I am the Beautiful Genius For A Worse Tomorrow.- Warren Ellis

What I'm Reading:
nothing


Listening To:
Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Rejection letters in 2003:
0

Writing: Innocent Incubus(1647 words)

Editing: Nothing

Other voices in the darkness:
Daily Illuminations
E.'s Den
Drunken Ranting Moose
The Lady Amalthia
The Propaganda Box
The Keep
Lord Corvy
Realm of the Faerie Dragon
Dozer Online

Things you should read:
Ashton and Marcus: Back From Retirement
Suburban Limbo
This Modern World
Crunchable
DiePunyHumans
William Gibson
Sluggy Freelance
Sinfest
Narbonic
Small Stories
Errant Story
Something Positive
Adventures Anatomica
Zebra Girl
Home

Love me?
Hate me?
HIT ME!

Comments provided by YACCS

So what with tonight being Chris' last night as our coach (he's promised to make appearances now and then to harass) he gave us the chance last week to vote for what our subject tonight would be. The vote? Knife fighting, a thoroughly brutish style of combat as it involves getting as close to your opponent as possible so that you may stab and slah to your heart's content. The downside of course is that they have the same chance to do it right back to you. Chris' suggestiong for what to do if someone pulls a knife on you? Do whatever it is they say. The amount of pain that will happen is not worth whatever is in your wallet. It was somewhat sad.. the first time I sparred tonight was against Bill, and we defaulted to smallsword technique with a lot of feints, staying just out of range, trying to lure the attack. It might have looked pretty, but wasn't really effective. The second time, after Chris lectured on forgetting handwork as you can't parry anyway, I fought John. Now John is fast, but not as fast as Bill, and I was making some funky attacks, my favorite being where I feinted to his chest, then dropped low and took his knee. All I did was drop all my weight forward. He was still expecting my head to be eye level with his, instead of about two and a half feet below that point. And Chris liked the targe (Scottish shield for all of you non-academic types) that comes complete with a spike that may be affixed to the center. Chris was thinking of using it as his new inbox.


posted by Gomez at 22:30

Five hours of sleep does not a coherent Gomez make. Actually, it was probably somewhat less than five seeing as how I did not fall asleep right away (damn this difficulty in breathing that plagues me). Anyway, I've agreed to partake in a one shot D&D session when I head up to NY. Seems I'll be playing a monk. I actually have never played straight d20 D&D having grown up with 2nd ed. and my only other experience with d20 being Weird War II which does not have the same feel as your standard fantasy role-playing game even if the emphasis is still "kill the monster". It's been some time since I've played any sort of mystical/ascetic character type. I'm highly amused by the fact that Daly is playing a dwarf named Marcus, and even more amused by the image of him running a Vampire game. Daly as Brujah.. sure... I'm just trying to picture him acting out the stereotypical poseur Toreador. It also seems that despite it beiong a few years, my reputation as a GM precedes me and people have been warned about my "Smirk of Impending Doom". I also remember having to promise a player in a White Wolf Mage/hybrid game that I wouldn't make her cry.


posted by Gomez at 13:07

Hey, what do you know, I actually wrote tonight. Not quite 1,000 but still, something. And I know I keep saing that the end is in sight, but as I'm working on the final climatic fight, I actually mean it. Not going to say when it will be done, just that it will.


posted by Gomez at 01:00

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Second Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Very Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Moderate
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Moderate
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very Low
Level 7 (Violent)	Moderate
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	High

Take the Dante Inferno Hell Test


posted by Gomez at 23:48

There's nothing finer than the look of abject horror on a GM's face when a player declares that his character is launching a rifle grenade at the enemy mage. Except of course when the following character's action is to hit the same mage with a bazooka. We're playing Weird War II, a d20 game where the players are soldiers in WW II and get to face off against the Nazis. But as if being in North Africa and being told that a small squad must defend a location at all costs wasn't bad enough, imagine just how much worse it gets when the enemy turns out to be 30 zombies who have no compunctions about walking right up to you before releasing the safety on the grenade. Yeah. To our credit, we only lost one PC, and were doing rather well until a coupleof the brighter lights in our squad found a sarcophagus in an underground chamber located under the building we were defending and decided to see what was inside. We all woke up with bite marks on our neck and no memory of what occurred... though we were told that we are being shipped off to Europe. Oh joy. Oh rapture. My character? A sniper/radioman who believes in his heart of hearts that if it bleeds, we can kill it.


posted by Gomez at 09:26

More on duelling: So for the story, duelling protocol is that both parties strip to the waist before engaging. That removes any consideration that someone is wearing a chainmail shirt or any other armor underneath their clothes and places the onus of surviving to tell about the duel (and collecting bragging rights) on skill, not the pocketbook. Blades are judged, and both must be alike of make in weight, length, and balance for the same reasons stated above. This creates a nice little ritual before the fight starts and also includes the need for a more or less unbiased third party to judge such matters, not necessarily an easy thing as duelling in this place has recently been outlawed to a lesser degree of success than the Emperor would care to admit. As Adrian so succintly put it, I'm the only one he knows of that would approach world building from a bottom up approach and start with weapons and their use.


posted by Gomez at 13:16

Have I sold my soul? Quite possibly as I have been accepted to law school. I say again, I have received an acceptance letter to law school. George Washington Law School in fact, keeping a certain synergy with my previously attended institutionfor higher learning. This doesn't mean I'll be going there precisely, but at least one acceptance is better than none. And of course those others I would share this information with are all at trivia. Now I just need to figure out how to pay for it. And yes, I am still coming to NY in May, never fear, mainly because I have the bad feeling I'll become even more of a phantom up there than I am now.


posted by Gomez at 22:54

The end is in sight! I think. I hope. So about 5,000 it will be, so I decree. Please let this be done soon.


posted by Gomez at 00:10

Alright, am going to forego the usal fencing report for something a bit different... I've been bouncing ideas around in my head re: the story E. challenged me to write and that is taking a lot longer for me to finish than it should. To my credit, I've restarted it what? three times now? That'll teach me to be open to challenges. Anyway, I've actually been doing some *gasp* worldbuilding of a sort that I never do, namely, world build. The way that I have the story set up, there is an Empire hat the protagonist is part of, and bing the only son of a high priestess to a major god, is afforded quite a bit of status. Well, right there I had to figure out the role of the god, its status in the Empire as a whole etc. The opening scene also starts with a duel and here is where my brain is churning. Duels happen in a fairly specific social context, i.e. there has to be a reason for them to occur. In some historic instances it was believed that God would side with the victor (Trial by Combat). In others, it was because of a slight, real or imagined (Spain). In others it was a tool to climb the social ladder (France). Yes, there is some crossover between the three, and I'm strictly talking about duelling here, irregardless of weather the combat was in plate mail with zweihanders, or at dawn in some remote spot. In the case of the story I am writing, its a case of slighted honor. Makes sense, as the character has some status, but given the nature of the God, it is opposed to the militaristic stance of the Empire. So, being young, he grabs a sword and decides to prove the error of the offender's ways upon his body. Not the most rational of conclusions, but he had been up all night drinking so maybe his judgement was a bit impaired. This concept of swordsmanship (and the fact that duels are outlawed) led me to a few otehr "professions" as it were in the Empire... namely that of the Maestro and the Masgister. The Maestro is your philosopher-instructor, usually partially retired, who instructs youths ill-suited for the military academy or for a life of dry and dusty study. Students study philisophy, mathematics, physics, military science, and "self-defense". Think fencing masters of Italy and you are on the right track. More to the point, I had the Spanish model in mind do the the arching knowledge. Also, self-defense is a phrase that mainly focuses on the hip ornaments fashionable at the time the story is set. The Magister is the law of the Empire. They are the judges, appointed by the Emperor and are the ones who enforce the law as they see best. They also advise the king on legal matters, like whether or not duelling should be banned. In the case of this story, it is. So that's all well and good, and why I haven't gotten far on the story. Then "The Riddle of Steel" showed up and I took one look at the "Swordsman" skill packet and thought "Ah-ha! So what if we incorpated different fencing salons/schools?" Mind you the setting is that of a sort of alternate Earth where a School of Fence would not be appropriate for every locale, but I got thinking more about different weapon styles. What if one country used dopplehanders (the game's equivalent of what I think of as a zweihander) to settle disputes, while another used the sabre, and another used knives. The built-in social stratification of the game then made me think that each social class would have its own protocol for dealing with same, as well as laws, etc. There would be little difficulty in figuring out the system for duels across classes. They wouldn't happen. A merchant, no matter how rich, is going to have the clout necessary to challenge even a baronet to a duel, and a baronet would not hesitate to invoke his privledge to have a peasant hanged who insulted him. Mind you, I am only talking about dueling here, not street fights or combats on the field of battle. I'm thinking of how social contracts and obligations as well as how the constraint of artificial rules (and I'm not talking game system here) dictates how a fight should be fought. I may very well post here (or on the new site when Lisa and Tim have it up and running) my additional ruminations and thoughts on the matter. Until then, adieau. P.S. Getting slashed with an epee across the finger hurts like a biatch.


posted by Gomez at 22:44

A quiz that means nada to my average reader.

I picked up a new pen and paper rpg called "Riddle of Steel" and put out by Driftwood Publishing. Its a non-d20 system that won my heart and mind by boasting a fairly realistic combat system and a unique approach to skill advancement. Simply put, the characters, when engaged in combat, declare simultaneously whether they are attacking or defending. That done, the attacker declares what sort of attack he is making (based upon his weapon) and the defender declares what sort of defense, which is based on weapon choice and shield. Damage is stepped by five levels, each one mroe sever and damaging than the rest. Mind you a level five wound to the foot won't kill someone, but they'll probably be too blinded by the pain to do more than watch your sword (or axe or mace or flail or... well you get the idea) arc towards your head. The combat system is fairly well balanced so that while a lightly armored, high reflex character would get to attack more often, he better have more than just a rapier if he's hoping to take out the mook in plate mail. I've only read through the magic system once, but it does allow for some rather ungodly effects. The downside to magic is that it ages you, and the same pool used for casting magic is used for resisting magic. And magic ages you in months, so if you are fasat and loose with it, you can become decrepit but quick. Oh, and the unique leveling process? Each character has a set of five spirtual attributes, most of which have attached to them a specific function. (Example: Destiny (to be killed by a man not of woman born). By fulfilling the character's spiritual attributes, they increase which then can be used (in appropriate circumstances) as bonus dice, or to increase skills, weapon proficiencies, or attributes. So just being a mindless hack and slash mook will mean that you don't gain as quickly as someone actively role-playing their character. Character death is pretty common as one bad die roll can spell life or death... a solid hit might not kill you, but it will leave you wide open for the follow-up shot that will finish you. In light of this, yor next character can start out better as long as you've spent Spiritual Attribute points making your old character better. It takes some of the sting out of losing a preferred character. Oh, and there is nothing unrealistic like wielding two bastard swords, but case of rapier is its own skill. *smile* Granted, you have to be from a certain part of the game world to gain it, but what the hell, right?


posted by Gomez at 09:40

So the story is still not done yet, though the good news is that I broke 3,000 and I know how I am ending it (I think) which means that the end is in relative sight. Will work on it more tonight, but am not promising it will go out just yet. Spent Easter down in Fredericksburg visiting my brother for Easter as well as seeing "Midsummer's Night Dream" which holds the dubious distinction of being theplay that I've seen more often than any other. We also went out to brunch which was very nice, despite the somewhat creepy wait staff. (Even I thought he was slightly creepy). Quote of the weekend goes to Michelle which was along the lines of "Thanks for keeping the stereotype alive" in reference to a guy with a mullet driving a beat up pickup truck. Am sick and should have stayed home, but there is a conference call I need to be part of this morning. Hopefully I can just avoid talking for the remainder of the day since my voice is fading in and out on me.


posted by Gomez at 09:14

Hey E., Someone new for you to lust after.


posted by Gomez at 18:31

Finished The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde and have decided to tackle The Count of Monte Cristo next. I expect this to take me a while. As a continuation of the post from Wednesday, I am not trying to state that I am anti-fantasy lit. just the opposite... I still like well written, well thought out fantasy that is character driven as opposed to plot driven. (Yes, yes I know I am guilty of the things that I am accusing others of). I enjoy good sword and sorcery fantasy, and don't feel obligated to avoid any new lit that is coming out. The big one in this case is George R. R. Martin. I jsut don't feel like spending the money on it right now. *smirk* Is there are certain vicarious thrill to junk lit? Sure, but its like junk food. Sooner or later I'm going to want a literary steak to sink my teeth into, I'm going to want a piece of prose that challenges me, makes mekeep track of characters and developments, and that expands my vocabulary. I grew up on a diet as it were of R.A. Salvatore, David Eddings, Lloyd Alexander, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien. Just because I'm putting them all int he same sentence does not mean that I hold them on the same level by any stretch of the imagination. My point is more that they were and still are to a great extent sort of the industry leaders. Hence the clones that have descended out that try to duplicate what they did. Even the too-soon-deceasded Robert Howard (Conan) had a fairly major effect on the industry (twice in fact, once in the 20's and 30's and again in the 60's and 70's when he was republished and his creation jobbed out as it were to different writers, including a certain hack named Robert Jordan. Unlike Adrian, I am not quite so sophisticated to give up on pop fiction in exchange for a strict diet of classic lit. Why? Sometimes I don't want to think that hard. I haven't quite gone over to the Pratchett crowd, and not because I don't enjoy satire and humor, but sometimes I like my fantasy straight despite the often inherent ridiculous nature of it. Having said all of that... I think one of the inherent flaws to a lot of fantasy is the tendency to polarize good and evil. There is never any real doubt to who the enemy is or what the motivation of the protagonists are (usually to save the world as they know or some variation on that). They theory, I guess, is that the bigger the threat, the bigger the hero. You know, this is why I like Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and The Grey Mouser. They are not inherently good, they aren't always looking to save the world, and quite frequently a primary concern was how to put food in their stomach and money in their purse. They are both, first and foremost, thieves and any "heroic" acts that they committ are usually done in some combination of surviving or filling their own pockets. I suppose my overall point, if there is one to be found in all of this undirected rambling, is that there are a few kernels of superb storycraft embedded in the morass of popular fantasy. Given the demographic most of the lit is targeted at, however, and the fact that they quite possibly actually want stories of Chosen Ones, prophecies, and orphans who come from behind to kill gods, the field is going to remain barren to the rest of us for some time to come.


posted by Gomez at 09:42

I'm just having one of those days where I'm not sure if I want to reach through the phone and strangle someone or bang my head against the wall because I know it'll feel good when I stop. Yeah. Will post more about fantasy/s&s later, maybe tomorrow when I'm thinking more clearly than I am now.


posted by Gomez at 13:30

Accomplished some writing last night (must learn to keep ims off. Not that I don't like talking to people, but not good for work ethic). But went to bed at 1:30. Errrgggg.... I'm at the point where eating, let alone actually going to work, doesn't seem like a good idea. Went to the library last night, and was frustrated by the fact that they had portions of series (like the George R. R. Martin and Glen Cook ones) but nowhere near the full set, and not the first of the series in the case of the George R.R. Martin in any case. I've also hit a point where certain blurbs and titles on fantasy books are going to drive me away. Anything involving prophecy or "a battle older than the universe" or chosen ones is more likely to drive me away. Yeah, I know I'm skewed by Michael Moorcock, who had a Chosen One (the Eternal Champion) but kept killing him off in rather tragic ways. I don't think the Eternal Champion died in bed, unless he was stabbed there. The whole idea of the hero needed to win the last battle has been beaten into the ground as well, and we need to go in a different direction folks. And yes, I am aware that the industry rewards those who follow a template more than it rewards those that take a risk, but come on folks. Maybe that's why my own "standard" sword and sorcery story is taking a much more personal, non-epic feel. That and I inherently don't trust heroes. So I decided to catch up on my Victorian strange lit with The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde and my continuing love/hate affair with Dumas with The Count of Monte Cristo. Yeah that will keep me busy for a while.


posted by Gomez at 07:28

Well looks like Blogger finally got their act together on the template side. Of course this doesn't stop the fact that I still can't seem to find my archives. *shrug* I'm really not all that crushed by that fact. No fencing tonight due to spring break, which is unfortunate since I could use it, especially since we have a full staff meeting today to discuss various and sundry things that probably will effect my job directly. Oh joy. Oh rapture. No writing done last night, but on the way into work I did come up with a better title as well as a conclusion to the story I'm working on now. This actually helps a lot, because now I know what I am writing toward. The way its looking, I might have this done by the close of the weekend. Note that is a pretty big might, but the possibility still exists.


posted by Gomez at 09:19

Hmm my template seems broken in that it won't let me update... more reasons to move to to MT once Lisa and Tim get a chance. At least it is still letting me publish. According to status.blogger.com all has been fixed, but I think they lie. On the bus ride in, I jotted down some mroe world building ideas. I'm not sure if even half of this is going to play a part in the short story I'm writing, heck, I could probably end the short story here and it would be relatively self-contained. I have one or two more twists that I can throw into the mix though, and ending short of 5,000 seems a bit of a cop out. It is chugging along nicely though.


posted by Gomez at 09:32

Hey... actually got some writing done tonight of a significant nature. A few more nights like this and I might actually have this challenge done. Now for a beer and tv, because you know, I feel a need to kill twice as many brain cells as the beer alone would account for.


posted by Gomez at 21:54

I'd apologize for not blogging, but no one is really reading this anyway, so what difference does it make? Yes, I'm being sarcastic. Spent the weekend with my dad, as Mom and Michelle traveled up to New England to look at Frnaklin-Pierce college and visit with my mmom's ide of the family. My grandmother turned 85 this past Friday. So we went out for good Japanese food, shared a pot of sake, and talked politics. My father is nearing the far right. Not the unrational conservatism mind you, but still much further right on more issues than I ever will be on. The fact that I'm probably further right than my friends should give this more perspective. Just sort of hammered home the point that I'm stuck in the tug-of-war that I think most of America is, somewhere between the ravening liberals and the rabid conservatives, neither of whose ideologies I can fully support. Also got some writing done, the word results I'll post after I get some writing done tonight so that they at least are more than what I previously accomplished. I'm even finding myself doing a bit of after-the-fact world building as I'm trying to figure out the social structure of the empire I am creating. It's... interesting, and I probably should record some of this digitally as even I sometimes have trouble reading my handwriting. Finished the Nightshades comp, or at least the relative easy part of selecting, recording, and burning. I still have to type up the fiction blurbs though. In other news, an event that was looming large over my head, went by fairly easily today... namely my performance review at work. I don't have to go looking for a job, and there are no employment-termination-pending problems, and, as always, there is room for improvement. Still, it was nice to hear my supervisor state that there are parts of my job that are monumentally difficult, thus somewhat mitigating the review he gave me. Yeah.


posted by Gomez at 18:53

My hero. And for the second day in a row a friend of mine has felt obligated to send me a coffee related comic.


posted by Gomez at 19:20

Mmmm French smallsword, the only style that actively encourages absolutely outrageous parries and disarms that probably only belong on stage or on screen. Actually the disarms and fancier attacks are completely in keeping with the French style.. they either work well and make you look very, very good and your opponent like an idiot, or you screw up the timing on it, and you end up looking like an idiot and probably dead. The first two were disarms, both of which resulted in locking your opponent's blade under your arm (none of that pesky "now where did that smallsword go?" nonsense). The first is a hanging parry across your body, then snaking your arm around the blade, popping your hand up to knock it out of their hand. You can then bow to present it back to them. Lest they get any ideas, the hanging parry comes around your body, placing it at about their abdomen level. The second disarm is a bit more complicated and difficult to pull off... you have to parry out, then bind, then bring your blade up between your opponent, catching the opponent's blade down by the forte (near the guard), again knocking it out of their grasp. And you have a free hand to grasp the hilt by, just in case you don't feel like giving it back to them. The last attack is again a parry out that continues all the way around your back, resting it on your hip and executing a passing lunge forward. Yeah. So we free fenced the last ten minutes, and I decided not to try anything fancier than feinting, diengaging, and coupeing. My opponent tried the fancier stuff, but kept trying to do it before I actually committed to an attack. This resulted in me going around his great big parries. What was even worse (for him) was that he lunged. Yeah. That doesn't work when your starting distance is a few inches away from each other. So I kept popping him in the arm and chest. I would also wait for him to place his weight on his front foot and pop him in the leg. Yeah, he could not pull his leg back in time to avoid me hitting it. Oh well. And yeah, it works well against the Italian schools as well.


posted by Gomez at 19:12

I'm tempted to give up on the fantasy challenge altogether, but I'm a bit too stubborn to let it die. Stories that I start on my own and go nowhere is a different matter, but this I will finish, even if it ends up with me having the main character drop dead from an unseen aneurysm. Bah. I have just about finished the final version of the Nightshades cd I'm working on and once I get a final copy burned will post the track listing here. Oh yeah, and I own all of the cds, and am doing this for personal enjoyment only, so I am not in violation of any copyright laws. Nyahhh. I spent time yesterday on the Metro out to gaming rewowking the track order and deciding to replace one of the songs completely for being too whiny. Most of the songs are of the hard fast lound bass and drum variety, and some of it you could even conceivably dance to. Granted, I still need to go back and type up the blurbs I am doing for each song, but that shouldn't take too terribly long. Goals for this weekend? I've got a few, but I think I'll take advantage of Friday night and finally get around to editing the story Adrian sent me oh-so-long ago. And I'm reallylooking forward to Lent being over so that Alicia can drink again.


posted by Gomez at 13:14

For the record.. I have never created coffee that ate through anything stronger than say your average person's stomach lining. Nor have I ever tried to create coffee that strong. I wil however admit to an attempt to create a cup of coffee that you could stick a spoon in, but that's different. And it is still raining outside, that cold miserable pissing rain that I detest. I caved and broke the leather out again because the denim just absorbs too much water. I would hate today more, but there is fencing tonight. My fellow classmates should be happy... I only got about five hours worth of sleep last night which means my reaction time is going to be seriously hampered... good for them, bad for me. Ahh well.


posted by Gomez at 09:43

Got into a conversation yesterday about the British royal succession and British history in a really abbreivated fashion with someone that works at the White House. To be fair, he did ask me what play the theatre was running right now (Richard III). So we talked for a while about what king was descended from whom and what the relation between the various kings. So nice to know that my liberal arts degree is useful for something. *smirk* He then asked me what my major was.... yep, I too was an English major. Granted, my concentration was in the Early Modern Period, and I did have professors who insisted on knowing the background behind the lit. Granted, that also got me questioned by my students when I insisted on talking about the history of the time period when they were reading British lit as well. The fact that I could have been a history major doesn't exactly hurt either, though then no one would want to be in the same room as Daly and myself.


posted by Gomez at 18:41

E.'s posting about poetry got me thinking about something that she thought we should do once back in college... go to a poetry open mike night and see if we could blow the rest of the readers out of the water. Personally, I think she had a higher opinion of my poetry than I did. Poetry is never something that came easy to me. I could never just sit down, willy nilly, and jot down a few lines of verse, even if it was loose and free. I have no real grasp of formal verse, and even have a hard time scanning. My way of writing poetry was to first be inspired to write it, then write it down, start to finish. then I'd look at it for a while and rewrite the whole poem, tweaking it as I did so. Sometimes I wouldn't even look at the original and try to rewrite it from memory, see what came out better and what came out worse. I'd do this three or five times, shrug, and put it aside. Yet somehow E. (and a few other people) got it into their head that I was a poet. Heh. I'm barely a decent writer (as evidenced by my lack of discipline in finishing that challenge she gave me months ago), let alone a poet. In high school and the one creative writing course I took in college, the assignment I feared most was writing a sonnet. Rhythym and rhyme just don't come naturally to me. Sorry. Not to say that I don't appreciate poetry, but it was always something I dabbled in, that I didn't take seriously for myself as a craft (not saying that it isn't serious or challenging, just the opposite). So what's my point? Just the fact that even if E. only writes a couple of sonnets and a sestina or villanelle this month, that'sstill more poetry than Ill probably write in a year.


posted by Gomez at 09:33

So sure, its not snowing here, but it is coming down with that nasty cold rain that soaks through your clothes and leaves your fingers numb and stiff, making it difficult to type. The fact that I just missed the first bus this morning didn't really improve matters much. I did accomplish one thing that I wanted to this weekend, namely the compilation cd for Daly I was plot... er planning. I listened to it on the way to work, and decided I need to change the last song, as it doesn't fit quite as well with the rest of the tracks. To my credit, its been a while since I've tried my hand at this, and while I might not be quite as skilled as some people, I'd like to think that I don't do a half bad job either. I'm also in the process of writing small fiction pieces to go with each song... and I'm almost done. Of course I still need to type them up, but at least I'm close.


posted by Gomez at 12:58

Top three spam types that amuse me the most: 1) Stop hair loss. Right. Like I really have a problem with that. 2) Enlarge the size of my breasts. Hmm... you know I don't think my breast size is too much of a concern for me for some reason. 3) Lose weight. I've got the build of a bean pole, thin with not much mass. I probably can't afford to lose any weight. In fact, at one point in college I dropped down to about 120 lbs. If I was about a foot shorter it wouldn't have been so bad, but at a bit over 6', that's just not healthy. I'd be more concerned though if spammers started to actually tailor their messages to me, so radically inappropriate ones are okay, if still damn annoying.


posted by Gomez at 13:17

So French smallsword could very well lead to my death. Why? I want to lunge. Nearly a full year of Italian has taught me to love the lunge, to embrace the lunge, and that to kill my enemy I should lunge as often as possible. The french have a lunge. Kind of. They bend at the waist and extend. That's it. You see my dilemma. The plus side to French, is that there is actually handwork! Okay, so there was handwork in Italian, but all it involves in a couple of binds. You got one disengage, and that was when you were rolling your wrist up to lock your arm, bracing it for the impact of going through your opponent. Now we have multiple disengages, quick coupes, and the tip control goes back to the hand (as opposed to the elbow where it had been residing). So last night we worked on counter-lunging and lunging-in-opposition. The last one is more familiar to modern fencers as attack-in-preparation. The counter-lunge is fairly straightforward. You wait for the attack, avoid it by either pivoting out or by crossing over in front, and place your tip somewhere on your opponent's chest. The harder they are trying to kill you, the more of your blade ends up in them. Lunge in opposition is nasty for various reasons. First there is the timing. Your opponent needs to be fully devoted to the attack. You have to attack them before they launch their attack. Next, you throw your head to one side, hard. You let this carry you over into an off-line lunge. You plant your hand on the ground to keep from doing a faceplant, then lunge behind you up into their torso. Here's a small caveat, if you miss, there is one defense... a high parry two. Yeah, you don't want to miss. Your recovery, such as it is, is to push up hard off the ground back into a standing position, while maintaining balance. There is an even worse variant on this that leads you right. Why worse? You don't even get the option of that parry. Steve was supposed to show last night so he and Chris could fence case. But, le sigh, no such luck.


posted by Gomez at 16:25

You're Davan! You try hopelessly to find women, but
the only ones who ever stay long enough to chat
are your best buds Aubrey and Pee-Jee. You have
the cutest cat in the world, and you're a geek.
You also have a great sense of humor, twisted
as it is, and you look at life in a great
sarcastic way!

Which Something Positive Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla And to think this started as a joke...


posted by Gomez at 14:22

This is why its a theory folks.


posted by Gomez at 10:41

For the record: Despite Nightshades being set in NY and despite it being a bar/club, there will still be smoking going on inside. Hey, its my little fictive NY and I'll do with it what I want. Besides, can you see anyone trying to tell Crowe that he can't have his cig, or worse, Fury that he can't smoke his cigar?


posted by Gomez at 09:44

So I was woken up in the middle of the night as well, though not by allergies. No no, the cats, both of them, decided to continue a fight that had started the day before, in my room. At four in the morning. I had decidedly little interest in trying to pry apart the two screaming banshees that had decided to have at it. That and Bailey, the little one, is damn fierce. Turns out she actually drew blood on Boston's neck, and as usual, it was Bailey that started the whole thing, though for no discernible reason. For all we know, she caught Boston using the litter box on the second floor as opposed to the one in the basement that he normally uses. For reference sake, Bailey has driven two cat sitters out of our house to date. Female+cat+territorial=mean. There is a reason why she is known as the Psycho Kitty from Hell. The fight picked up again at breakfast, with both cats doing a damn good job of scaring the rest of us by hitting that low subwoofer growl that screams "Come any closer and go for the eyes!" Suddenly I'm happy I won't be home until after fencing tonight. I just hope there is a house left. Oh and I finally finished The Sagas of the Icelanders. I see a trip to the library in the relative near future.


posted by Gomez at 09:30

I'm still amazed at the absolute coup that DC managed to pull off in the 1990s. For many years I gave Marvel my money. Why? I perceived it as "edgier". I mean they didn't cap everyone's name with -boy or -girl or -man or -woman. They seemed to actually have some creative juices floating around that DC just could not beat. For that matter, Marvel seemed more likely to kill people. Kind of. Even though they'd come back. Again. And again. What did DC do? Dropped the cape and tights. Okay, not completely, because characters like Superman and Wonder Woman still bring in revenue, but they realized the potential of giving writers and artists with rather disturbed ideas relatively free reign. The result? Sandman. The Invisibles. Transmetropolitan. Preacher. They realized that stories could be told in the medium that did not have to involve superheroes, hell, could involve whatever you wanted to dream up, albeit the British/American version of mature is still somewhat tame by Japanese manga standards. Granted, Marvel might well be winning the box office wars, but then they are selling character rights by the truckload it appears. Oh, and has anyone else noticed that the Western revolution in the graphic format was spearheaded by the British?


posted by Gomez at 19:14