Category: Current Events (page 58 of 91)

Writer Report: Busy Busy Bee

October 19, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Let’s take a quick look at where things stand in various non-dayjob areas right now.

Cold Streets

I’m beginning to think my “end of 2012” prediction for this novella might have been too ambitious. That, or I simply need to make more time to write. I have the outline laid out and a decent handle on how things should proceed from point to point, I just need to sit down and make myself do it. It’s all about discipline, and I need to do it more to myself even after long-ass frustrating commutes at the end of long-ass hectic days.

Untitled Fiasco playset

I’ve realized there’s a great deal of storytelling potential in the collaborative role-playing game Fiasco and I have an idea or two for a playset of my own. I’ve been looking at a couple of the others (Alpha Complex, Saturday Night ’78), just to make sure I’m not repeating too much that’s been done before. Not aware of what Fiasco is? No problem, Wil Wheaton’s gotcha covered.

Extra Life

Still no donations to this year’s campaign. That sucks. I still feel I should go through with the marathon anyway, at least get it started, but it’s disheartening to say the least. I’ll do a post-mortem next week either way, try and figure out what, if anything, I’ve done or am doing wrong.

Magic: the Gathering

With everything else going on I’ve actually been playing a bit less Magic in the past week. In person, anyway. I’m inclined to throw together a cheap deck for the upcoming Gameday, as there’s a whole pre-ordered box of Gatecrash on the line, but we’ll see what happens. More important stuff needs to be addressed. Meantime, I went in for some of the pre-release events online, and the result has been the ability to self-sustain some drafting for the time being. It’s good practice, if nothing else.

Boring Real-Life Stuff

My wife and I are moving! Yesterday I donated a ton of books to my local library, and I have bags upon bags of clothing, blankets, and towels set aside for the Salvation Army. There’s a metric fuckton of crap in my basement I’m straight-up throwing away; much of it I haven’t even looked at in the three years since I moved in here. The new digs are pretty and spacious, right across the street from a golf course of all things, and much closer to the dayjob. Between the balcony with a decent view of the outside world, plenty of room for a writing desk separate from major distractions, and the shorter commute, I’m hoping this will help me get into and maintain a writerly state of mind more often. I’ll have to find a closer venue for Friday Night Magic, but them’s the brakes.

My Friend, The Fedora

October 17, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Mystic Aquarium, Mystic CT

Hats and I have had an interesting relationship so far in my life.

Like many boys of suburbia I wore baseball caps more often than not growing up. It was likely when I was introduced to Indiana Jones that I became interested in wide-brimmed hats like the fedora and the akubra. This interest only grew in the wake of noir detective yarns and films like Casablanca. I’ve been known to wear something similar on occasion, though it tends to be a trilby more than anything else.

The problem is, I’ve been growing more fashion conscious due to living with one of the most up-front and visceral critics in the known universe. While I try not to read too much into everything that’s hurled in my direction for the sake of my sanity and self-esteem (no, playing Magic is NOT boring, it’s the card-sorting and stuff that sucks the most), I do want to walk out the door knowing I don’t look like a giant tool. And apparently, wearing a fedora-style hat in the wrong way is pretty douchey as far as fashion goes.

I’ve talked about this before. And I’m leery of putting my hat on over just about anything that isn’t a suit, now more than ever. Maybe I need to get myself a lighter trilby, to better compliment things like the picture above. But am I fighting an uphill battle? Have men’s hats been entirely ruined by awkward teens trying pull of the Don Draper look and the various profile photos on OK Cupid?

I know there are people who can and do pull it off, and not all of them are senior citizens. I’m just no longer certain I’m one of them.

Operation Extra Life

October 12, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Courtesy Origin/EA/Me.

*** THIS IS NOT A DRILL *** REPEAT *** THIS IS NOT A DRILL ***

On 20th Oct. 2012, a very special mission will be undertaken. For the first time in almost two decades, veteran Terran Confederation pilot Josh Loomis will don his pressure suit and step into the cockpit of a fighter craft to do battle with the ruthless Kilrathi invasion forces, to protect humanity and raise money for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

We are calling this operation Extra Life.

Last year, Operation Extra Life raised more than 1.2 million dollars to save kids, but in 2012 our goals, just like the needs of the kids we serve, are much, much higher.You could say they are as high as the sky. And beyond it is where we will fly, lighting up interstellar space with laser fire and rocket exhaust.

For 24 hours beginning at 1000 hours Eastern Standard time, the operation will play through the adventures of our intrepid pilots as chronicled in the Wing Commander series. The simulation will begin with the first iteration, and continue through each one as long as the operation goes on. The operation will be chronicled, live-Tweeted, and possibly even streamed. Updates on this to follow.

The best part is that you can help. Donating online is safe and easy! To make an online donation please click the “Support This Participant” button on this page. Your donation is tax-deductible and ALL PROCEEDS go to help kids back home.

Do your part! Tune in to the operation! Contribute if you can! YOUR PLANET NEEDS YOU!

***** END TRANSMISSION *****

Donation page

Writer Report: Back in the Saddle

October 5, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Deadline Clock, courtesy monkeyc

The last couple weeks have been brutal.

Burning midnight oil. Working on the weekends. Generally busting my ass. And none of it while working on Cold Streets. It’s been all about the dayjob.

On one level, I don’t mind so much. I’ve been there a year, and it remains a vital and worthwhile place to work. I have fantastic co-workers, a good and supportive boss, great pay and benefits, and work that’s up my alley as a developer. I’m problem-solving every bit as much as I’m tweaking and doing back-and-forth with a project manager or a client. It’s a pretty solid gig.

On the other hand, I know I’m behind in meeting my writing goals. I wanted to finish Cold Streets by the end of this year, and to do that I now have to really kick into a higher gear. I think part of the reason I’ve been held up is a touch of reluctance towards approaching it, knowing that as the world within the story expands, the more supernatural elements will come into play, and I don’t want them to overwhelm the tight pacing and balanced character dynamics I strove to maintain in Cold Iron.

I just need to write through it, I think. Time is running out, and there’s still a story to tell. The increase in supernatural aspects comes with a raising of the stakes. Our heroes need to meet and interact with the new villain, and peripheral players from the first story need to be fleshed out. None of it is going to write itself, and the only way to write is to write.

So tonight & Sunday, writing is most assuredly happening. Saturday is a day off for Magic. Because Return to Ravnica is stupid amounts of fun.

Extra Life Update

October 3, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Courtesy EA. I think they own everything now.

First of all, I want to thank everybody who voted. I know that LA Noire got the most votes, and while I do still want to play that game, a poster on the Escapist made an excellent point:

I doubt half the voters here even understand what Wing Commander was back in the day.

Before Wing Commander, story was sparse in video gaming outside of, say, role-playing or adventure games. The most story you got out of an action piece like Doom was some scrolling text and maybe a fullscreen splash image. I still remember the Doom marine cradling the head of his beloved bunny while glaring at the flaming pits of Hell.

Wing Commander changed that. Not only does it have a story, but its story has multiple paths to multiple endings. Losing a mission sucked, but was not a failure state; the game carried on, just as it would in a real conflict, with all of the ramifications included in failure. Crew mates died, and never came back. Those things stick with you.

Moreso than anything else, I want to see how the writing holds up. I’m curious if I can get it to work with a game pad, rather than shelling out for a joystick or struggling with mouse and keyboard. And I feel compelled to introduce a new generation of gamers to the joys and frustrations of the space sim, just in case the old warhorse is put out to pasture forever.

So Wing Commander it is. More details to follow. I will post a link to my Extra Life page once it’s ready, and gird my loins for the 20th. It’ll be a long day, but a fun one.

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