Society for Aesthetic Deletions

Bard's Tale Announced for the PC.

Bard's Tale I was the first CRPG I ever played. I loved it, adored it. I can still hum the bard's "Robin's Song" or whatever it was called. I must admit, it wasn't until much, MUCH later that I heard where they got it from.

When I moved out of my mom's house to move in with Lou, I found the stacks of graph paper that were the original maps I'd made of the dungeons of BT. I believe I threw them out, but I diligently mapped every dungeon.

I participated in my first ever online chat with game designers based on this game. My brother and I signed on to Compuserve (and that's where the handle "Dazzler" came from, from him) to get hints. I distinctly recall asking in the chat WHY there were no female characters in the game.

Bard's Tale II, with its outdoors environment, didn't thrill me at all. I wanted more dungeons, dammit! So I played it a little, but not much.

This new Bard's Tale, from the screens, are definitely not the same old, same old. Of course, with the graphics advances since then, I'd not expect it to be!

Ah, the good old days.

Governor Dean likes to say that George W. Bush deserves a one-way bus ticket back to Crawford, Texas.

Well, we looked into it, and George Bush's bus ticket home will cost about $145.

You can send the message that Bush needs to get on that bus by contributing your $145 now.

One thing, though: there's no bus service all the way out to Crawford. That $145 ticket will get him to Waco -- he'll just have to get out and walk the rest of the way.

From Dean's blog, here. If you don't like Dean, consider contributing that amount to any Anti-Bush candidate.

The Lord of the Rings: Trilogy Screenings

Anne, how many tickets are we going to buy? :)

PBS's classic 'Our Town' brings culture to Grovah's Connahs

The article is written in a Maine accent.

We take life slow here in Grovah's Connahs. The wood's all stockpiled, the storm windows are in place. Winter's a-comin', I reckon. You can fill the chill.

Sundays after chuhch, we watch the Patriots and then have dinner before settlin' down before the television. The missus and I, we still like that Mastapiece Thee-yay-ta on Channel 2.

It amused me, at least. But maybe it works better if you read it aloud.

I'm beginning to think I need an Eddie Izzard category...

Greenpeace in the UK has done a video ad, featuring Jim Broadbent, Eddie Izzard, and Joe McFadden. Pretty amusing, and available in download and streaming formats.

What She Said.

Last night I went and took a look at this, and this. My favorite bit, I'll include in the cut.

I also find it terribly amusing that these folks immediately assume that, if we let gay people marry, suddenly others will come out of the woodwork wanting to have multiple spouses recognized, or worse yet, allow people to marry animals! Ellen DeGeneres did a wonderful bit on this (and Lou had to remind me it was her, as I'd forgotten). "Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet Billy." *sporfle*

Tickets purchased for me, Anne, and Jack.

Starts at 1:15 p.m., which I'm hoping means that they're allowing for food breaks between films! Otherwise, it will be whatever they have at the concession counter... ::shudders::

You know, it's not often that one can say that one of their friends' stories is in an anthology with authors such as Neil Gaiman, Poppy Z. Brite and Barbara Hambly, among others.

So, the occasion should definitely be marked by something. Like a blog entry. And encouragment.

So go and buy Shadows over Baker Street, edited by Michael Reaves and John Pelan, and support your fellow Amber player and GM, and soon-to-be-famous published author!

So, this morning I wake up, and one of my first thoughts after hearing the morning sports news is, Wow, the Cubbies and Sox are really dragging this out, followed by, You know, they're both going to lose in 7 games and it'll be a Yankees/Marlins series, just to cause the most PAIN. And on the heels of that, to echo Peter David, And no one will give a flying fuck save Yankees and Marlins fans.

While I'd love to see a Cubs/Sox series, and I still hope for it, It's becoming less and less likely.

The baseball gods are jesting with Sox and Cubs fans this year. And once again, Lou will be right.

Ian emailed me this link, and I'd realized I'd posted it elsewhere, but not on my blog. I caught the original thread at MacSlash, and thought it was neat.

So, here is my my Dock, on my work computer, with the application names next to it.

If anyone wants to know more about a specific item there, just ask!

Yes, that's a lot of items. I'm trying LaunchBar, as recommended by Jim Gaynor. I am a keyboard person, so we'll see if this becomes more habit than clicking on the Dock icon.

And also, APOD yesterday, very pretty.

LEGO is looking for a Master Builder.

Aside from working for Apple, this is THE dream job for me.

Currently six Master Model Builders work their magic at the park, maintaining more than 5,000 models composed of more than 30-million regulation LEGO bricks, and constantly dreaming up new creations. Their projects have ranged from an animated T-Rex towering 40-feet to a tiny “duck” hanging in the window of a Chinatown grocery store in the Miniland section of the park.

Courtesy of BoingBoing.

iTunes for Windows.

Will download this at home, once I get there. Then transfer the library of music off the work computer to the home one.

Then, it's time to start filling up that 40gb partition of the 80gb drive with the CD collection...

Gimme some sugar baby.


Which B-Movie Badass Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

There isn't an option to see all the answers, but I know there's a Jack Burton (Big Trouble in Little China), a Nada (They Live), and a George Clooney role that I'm unfamiliar with. Ah, a quick check on IMdb tells me Seth Gecko is in From Dusk Till Dawn.

...as seen by today's kids.

"I'm sure everyone who made this game is dead by now." Oh Kirk, Kirk. You really know how to make someone feel old.

Courtesy of wwdn.

Courtesy of Jack.

It is really just a rumor or maybe wishful thinking at this point, but talk has started for the originally-mentioned-but-later-denied Episodes VII, VIII, and IX of the Star Wars Trilogy.

But now, the source told Dark Horizons, "apparently there is some talk, even to the point of [Steven] Spielberg—who was interested in doing [Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones] at one point—stepping in for Lucas, who may want to write, but probably won't want to direct."

Let George come up with the storyline, please. Then let someone else write.

The source added that it's possible Lucas could strike a deal with writer/director Frank Darabont, who is writing the script for the proposed fourth Indiana Jones movie, to write the sequel scripts.

This is the thing that really makes me think it's wishful thinking on the "source's" part. Because Lucas wouldn't give up control of I, II, or III, why would he do it for the later movies?

Ah well, just something to tide me over before Star Wars: Clone Wars begins.

Courtesy of SciFi Wire.

Well, I found one thing to get for my Mother-in-Law this year for Christmas!

Now, the question is...just one, or should I pick one or more of the others?

Microsoft fires temp for posting pictures of G5s arriving at Microsoft on his blog.

Courtesy of Slashdot. Now, let's see how TypePad handles the /. effect.