new products will lock in Philip Morris' share of the market.

Ohhh...

This, friends and neighbors, is a classic case of rent-seeking. The tobacco lobby hasn't gone away, it's simply trying to create a static market where new competition doesn't rear its ugly head. If the FDA does not approve new products (except from Philip Morris, who will likely create the latest and greatest corporate/regulator revolving door) then PM can move merrily along, jacking prices and reducing quality.

You've been had, America.

I was always more evil than you...

2009-06-09T10:32:51Z

Ganked from brigidsblest

Which Fantasy Author am I? Cut for long result...

Your result for Which fantasy writer are you?...

Michael Moorcock (b. 1939)

9 High-Brow, 3 Violent, -17 Experimental and 25 Cynical!

Congratulations! You are High-Brow, Violent, Traditional and Cynical! These concepts are defined below.

Michael Moorcock is one of the most influential fantasy writers of all times, his impact rivalling that of Tolkien's. Perhaps China Miéville described it best when he said: "I think we are all post-Moorcock." Apart from being the editor of New Worlds twice in the 60s and 70s, thereby being instrumental in bringing on the so-called "new wave" of science fiction which changed all fantastic literature forever, Moorcock's own work has been an inspiration to more recent writers. He is also known for not hiding or blunting his views on fiction which he regards as inferior, a trait which has lead him to apply harsh criticism on authors such as J R R Tolkien, C S Lewis an H P Lovecraft.

His most popular work are the Elric books. Elric was originally conceived as a sort of critical comment to or even parody of R E Howard's Conan, but the character and his world soon grew to form a tragic and somewhat fatalistic drama. Elric's world is, in turn, only a small part of the huge Multiverse, a set of stories from all sorts of worlds (including our own) which is forever locked in a struggle between the two powers of Law and Chaos. Whenever one of these powers is threatening to become too powerful, an incarnation of the Eternal Champion, a group of warriors possessing the same spirit, is forced to fight to maintain the delicate balance between the two. Moorcock has worked several of his heroes into this cycle of books, including Hawkmoon, Corum and, of course, Elric.

Moorcock's stories are often stories about warriors, however reluctant they may be, and are usually explicitly violent, even if the purpose of all the hacking and slashing is to free humans and other beings from oppression and, ultimately, fear. There is little happiness, though, for those who are forced to do the fighting and all they can hope for is a short time of respite, sometimes in the town of Tanelorn, the only place in the multiverse that the eternal struggle between Law and Chaos can't reach.

It should also be mentioned that, even though Moorcock has done quite some experimenting in his days, it can't be ignored that a major part of his books are traditional adventure stories that become more than that by their inclusion into a grand vision. A little ironically , perhaps, for an author who has criticized the "world-building school" of fantasy, Moorcock achieves much of his popularity through building, if not a world, a world vision.

You are also a lot like China Miéville

If you want something more gentle, try Ursula K le Guin

If you'd like a challenge, try your exact opposite, Katharine Kerr

Your score

This is how to interpret your score: Your attitudes have been measured on four different scales, called 1) High-Brow vs. Low-Brow, 2) Violent vs. Peaceful, 3) Experimental vs. Traditional and 4) Cynical vs. Romantic. Imagine that when you were born, you were in a state of innocence, a tabula rasa who would have scored zero on each scale. Since then, a number of circumstances (including genetic, cultural and environmental factors) have pushed you towards either end of these scales. If you're at 45 or -45 you would be almost entirely cynical, low-brow or whatever. The closer to zero you are, the less extreme your attitude. However, you should always be more of either (eg more romantic than cynical). Please note that even though High-Brow, Violent, Experimental and Cynical have positive numbers (1 through 45) and their opposites negative numbers (-1 through -45), this doesn't mean that either quality is better. All attitudes have their positive and negative sides, as explained below.

High-Brow vs. Low-Brow

You received 9 points, making you more High-Brow than Low-Brow. Being high-browed in this context refers to being more fascinated with the sort of art that critics and scholars tend to favour, rather than the best-selling kind. At their best, high-brows are cultured, able to appreciate the finer nuances of literature and not content with simplifications. At their worst they are, well, snobs.

Violent vs. Peaceful

You received 3 points, making you more Violent than Peaceful. Please note that violent in this context does not mean that you, personally, are prone to violence. This scale is a measurement of a) if you are tolerant to violence in fiction and b) whether you see violence as a means that can be used to achieve a good end. If you are, and you do, then you are violent as defined here. At their best, violent people are the heroes who don't hesitate to stop the villain threatening innocents by means of a good kick. At their worst, they are the villains themselves.

Experimental vs. Traditional

You received -17 points, making you more Traditional than Experimental. Your position on this scale indicates if you're more likely to seek out the new and unexpected or if you are more comfortable with the familiar, especially in regards to culture. Note that traditional as defined here does not equal conservative, in the political sense. At their best, traditional people don't change winning concepts, favouring storytelling over empty poses. At their worst, they are somewhat narrow-minded.

Cynical vs. Romantic

You received 25 points, making you more Cynical than Romantic. Your position on this scale indicates if you are more likely to be wary, suspicious and skeptical to people around you and the world at large, or if you are more likely to believe in grand schemes, happy endings and the basic goodness of humankind. It is by far the most vaguely defined scale, which is why you'll find the sentence "you are also a lot like x" above. If you feel that your position on this scale is wrong, then you are probably more like author x. At their best, cynical people are able to see through lies and spot crucial flaws in plans and schemes. At their worst, they are overly negative, bringing everybody else down.

Author image by Catriona Sparks from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Michael_Moorcock.jpg Click for license info.

Take Which fantasy writer are you? at HelloQuizzy

Games and Roles

2009-06-04T00:20:26Z

Over the weekend, I listened to an “NPC” edition of Dragons Landing, a most excellent gaming podcast available at iTunes (this is not a paid endorsement – they are podcasters after all). The two guest hosts put forward a new spin on an argument I have forever heard as “roleplaying” vs. “roll-playing.”

Roleplaying vs. Game-playing.

Roleplayers live for getting into character. The far end of the roleplaying spectrum, that can still be called a Role-playing Game, would probably be Amber Diceless. It has stats and a list of powers but success or failure in conflict is largely dependent on your ability to be clever narratively. If you took the game-related elements of Amber away, you’d really be left with interactive theater, as opposed to something that has the word “game” in it.

Game-players thrive on tactical challenges and overcoming them. The far end of their spectrum is likely something in the vein of Talisman, in that there is a character and that character is not you but it’s really just a vehicle to get through the dungeon and kill stuff. D&D miniatures also works as an example.

Roleplayers are more likely to know the fluff; Game-players are more likely to know rules minutiae. Roleplayers are more likely to jump blindly into a new game; game-players are less likely to need help in character creation. Both of these examples serve to illustrate the main point of this little diatribe.

Neither is inherently bad.

I have been fortunate in that my blog happens to exist on a site with a lot of game designers and writers. Sure, almost all of them exist on the far end of the political spectrum from me but we seem to get along more often than not. Why is it, then, on the great love that we all share, there seems to be a lot of bad blood flowing towards certain games and themes?

As far as I go, I’ll play anything. I’ll dive into D&D, 7th Sea, Legend of the Five Rings, Scion, Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, Amber, Call of Cthulhu, Fireborn, Monopoly, Balderdash, or Spades. I'll even play 4e if the opportunity presents itself. I certainly understand ruts but I can’t understand developing loathing for games – surely there’s more to do with one’s time; moreover, there’s no value added in saying that game A is a “real” RPG and game B isn’t. A real RPG is one you sit down and play. Some work on different paradigms than others but that doesn’t invalidate the play experience.

A bitter confession here: Back in the early 90’s I went with a friend of mine down to White Wolf Game Studios. He had been picked up for a summer internship and I had not. I did, however, have a steady source of income and he didn’t. So I tagged along and made a horrid nuisance of myself to people who were trying to work for a living for a few months. I even ended up spending time as free labor in accounts receivable and at the DragonCon booth. In that time, I learned just how cheaply I could live. I also learned how easily I could be bribed with game product.

I also discovered that there’s a not insignificant part of the game producing population that takes a rather dim view of their customer base. I’m confident at least part of it was me – I had no business being there and was a nuisance; on the other hand, I saw game designers running down their customers after they walked away from the booth. It was an eye-opening experience for me, though I still regret not buying their hearse.

I suppose I added that part to try and bring some things into focus – we’re too small a group to get all hoity-toity about games or about this style of play versus that. The largest RPG maker in the world is a tiny little division of Hasbro. We can all have our preferred style of play; dismissing others is an excellent way to end up playing alone.

This is partly driven by news that I’m down to about 13 months before we get picked up and moved again. As someone who’s used games everyone is familiar with to meet new people, as I must every 3-5 years, I appreciate their wide appeal and grow weary of having to defend them to people who really ought to know better. It also stems from the fact that I like hour-long angst-ridden soliloquies and challenging tactical encounters (Puzzles can kiss my butt – someone give me a roll). I even think Amber would be cool as a Skype game – something without dice and heavily narrative would be awesome over a conference call style thing-a-ma-jigger.

Gaming is good. That’s it.