Iron Man

I loved Iron Man. Jon Favreau gets how to direct the character, the visuals were excellent, the script was strong, the villains made sense and held together logically.

I have a few minor quibbles:

1) I would have dialed back the Tony Stark / Pepper Potts (played well by Gwynneth Paltrow) romantic tension just a little bit. Overall I liked it.

2) There's no way that any battle tank in production would be able to hit a target flying through the air at the speed that Iron Man was travelling. Tanks are designed to blow up slow moving, truck sized ground targets, not fast moving, human sized air targets. On the other hand, I liked that the .50 cal knocked the early Iron suit around.

3) The cute house robots went a bit too far. Ugh. I liked the automation of his mansion, however, and a certain amount of cute robotics is tolerable. It was that last bit when one handed his power-heart thing to him that i'm complaining about.

4) The film Tony Stark and Iron Man seemed based primarily on the 616 version, while Nick Fury was very much an Ultimate Universe adaptation. This doesn't really bother me, I feel compelled to play my uber-comic geek card on this vague discontinuity.

Again, these are minor complaints. For every one of these, there are at least 10 things done perfectly.

Grace and Karma

Sharon Stone's recent comments that suggest a karmic link between China's treatment of Tibet and the earthquake that killed 68,000 Chinese people (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7425203.stm) was ill advised, ignorant and offensive. It itsn't too great a stretch to compare it with Jerry Falwell's suggestion that the 9-11 attacks were a result of God's anger at the ACLU (http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/f/falwell-robertson-wtc.htm).

There is one significant difference: Sharon Stone is an entertainer by profession. Jerry Falwell is a religious leader by profession. We should demand more of our spiritual advisors and expect less of our actors.

I Live in Color

The beer is Fat Tire Amber. Since it's my birthday this week, I splurged a bit and now I have some Rogue Ale in the fridge for later. I finished a bottle of Elijah Craig last night and picked up a bottle of Eagle Rare. Again, it's a bit of a splurge.

Earlier this month, I went to Mark Siano's Soft Rock Explosion and had a near religious moment of clarity: I needed to start living bigger. Soft Rock from the 1980's is Big, no, not big like the Beatles were big: the themes were big, the music sounded big, the voices were big. Soft Rock fills you up. I want to live more like that.

So, I wore a tie to work. That felt pretty good, so I kept wearing them. Since then, I've worn a tie every day. Children's dress policy is "business casual," in a west coast sense. It's more casual than business, for the most part. Middle to senior management wear ties, as do a few others, so I'm not alone. I am, however, definitely in the minority.

Coincidentally, World of Warcraft lots its luster for me. I quit playing, and eventually cancelled my account. That felt pretty good too. Ironically, Nora and I met up with some of our guild mates for the first time on Monday. They're nice folks, and there was some attempt to persuade me back. While that may have worked a few months ago, I wasn't swayed.

I really want to keep going out. I want to do fun, new things. I want to drink good booze, talk to fun and smart people. I want to keep living in color.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Financial Dreaming

A few years ago I read “Smart Couples Finish Rich” and did my best to follow its advice. We created a filing system, which has only vaguely been maintained, raised my pre-tax retirement withholding, and set some goals for getting out of debt.

Miraculously, I seem to be in a position to meet my first or second round of goals, and should be debt free later this year. I’ve tried to keep my costs down, but really my success has come from a few specific things: 1) Nora has helped by subsidizing our household bills. I pay less of those, she pays more, so I can pay down my debt quicker and 2) my lifestyle has stayed essentially the same since we returned from our honeymoon while our income has grown.

My mind keeps drifting into the promised land of debt-free life. What will I do then?

1) Increase my pre-tax withholding, probably to 20% (I’m at 15% now)

2) Start paying my full share of the mortgage, if not more.

3) Start putting money into a simple savings account. We really should have a few months of fluid savings in case of calamity.

There are also some fun things I have in mind:

1) Join the next generation of gaming. I did buy an Xbox 360 shortly after launch, but it was for scalping, not for playing. I made a profit of around $150, if I remember correctly. I’m also considering the PS3, but still leaning toward the 360.

2) Go out once during the week. We used to have dinner and/or do something else fun midweek. After we bought the house that dropped off, mostly for financial reasons. I’d like to do that more.

3) Upgrade my computer. My current one does fine, but it’s a hand-me-down. I’m not sure between laptop or desk-top.

4) Buy a digital camera. I completely broke the last one while trying to ‘fix’ a less serious problem.

Go Play Northwest

Yesterday I pre-registered for Saturday at next weekend's Go Play Northwest indie gaming convention.

I also signed up to play Don't Rest Your Head with Ogre Whiteside from Stabbing Contest. It also looks like Ryan Macklin from Master Plan has signed up to play that session.

I listen to both of their podcasts regularly and am really looking forward to this.

Now I better find a copy of the game... I listened to The Game Master Show cast playtest DRYH, so I have some idea what I'm getting into, but that's not the same as having actual familiarity of the rules.

WoW RIP?

I think I'm done with World of Warcraft for awhile. More than awhile. I haven't actually cancelled the account yet, but that will happen soon.

When Wrath of the Lich King is released in the fall, there's a chance I'll come back.

Part of the reason is that I enjoy exploring new worlds while gaming. WoW has an enormous and varied set of environments, but, it's still the same universe with the same basic gameplay.

The Greenlake Motel

The Greenlake Motel is being shut down with little notice for health and safety reasons, putting many of the long term tenants in a tough situation.

The reminds me of a subchapter in my life when I had something of a relationship with that dump:

A few years ago, I started a vending machine business. I didn’t feel like my job was going anywhere and I had dreams of building an entrepreneurial empire. I overpaid for the machines, and they never brought the types of income ‘promised’ by the folks who sold me those machines from the ‘Business Opportunity’ ad in the newspaper.

I hired an older gentlemen who specializes in this sort of thing to find locations for the machines. One of these locations was the Greenlake Motel. These weren’t giant, complicated machines. They sold small candy (M&M’s or whatever) on one side, and peppermint patties on the other. I had endless problems with that peppermint patty side. The candy tended to melt and get smashed, gumming up the works and leading to an unsatisfactory experience for my customers, not to mention maintenance hassles for me.

Most of my locations made little money. The better ones earned maybe $6 per week, some less than $1. The machine at the Greenlake Motel, however, was my golden egg. That thing made $20 - $30 per week. I could barely keep enough candy in the thing. If they all performed like that, I probably would have stayed in the business.

One week, I serviced the machine during the week, rather than on Saturday, which was my normal routine. The owners of the motel happened to be there, and saw me shoveling the pile of quarters into my bag. The next week, the manager (an obese, but nice guy who sometimes told me stories of slum motel goings on), said that I had to take the machine away, orders of the motel owners. Apparently they didn’t want anyone else making money inside their cheap motel.

I wonder if they ever put a different machine in their lobby. The tenants probably didn’t have a whole lot of simple pleasures in their lives; I hope my little $.25 handfuls of candy gave them a little something more to look forward to each day.

Summertime

Summer is visiting Seattle and that means summer outfits.

It also means sunbathing girls with their bikini tops undone.

I love that in a way I can't even describe.

I went for my longest run in memory today: 8 miles, and those summer outfits and sunbathing girls helped keep me going.

Student Loans

Hooray!

********

Your Direct Loans

Account Number	Status	Repayment Plan	Principal Balance	Fixed Payment	Current Due	Past Due	Late Charges	Total Due	Due Date
*****xxxx Loan Details	Paid in Full	Graduated	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Totals	N/A	N/A	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	N/A

Your Erotic Personality

This may drift into the 'too much information' range, but it's a fun quiz:

I took Sage Vivant's Erotic Personality Quiz and discovered I'm a Partier!

What is your Erotic Personality? Find out now.

Another Experimental Marvel Heroes Mechanic

This rule activates when a player decides to use karma for a dice roll.

Normally, the makes this announcement, but doesn't have to decide how much to spend until after the dice roll. The minimum is 10 points.

With my rules hack, the character has the option to decide in advance how many points to use, and what level of success she desires. The minimum is still 10.

If the character succeeds with beyond the minimum required for the announced result, the player has earned the right to control the manner in which the success occurs. This is a 'yes and...' success. The player's creative control includes the ability to introduce a helpful non player character or affect with a maximum characteristic equal to the extra karma.

The player can also introduce additional obstructive NPC's or affects to receive a karma refund (or bonus) equal to that character's maximum characteristic.

Karma points are also refunded based on player creativity.

If, however, the player fails in spite of the karma use, one of two things happens. If the player would have succeeded had they used 1.5 times the amount of karma used, the character fails forward. This can be thought of as a 'yes but...' result.

For example, Benjamin is playing Thor for a session. Ben decides that Thor really needs to knock out his opponent during his next attack. In other words, he needs a 'stun' result on a Fighting roll. Thor's Fighting score is Unearthly, so he needs a roll of 86 or better for a red result.

Ben decides in advance to use 30 karma points on this endeavor, then rolls the dice.

If he rolls a 98, he has a total of 42 extra karma points ([98-86]+30) and has earned the right to control the scene. Since 42 falls in the 'Incredible' range, when Ben narrates the action, he may introduce new beneficial characters or affects with up to a max score of Incredible. He may also choose not to introduce anything. Either way, Ben is encouraged to be creative with his description. Have fun!

On the other hand, if Ben rolls a 73, Thor has trouble. While that normally would have resulted in a yellow fighting success, it misses the announced mark. The good news is, that if Ben had spent 13 more karma, it would have succeeded: this earns a 'yes but' success. The judge (GM) narrates "Thor hits Mega-thug, which slams the now unconscious villain into the pillar. The force of the impact shatters the load bearing pillar, and the building starts to collapse."

The character can not succeed beyond the announced result, and any successes less than desired are 'yes but' types of tainted success.

Seattle Mariners, 2008, RIP

Last year, the Seattle Mariners were one August road losing streak away from making the playoffs. The bats were hot, and the bullpen was phenomenal. The notable missing piece was in the starting pitching. On top of that, both Jose Lopez and Richie Sexson seemed to be having an ‘off’ season.

The offseason moves appeared to address the pitching problems. The regulars came back, Richie was certain to return to his old self, Jose was another older, and several months removed from his brother’s tragic death. It took guts to trade away the new phenom Adam Jones, but seemed worth it. With a true #1 starting pitcher, the playoffs seemed certain.

Now that the Mariner’s have lost their way to the bottom of the Major Leagues, even a .500 season seems preposterous. No one seems to know what’s wrong. Does it have something to do with John McLaren? Is he too much the ‘player’s manager?’ Were last year’s hot bats a fluke? What’s wrong with our pitching and defense?

Now there are rumors of a trade for the much beloved Ken Griffey Jr. Yes, Seattle loves Junior. Yes, I can imagine a situation where he would help the team. I can not imagine, however, a way that he can help us salvage the season right now. As a player, he is injury prone and in the waning years of his career. He is simply in no position to provide the kind of clubhouse leadership that’s been lacking since... probably since Brett Boone’s career jumped the shark. Trading any kind of valued prospect for Junior would be a serious mistake. In fact, I don’t think adding him back to the roster at all is a good idea.

Let him take the route of the Sheriff, Norm Charlton: after he retires he can come back as a hitting coach. That would put the feel-good bookend to Junior’s career that we’d all like to see.

Marvel Heroes Homework

Below is homework I assigned to my player characters for our Marvel Game.
*********

Answer these questions in as much or little detail as you want. Karma will be awarded for creativity and thoroughness.

Feel free to skip or add questions, or to submit questions of your own to the other players.

Please forward your answers directly to me at ******** @ yahoo.com

What are your character’s thoughts on politics? Socialist / Liberal / Moderate / Conservative / Libertarian etc…

What hobbies did he or she enjoy before the robots came? What does he or she still enjoy?

What does he miss most from ‘before?’

What is the worst crime(s) imaginable to your character?

What historic figures does she most admire? Despise?

Does your character read much? What does she read most?

What is your character’s biggest secret?

What was your character’s childhood like?

What is your character’s drink(s)?

When and how did your character’s powers reveal themselves?

Emerald City Comicon

Nora and I went down to the Emerald City Comicon yesterday.

We first attended the show during its inaugural year, and I think we had only been dating for less than a year. It was TINY back then. There weren't any panels, no real celebrities, and only a handful of top creators and a few of the moderately sized companies were represented.

It feels very much like a grown-up convention now. It still can't compare to San Diego's convention, but now, at least, it's the same order of magnitude, if not quite in the same league.

We went to three panels, "FRAUGHT WITH PERIL: MAKING COMICS INTO GAMES," "WIL WHEATON PERFORMS THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF OUR LIVES" and "SPOTLIGHT ON JAMIE BAMBER." All were great. Matt Turnbull and John Feil broke down the challenges and rewards of converting comics into video games. Wil read three stories from his book (probably from a couple different books of his), and Jamie answered questions. All were charming, engaging and smart.

The floor of dealers and artist spaces was as chaotic and intense as San Diego ever is, only with much less total space.

Another high point was in the gaming area where I was able to demo Marvel Heroscape. The game is quick to learn, fast to play and pretty fun overall. From the website, "Heroscape is a fully-customizable game system that lets you build your own battlefields, create your own armies, and battle the enemy using your own strategies." While I don't quite see myself rushing out to buy the game, it definitely activated my gamer hunger. My tastes run less toward the wargaming type, even though Heroscape is relatively simple.

I do think I will attend Go Play Northwest in a few weeks to try and get my gaming itch scratched.

Guilt

Generally speaking, I don't do guilt. I have regrets, of course. There are probably millions of little decisions spread across my life that I wouldn't do again, given the same or similar circumstance. There are very few things that I would alter though, at this point looking back. My life has turned out pretty well, and I wouldn't want to change the way things have turned out for me.

To quote William Adama from Battlestar Galactica, "you live with it." I sincerely believe that the golden path is to carry them with you enough to learn without letting them overpower you, and without letting them pull you backwards or get you stuck.

Star Trek V was a pretty bad movie. It did, however, have some great bits. I particularly enjoyed Captain Kirk's response when Sybok offers to remove his pain. Our pain molds us as humans. The key is to use the pain as a lever, not to avoid it, disavow it or wallow in it.

Having said that, I've had it pretty easy. My life hasn't been 'charmed,' but I haven't really suffered either.

There are a few points of gnawing guilt that I will admit: there's always more I could be doing to conserve the environment, and the division of resources in our world is inherently unfair. In other words, I have more than I deserve, and I cause more harm than I need to. There are plenty of justifications I could offer, but none would really alter those two fundamental points.

Nick's picture, version 2

I've been a little lazy with the blog this month, so in order to buff my content, and because I really enjoy when my friends are creative, I present the next version of Nick's picture:

The Work

A recent “This American Life” episode raised an interesting question about the relationship between power, responsibility and accountability.

What if, at the end of our lives, we aren’t judged by our failings? What if the good we’ve done isn’t weighed against the bad? What if, instead, we are judged on the good we could have done, but didn’t?

This compares with another thought I am all to familiar with: the work we have completed is tiny when compared with the work we have left to do.

Someone wise said that first, but I don’t know who. If anyone knows, I would love to learn.