I embrace new tools. In Fabula Ultima, for example, the order in which characters go in combat varies. I found it hard to keep track of who'd gone, so I went out and got poker chips and little round labels. Now, I can just toss the chips representing characters into a bowl once they've gone. Order!
OK, except it turns out I can't tell blue from green under the ceiling light in the room where I DM and the names on the labels need to be bigger.
Once upon a time, I was friends with a guy named Jim. A very, very few of you might know him. Almost all of you won’t.
I walked away some years ago, blocked him on the socials over his support for the fascist, because I said that the fascist’s promises absolutely, positively, literally required American concentration camps, and that’s what he was supporting by supporting the fascist, and I could not abide that…
…and yet, he carried on, saying I was a fool, and that none of it would ever happen.
(I asked him then why did he support someone he insisted was lying to him. I do not remember getting an answer, before I quit.)
So now that we have American concentration camps…
…and now that people with direct access to the fascist are talking about sending literally every American citizen of Latino heritage there to die…
(it will require more concentration camps than that, of course, but that’s a detail which makes no difference)
I wonder…
…has he yet been moved to repentance?
Or is he still a good and solid member of that wretched cult?
It’s immaterial now, of course. We are long past the point where the pebbles’ opinions matter, and crimes already done cannot be undone.
But once in a while, I think of it.
And for a moment – a pointless, irrelevant moment – I still wonder.
Director of the nation formerly known as Canada Quinn Atherton is determined to deliver much mass murder as it takes to achieve peace, order, good government. Why do so many ingrates object?
The inspiration being the 1999 Mummy movie is not without problematic elements.
Imagine an Egyptian film company wanting to make a movie about idiots waking a horror in Canada that only the Egyptian lead can resolve. ( Read more... )
Because I'm driving to Westercon instead of flying, I can be more expansive in my packing and don't have to fit everything into one (or at most two) bags. That's both good and bad. The good part is not having to work so hard packing. The bad part is carrying way too much stuff. But I guess it's sort of good practice for Worldcon. I sprung for first class for the flight to Seattle, so I get two checked bags, and based on what I've been packing for Westercon, I think I'll need it. Mind you, I won't be taking an extra Banker's Box of Westercon gear with me to Seattle, which will help.
Tomorrow's plan is for me to get away from Fernley as early as possible. I typically am up around 3 or 3:30 AM on Thursdays anyway, so if I can make an early start, I should be able to get to the hotel and get moved in fairly early. I'm I'm lucky, I won't get tangled up in any of the commute-time traffic, save possibly the morning Sacramento commute. Wish me luck!
The June 2023 Dark Eye Megabundle featuring the English-language edition from Ulisses Spiele of the leading German tabletop roleplaying game of heroic fantasy, The Dark Eye.
CSFFA (The Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association) is proud to announce the 2025 CSFFA Hall of Fame inductees.
Clint Budd, fan, convention organizer, modernized CSFFA and created the CSFFA Hall of Fame Charles R. Saunders, author, journalist, and founder of the “sword and soul” literary genre Diane L. Walton, editor, mentor, and a founding member of On Spec: The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic
Not later; not tonight; RIGHT NOW. Pick up the phone and dial the switchboard if you don’t know their office’s direct number:
(202) 224-3121
Tell your Republican Senator or Senators that you demand they vote AGAINST the Big Ugly Bill that transfers wealth to the billionaire class at a scale not seen in decades if ever, and balloons the national debt to levels never imagined.
They’re still going through amendments. There is still time, if you call RIGHT. NOW.
The English-language rulebook and supplements for Broken Tales, the tabletop fantasy roleplaying game of upside-down fairy tales from Italian game publisher The World Anvil Publishing.
2003: PM Blair embraces hilariously transparent lies to justify the invasion of Iraq, two million Britons reveal the power of public outrage when they protest the Iraq War to no effect, and the Coalition of the Billing (UK included) faces an occupation of Iraq that will no doubt be entirely without unforeseen challenges or consequences.
The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson 32 (53.3%)
Bold for have read, italic for intend to read,, underline for never heard of it.
Which 2003 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read? The Separation by Christopher Priest Kiln People by David Brin Light by M. John Harrison The Scar by China Miéville The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
Kuma Bear has announced his travel plans for this summer. He and his Girl are going to Europe again, once again with a two-month first-class Eurail pass. (Fortunately, Bear doesn't need a separate pass.) Last year's trip was badly disrupted at the start due to my utter misunderstanding of how to read AirBnB listings. This year, we started planning far enough in advance that we could get Lisa and Bear into the same extended-stay hotel (essentially a studio apartment) for the full two months. (While it did not actually come to it, what we did last year was multiple reservations end-to-end, with the possibility that she would have to move from one room to another, or move out for one day into a hotel and then come back the next day, or similar disruptions, and that made planning almost impossible.)
Lisa now knows the area better, and she will be able to base herself out of Munich, made a lot of day trips from there to visit a bunch of places she has lined up, and also make some multi-day excursions where she can travel more lightly while leaving much of her stuff in the "home base" in Munich. We have some of those trips lined up already, and hope to get the rest of them booked by the time she leaves for Europe. Some of those plans may have to wait until she's already there, though. Fortunately, having that Eurail pass gives her a fair bit of travel flexibility, as she's not generally tied to any specific train.
While Kayla and I are at Westercon, Lisa and Kuma will be packing for their trip. I'm scheduled to take her to the airport in Reno on the Wednesday after Westercon.
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