Kim the Waitress

I realized I was asking people to watch something (the debates) that I fully have no intention of watching. Though when subpoenaed in front of Congress to account for my actions, I will claim to have had previous plans. So much better than that whole "I can't recall, Senator" thing. Come on, we know what that's all about.

Similarly, I have been telling people at school to make sure they go to our school's homecoming game this weekend, and yet I have no plans to be there, either. Nope, no hypocrisy here. Not at all. Nadda.

Well, a bit.

I do recall fondly, however, my own homecoming game my first year out of high school. Great seeing old friends, girlfriend, and just being around town for a weekend. It was like stepping back in time for a short while. Even tho I was enjoying college (Go Cougars!...like it'll help), it was nice to have a bit of the old ways, if only for a weekend.

I could go on...

Just a reminder to watch the debates if you can tonight. Failing that, check out some analysis of the event tomorrow. Always helps to be informed about what's going on in the world of politics.

I, of course, am not going to follow my own advice, at least for tonight. Going gaming here in an hour or so. Going to spring something new on the crew, I think. We'll see if they like it. Regardless of how it goes, I think it's cool that we can try new things. This group has been a blast.

This week has went very slowly. Can't wait for the weekend. Be good to see everyone (Rotten, Matty, Stump, STH, in addition to the usual gang of Belly, Jake, Das Schnoz and Jurgen).

Ia!

As a Public Service Announcement, I wanted to pass along this little tidbit. A good friend of mine wants to get the above picture of Cthulhu as a tattoo. This is of course genius.

The best part of this plan is that he intends to entirely fund this venture with donations from the public. It's registered with www.google.com, and will be listed at our FLGS's website, www.sourcecandg.com.

Here's a link to the website that describes the whole deal.

http://users.mn.astound.net/cschulte/cthulhu/

Please take special note of the part where Jake gets trod upon.

Again, genius.

Dawn of War Impressions

I picked up the new Warhammer 40K RTS, Dawn of War, this week. After some initial frustrations (which had nothing to do with the game itself) I settled in to give it a try.

Overall, I'd say I'm impressed. Not quite as polished as say Warcraft III and it's expansion, but still of a good quality. Also, nothing ground breaking in the genre, but what really is in games today.

One of the most important features that I like is the squad interface. Here you can manage each individual squad, and customize it to your hearts content, much like in the tabletop game. After creating your initial squad at a barracks, you can increase the size of the squad at any time by "reinforcing" them, just a click away. So, so nice not to have to build additional units at the barracks and march them all over creation trying to hook up with the squad you want them in. Also, you can select the weapon options for the squad in this interface. For example, want a close in unit...give them 2 flamers and charge. Wanna hang back and blast away? Couple of missile launchers or heavy bolters and away you go. You can also add Sergeants in this manner. Very sweet. Plus, as units are taking casualties, you can reinforce them, and they will produce additional units in the midst of the battle. Some Vehicles, especially dreadnought, can be equipped in the same manner.

The camera is also a bonus on this game. It's fully 3D, so you can swing around and watch the action from any angle. The zooming is also pretty cool, as you can get down to see the individual action in battles. Well done. One small problem I have is that I wish the camera zoomed out more...it'd be nice to see more of a big picture sometimes.

Finally (or maybe it should be firstly), the opening cinematic is just cool. I watch it every time I boot up the game.

Too bad the campaign is just Space Marines. I hope thru patches or expansions the ability to play the other races in single player becomes available. Also, this game screams for the other armies of the 40K world to be added. Playing the Imperial Guard, the Tyranids, or the Tau (please please!) in this game would rule. Please see to this, GW.

All in all, a very solid game, especially if you're a 40K head. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.

1 pt.

You're braver than I thought

I work in our nations public schools in a variety of differnt roles. Students of all grade levels and ability levels. Before school, after school, different schools. With other teachers, teaching on my own, small group, large group. Red fish, blue fish. I pretty much see and do it all.

I like to think of myself as an Education Sentinel. You know, darting here and there, righting wrongs, rewarding proper behavior, crushing laziness. Stuff like that.

One of the perks of working in schools is that I get to re-learn a bunch of stuff I had long since forgotten. So the other day I'm working in a 7th grade history class, which was studying Columbus and his journeys. One of the activities we did I found particularlily amazing, and thought I'd share it with you.

In Fourteen hundreed and ninety two,
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

No, not that.

We were talking about the three ships he took with him on his journey. His smallest ship, the Nina, was 42 feet long, by 14 feet wide. This isn't very large at all. Allow me to demonstrate. Go outside at home or work, and pick an easily noticeable spot. A tree, or your front steps, for example. Then take 14 regular strides (the average stride being about 3 feet). Mark this spot. Go back to the middle of your imaginary line, and take about 2 1/2 steps in both directions, and mark those spots as well. The ship was also 12 feet high, and divided into 3 decks.

Now you've got the rough dimentions of the size of this ship. Not overly big, considering that you and 25 other people need to spend the next 3 months living and working within these boundries, not to mention sail 1/4 of the way around the world. Did I mention that you have no real idea where you're going, since no one has been where you're headed in almost 500 years. No maps, and only as much supplies as you can cram into your ship. Wanna get some sleep? Half of the crew sleeps out on the deck while the other is working around you. Food? Hope you like scurvy.

Pretty amazing that they actually pulled it off, I think. This was one of the most advanced ships of Columbus' time. Consider that nowadays that the U.S.S. Enterprise, an aircraft carrier, is approximatly 510 times as large as the Nina.

Stern stuff, those sailors. Hats off to them. And to sailors today.

2 pts.

Das Pulp

Went to see "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" this past weekend, with my pals Das Schnoz and Drew. Good times, good times.

A strange but interesting film, based on many of the old action/mystery films of the 20's and 30's. I'd call it a good mix of "Indiana Jones" meets "The Malteese Falcon", with "The Rocketeer" serving cocktails. Jude Law, Gweneth Paltrow, and Angelina Jolie star, and do a fine job. Some critcs pan Paltrows performance (say that 5 times fast), but I found it very effective, and not submissive or demure like others have suggested. I'd give it a rating of "Matinee, won't buy" on my newly created Rate-o-meter. Look for future instalments of this highly scientific scale as I come up with it.

On a side note, I'd like to address the word "Das". Obviously a German word for "the", made popular by the critically acclaimed film "Das Boot". Yes, before this film Germans had to mutely point at objects. Dark times, they were.

Anyway, I feel that if something is "Das" whatever, it conjures images of an epic, gritty film starring Jurgen Prochnow, in which he and the rest of the cast are accosted by the trials and tribulations of whatever it is you're talking about. So Das Toaster would be a dark, sweeping film which pushes Jurgen and company to the edge of their crusty, crumby sanity. The whole toaster film genre would be revolutionized by the coming of this Magnum Opus.

Das Easter Bunny, Das Saved by the Bell, Das Nursing Home. See, you're doing it too.

My friend Das Schnoz. Coming to a theatre near you.

Fanfare for the Common Man

Greetings programs!

I had wanted to make a grand entrance into the world of blogging, with a well crafted introduction, pictures, interviews...something worthy of at least a "Dateline" special. But I must instead turn my nacent post into a chilling word of warning from the future...

http://business.mainetoday.com/news/040923interstate.shtml


Yes, a world without Twinkies. Shudder at the thought. Go on, collect yourself. I'll wait.

IBC will continue to produce these little diet-bombs for the forseeable future, or will be bought out by some larger fish in the sea. So, for the moment, our soft, creamy vice will still be availble whenever we need that particular crutch.

Still, it raises some interesting thoughts.

Twinkies are a part of America's national identity. An icon, if you will. Strange, then, that they could disappear forever simply by poor company management. I know other brands and products have gone off to Shangri La, never to return. Still, people lament the loss of such goods, and give unrehearsed speeches beginning with "Back when I was a kid...". Exactly when does a product cease being a heading in a ledger, and become something greater? Maybe we need to create some National Society for the Preservation of Pop Culture and ask for funding. I'll hold the hat.

Besides, what would W.E.A.T.C.A.M.P do in such a dire emergency? Maybe he'd get on by creating one of those little bracelets with the initials "W.W.W.D?".

But, enough banter for now. Look for more unnecessary ramblings on a wide variety of subjects. Games, news, friends, life, the universe, and everything.

2 pts.