Category Archives: General Geekness

The Mob Rules

Good lord this screams gaming to me. Probably because it’s on the Heavy Metal soundtrack, which I listened to an awful lot when I was a young geek.

Oh, and in case you haven’t noticed, I’m posting things like this over at Tumblr, partly as an experiment and partly because I like the interface over there.

In any case, the main content will continue to live here, so you don’t need to worry that I’ll wind up abandoning this site. Tumblr is good for short posts on things that aren’t fully-developed. This site is much better for actual content.

Central Texas Mini-Con July 31

Check it out. There’s a mini-convention on Saturday July 31st (and again on August 21) here in Austin. And it’s dedicated to playing old school D&D, no less. Interestingly, it’s put on in part by (or at least in conjunction with) the folks who do the ever-growing North Texas RPG Con. And guess what? Your humble scribe is going to be in attendance (for the July 31st event, at least). See, my wife’s out of town that day and Scholz Garten is maybe a mile from my house and the con itself is free. So really, how could I not go?

Now, for the record, I’m very much not a con guy. The last gaming convention I went to was AggieCon ’95, and that was almost entirely a business trip. I definitely didn’t game at that one. The last time I went to a con where I actually played or ran something you have to go all the way back to 1985, for the twin majesties of TexCon (where I won an Illuminati event of some sort) and DalCon (where I ran a fun Champions game and played my only session of Runequest). I’m pretty sure my only other gaming con experience was Origins ’84 (where I picked up my well-loved OCE box) and didn’t actually play anything. I tend to go to panel discussions and such with these things rather than game, it seems.

So this little con, which is entirely about playing – and not about speakers or vendor rooms or anything else – might just prove to be very interesting. I’m sure I’ll have at least something to report after next Saturday, even if it’s just horror and disgust at the cheeto-dust encrusted gaming masses 🙂

But seriously, if you’re going to be there (and I’d be surprised if any of my “known quantity” readers made it since I know how very NOT in Austin they live) let me know. And if you’re not a “known quantity” reader but you’re there, please do say hello. I’ll be the balding, overweight guy with a beard and glasses wearing a black t-shirt that might say something funny on it. You won’t be able to swing a dead possum without hitting me 🙂

Frazetta

I’m sure the folks who read this blog have all heard by now that Frank Frazetta passed away today. So other than to note the passing of a legend I guess I don’t have much to say. This piece, though, will always be one of my favorites:

Frank Frazetta Art

I don’t quite remember which book that was on the cover of at this point (though surely it was one of the crappy De Camp “collaborations” from the 70s), but the image is burned into my head. So long, Frank. You’ll be missed every time I pick up a pie from Conan’s Pizza.

Critical Fumble…

The Venomous Pao has rolled a 1 on his “Write Blog Posts” check. Let’s check Subtable Z to see what happens:

2d6 Roll Result
2 Jammed Fingers, -3 to next Write Blog Posts roll
3-4 Distracted by shiny object(s), -2 to next Write Blog Posts roll
5-9 Malaise & Apathy set in, -1 to next Write Blog Posts roll
10-11 “Real Life” gets busy, -2 to next Write Blog Posts roll
12 Brain Explodes, -3 to next Write Blog Posts toll

It appears I’ve rolled an 11. Bugger. Well, it beats a 12. Or at least there’s less cleanup required.

To clarify a bit, I’d completely forgotten that South-by-Southwest was going down this week. And I’ve got bands to see (hello reunited Man or Astro-Man?)!

I really am still trying to hack away at the next round of entries for the Demons of Adad Untash as I can, though. So don’t give up on the ol’ VP just yet, amigos.

The Strange Stones Soundtrack

Have you ever wondered what a website sounds like? No? Well, now you don’t ever have to, thanks to the magic of codeorgan.

This is what Strange Stones sounds like.

Other sites sound different. Here are just a few of the other OSR blogs:

I’ve run out of time to play, but I plan on checking out the tunes from a whole passel of our geek brethren’s sites. Maybe we can put together an album and tour the world?

Demon Free Thursday, Part II

As noted yesterday, the writeups for the various lower order Demons Of Adad Untash are complete. I’m going to take a few days off from this particular project to gather my thoughts and then I’ll press on with the standard order demons.

Meanwhile, I’m going to be posting several other bits and pieces, including some Barbarians of Lemuria characters as a palate cleanser. Think of them as parsley, only with more flavor. The first one will follow shortly.