Rick Jones' Journal

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if I had not been in the dumps for the past six weeks, you would have heard me blog about...
Meeting General Siglerisimo (aka Scott Sigler) at an Infected signing at Murder By The Book. I always imagined him taller.

Having to see Iron Man 1.5 times, because the boy got freaked out at the start and bored in the middle. I covet Tony Stark's house.

Going completely geekgasmic at Speed Racer. It's a movie where cars behave like they did when I played with Hot Wheels as a kid. The final race is set more or less in the Ultimate Hot Wheels Track.

Re-reading the first Dragonlance trilogy, and having all sorts of thoughts about an "Ultimate Dragonlance" game.

Watching Cloverfield. It reminded me of a Call of Cthulhu con round.

Thinking about 4th Edition far too much.

request for vibes
Interview tomorrow for a contract job with an option for a permanent position.

Good vibes and mojo appreciated.

whoa
Music Video of the Speed Racer Movie Theme Song.

Dang, I'm not sure my expectations can get any higher.

gaming thoughts
What with all the time on my hands, I've thought about what I wanted to do in a D&D 4th ed game. In the end, I trashed my ideas of using Eberron, a hacked Blue Rose or even the Forgotten Realms, and just made up a sketchy game world where the characters start in a Dark Continent, akin the the Africa of Tarzan, Alan Quartermain and Indiana Jones. There's a town built in the middle of a giant-scale bridge that's akin to a gold rush town, except instead of gold mines, it's ruins of an ancient high magic society that used to run the continent before it collapsed under mysterious circumstances millennia ago.

Of course, just after hearing that, the word from the GAMA trade show is that WOTC is adopting a new, limited run approach to settings. So there will be three books for the Forgotten Realms, three for Eberron, and then they're planning on going back to older settings. I like the limited release for a setting - one of the obstacles to starting a new game in the Realms, for instance, is that there are a couple of feet of sourcebooks to go through.

And if they do Spelljammer next, I will be a VERY happy camper.

But while one hand giveth, the other taketh away. The word from WOTC is that if a third party company wants to do 4th Edition books, then they can't do any OGL or 3.5 books. Which means that, for instance, if Green Ronin wanted to do a 4th Edition Freeport book, they'd have to stop making Mutants and Masterminds books, which would make the baby Orcus cry. Now, the first thing that various rules lawyers (but not, you know, actual lawyers) suggested is that, again to use Green Ronin as an example, a company spins off a second company for 4th edition only. So Green Ronin makes its True 20 and M&M books, but a legally separate company, "Emerald Ninja", produces 4th edition stuff. The only hard part would be the legal hoops and making sure that the firewalls between the two corporations were strong enough, which most third party corporations can't afford.

The Scourge of St. Giles
So, I'm one of the Bleeding Edge / Gaming Sausage playtesters for the forthcoming Dresden Files RPG. One of the things I did was play with the character creation rules to see what sorts of things I could do with it.

Lacking an idea for what to make, and because Kat and I were watching Buffy a bunch lately, I made a pastiche set of characters for DFRPG.

( in every generation... )

making a video trailer
So, I wanted to rip some scenes from various films and arrange them into a short "trailer" for an idea I was fiddling with. What software (preferably open source or freeware) do people use for that sort of thing? I see all sorts of videos on YouTube where folks rip scenes from Heroes (or Buffy or BSG or whatever) and make music videos out of them. I'm looking to do something like that.

You know, if it's not expensive or hard. ;-/

whew - that was busy
A whirlwind of a weekend up until Sunday afternoon. Saturday Jack and I did some Cub Scout stuff at the museum, some other errands and then an impromptu pizza party. I think it's so awesome that Jack loves the museum. I also did a boatload of chores. But Kat's sick, so all we did Sunday afternoon was lie on the couch and watch season 3 of Buffy. We had to stop just before Graduation Day, which was made of win.

I also worked on RPG Proposal #1. I'm going to take a whack at polishing it tonight and then sending it off.

Also, one year ago today, I was out shopping and doing a boatload of housecleaning because on April 1st, I would have my first date with Kat. YAY US. We had Italian food and watched Babylon 5 on DVD.

Wanna read something really scary?
Scott Sigler's new book, Infected, is available for free download as a free pdf here until April 1st, when it goes on sale at bookstores everywhere.

I'm not gonna lie. This book may freak you the hell out. It is scary scary stuff, the most terrifying thing he's written. (Which is saying a lot.)

just to be clear
Because some folks were not quite sure what I meant yesterday.

Ages ago, at a time when I was in the dark pits of depression, I came up with a cool idea for a supernatural / steampunk / mystery setting and protagonist, where Sam, the main character, was, for lack of a better term, dead inside. Then, I met

ciaracat and I was in such a good mood that I didn't want to be in Sam's head.

Time's passed. I am no longer in the dark pits, but I was poking at some old story files and realized that I still liked the setting and that Sam could lighten up a little and not lose his punch.

Of course, I told myself that I was going to write a couple of RPG pitches, and since those are more likely to a) get published and b) generate some bonus income, I really need to focus on them.

In other news, Netflix finally got Justice League: the New Frontier to my mailbox. Holy crap, that's good stuff. However, it is NOT little-kid friendly. There is a bunch of blood and some naughty words.

a bunch of stuff that happened
Last night was D&D with

drelmo, and we defoliated with extreme prejudice a bunch of corrupted plant/fae and their rakshasha Evil Overlord. Bardsong enabled loads of fun, but it was over so quickly (and frankly, I rolled like pewp) I didn't get to do much other than that. (Did I mention I rolled like crap?) Big kudoes to Greg for providing some creepy atmosphere, which almost never works with a large group of smartass gamers.

matt_wallace has some new podcast fiction up at The Steampunk Spectacular Podcast. It's got clockwork cyborgs and talking dinosaurs. And of course, it's good. I'm also re-listening to The Failed Cities Monologues and about to hit the Chandler again to take another swing at a story that I came up with when I was really depressed and stopped because I met

ciaracat and was so friggin' happy I didn't want to be in that guy's head. But enough time has passed so I can go "you know, nobody else is doing that story, so you better get to it."

Fiddled more with the character generation rules in The Dresden Files RPG, making a Dresdenverse version of Buffy and her Scooby Gang. All that's left are Anya and Angelus and I'll post it.

can he do whatever a spider can?
So, Jack and I have been watching the new Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon on Kids WB. We both like it, me more than him.

It's good stuff - capturing a Peter Parker that's a close cousin to Ultimate Spider-Man, but with some of the classic tropes kept in. (So he's a photographer at the Bugle instead of a webmaster, and there's none of Bendis' need to have Peter unmasked or telling his secret ID to someone every other issue.)

The show also gets that Peter Parker should have his little victories and losses, where there are consequences to his actions. Spider-Man can catch the bad guy, but it means Peter's not able to help Harry study for a rough test.

I'm also impressed at how much of the mythos is already there in just a few episodes, both in terms of villains either introduced or standing in the back row, waiting for an origin. (I.E. We got a couple of episodes of Curt Connors, one-armed scientist, before he got all Lizard-y.)

Check it out.

wasn't striking, just busy
Friday was a whirling dervish of chores.

Saturday was an Easter Egg hunt at

ciaracat's appt. complex with Jack. He had a blast. Sunday was Easter Egg hunting with Jack and his mom, then a long visit with Kat's family, where much good food was eaten.

I'm about 50% through the Dresden Files versions of Buffy and her Scoobies. I really wish I could think of an equally pop-culturally relevant version of the Scooby Gang that I could call these guys. I'm also blowing through the Dresden books at a pretty good clip, so I should be done just in time for Small Favors when it comes out next month.

w00t
Happiness is finding out that the office is closed tomorrow. ((Does the happy dance))

Now, the question becomes - will he spend the day off goofing off, or actually taking a big bite out of his To Do List?

Place your bets.

the waiting is the hardest part
We kicked dragon tail last night in

drelmo's Forgotten Realms game. In fact, the group was so effective at stomping the holy hell out of the two dragons that we didn't get a chance to pull out all of the cool toys and spells we had ready. The loot was not as impressive as I'd have expected from a dragon's hoard, but the pile of cash was big enough that I'm almost ready to start adding more plusses to my sword.

The wait for 4th Ed is becoming irritating. I've got this "just get on with it" feeling. Yeesh.

Done: Made a Dresden Files character (Betty Winters, the Red Court Scourge) - I'll be putting her, as well as her Scooby Gang together over the next few days. Moved my non-gaming To-Do list to a pocketmod. Corrected my Bard's character sheet.

To Do: Finish the not-Scooby Gang. Start RPG Proposal Number One: Yatta. Start RPG Proposal Number Two: Turnstiles. Write down the ideas for the Eberron 4E game.

Dropped off the list: Auditioning for BBTL - if I can't find the time to audition, I certainly won't have the time to do a part.

Memo to myself:
In Progress: Record Auditions. (Done: Snyder, Practiced: The Mayor)

To Do: Make a bunch of Dresden Files characters, Taxes, Proposals

wow
It's like watching the West Wing, only real.

that was my weekend
Jack was grounded, which meant that I more or less had to be On Call from when his nibs woke up until he went to bed. Lots of "I'm bored. I'm hungry. I don't wanna do that." But other parts were class A Daddy Fun Time. Also, Jack continues as Mini-Me. In the interests of trying to find something that Jack was allowed to do, I talked about one of the proposals, a setting book. (I'm being intentionally vague) - I was describing one of the cool features of the setting, and Jack said, "there should be X too". Blink. Blink. "Daddy's gonna have to write that down, kiddo."

Checked off the to-do list: Second Draft of Freelance project, bills paid, yardwork done (mostly), helped Kat unpack and return her rental car, watched Ocean's 13.

Still To Do: Audition, do taxes, proposals for 2 freelance gigs.

TGIF
So it's been a rough week. Still not used to the CPAP yet and I'm waking up a lot. Jack was on "yellow" for discipline problems on Wednesday and then got bumped up to red for trying to fake a "green." So this weekend he's VERY grounded which means he'll be bored and cranky (and so will I).

Finished the Lies of Locke Lamora. Very good stuff. Lacking fundage, I'm going back to my re-read of the Harry Dresden books.

I haven't worked on my redlines because of the lack of sleep factor (which means I got to bed as soon as possible), but I will do that this weekend. And I still need to fiddle with my Bard in

drelmo's game.

I've got the structure for my hypothetical 4E Eberron game figured out. The group will be playing Indiana Jones in Xen'Drik (the deepest, darkest continent - akin to Tarzan's Africa - full of lost cities and the ruins of a spectacular civilization of giants). I've got the larger arc figured out, but need to work on the details. (Which, of course, will have to wait on the actual books coming into my hands.)

Go Speed Racer
This is enough to overcome the nagging headache that's made me really cranky today.