Synchronus Moments of Unintended Beauty

Image by Hexadecimal Time via Flickr

SO today was a good day, didn't have to use my AK. I woke up, tired and confused recovering from last night's gaming and the world was one notch better than I'd hoped, just one, no more. I had expected a crashed juggalo on my couch, he was not there. I expected the reason for his absence was shirking the task he had been given (helping a friend get her life together) and it turns out that rather than shirking he had been up since 6am working, the job was already done and everything had worked out. My classes were light and pleasant. My tutorials took half the usual time and on my way home I found a new statue in the university gardens I hadn't noticed before. but this is not what you want to hear. Want poetry or empathy or something. Well on my way past the statue there was beauty.

one of the reasons I stay in this town is I can half fall in love every fifty feet if I just open my eyes and walk. the women are beautiful, unselfconscious and usually quite bright. As I walked there was a bit of perfect moment. I don't know the name of the ballet move but her hands came up in a circle and her head leaned back until her ponytail toched the ground and she spun. She really spun, I had always thought that only possible with special shoes on hardwood floors or on ice but apparently one can do it in converse all stars on the bricks of the university sidewalks. she skipped and moved and danced her way down the street, a black band around her arm containing an ipod. I waved she smiled and winked and kept dancing until she was out of sight. When I got to my destination I saw an old couple, couldn't have been younger than sixty, either of them. They were sitting and both looking variously into each others' eyes and at papers they had, they were both spooning from the same bowl of rice pudding with whipped cream on top. each careful to leave the other the bit of topping until they both took a big bite of half a piece the routine had the grace and beauty of the ballet, granted this grace by what I can only presume to be years of practice. My waitress came with a musical accent, sounding high pitched without being shrill, her voice had the quality of an early disney snow white or cinderella but with a turkish roundness to her tone. On their way out the older lady of the couple patted me on the shoulder and looked me in the eye and said. "Isn't this just the best." You know what. It is.

Next time strip club, I promise.

Adam Sheehan

Image via Wikipedia

Adam Sheehan

Listen here

Part 2 of out otakon 2009 series is adam Sheehan, the part where he talks about Shin-chan at the end is a little nsfw but all in all a good show.
I'm posting this because its easier than emailing it to everyone who asked for it.

I Like Swords

Image by "" En el Pais de los sueños "" by Marc_ via Flickr

They're pointy and shiny. Here's our first postable Otakon Interview its with Rob of Dragonsongforge.com This is part 1 of 3, hopefully the next one will have pictures and helpful diagrams and the one after that will have video of Justin decapitating tami mats.

Stop As I Drop This Bomb

Blow up this place like another Vietnam.
if I'm lucky this trick works
special hidden message in the waterbomb

EEE! I'm back

I bought my computer before I saw the ad, based on the advertised long life that won't leave me unable to update. But I do like the Eee version of the energizer bunny. If anyone has any good ideas for backgrounds or motivators to turn into case stickers I'm all ears, drop em in the comments. I should be back up to updating with a quickness.

This

Very this

Spring!

I heard the first ice cream truck of spring today, it was beautiful. It sounded like a toy piano, not all beepy. It is a sad thing about adulthood in general or perhaps mine in specific that I can no longer hear an ice cream truck without volumes of experience rushing back. I remember seeing the tragicomic, drug fronts/ice cream men of Madison bringing smiles to young and old. I am both proud and ashamed of the many times the distant dulcet tones of the truck has resuced me from uncomfortable conversational moments. Many is the character in roleplaying games that owes his life to the five minute reprieve and regroup for thoughts afforded me by a distracted storyteller made all the more tractable by cold dairy treats. A truism I leave you with this evening. It is impossible for anyone regardless of station to look dignified while eating an ice cream cone. One of the first memories I have of politics is of GHW Bush when he was vice president, and former head of the CIA eating an ice cream cone during a white house easter. It was precisely then that I knew in my heart that adults were not inherently dignified, no matter their station. As a matter of fact, if you have an enemy or even a friend or associate who intimidates you, meet them over ice cream cones. If nothing else you at least get ice cream out of the deal.

Trying to Get a Sandwich, Finding Child Porn

So I went to Trabant in search of a meal. Normally I count this as a mistake due to overpricedness but today it was a mistake for a far different reason. I'm apparently engaging that part of my brain that cares about journalism again so I'm listening to all the conversations around me. Frat boys in ties for their frats in front of me talk about how the announcer for their hockey games has been arrested with six computers full of child porn, the girls behind me lament about how they forgot that chick-fil-a is closed sundays so what on earth should they eat. They then start talking about social events. The man making sandwiches talks about under staffing and changes in Trabant. A boy I walk past, looks to be in high school bumps me and looks out after his sister, clearly a freshman, she is showing him the campus and it turns out he's involved in some sort of skate something happening soon.
I choke back the urge to ask questions of any of them and all of them. Eventually I decide that even normal people would ask about the child porn so when most of the frat boys leave their friend on the sandwich line I ask, he tells me what he can. I find out he's wearing a tie for a chapter meeting, but there are a thousand threads of story that lead out from here.
I decide not to eat there and immediately go home to find out if the story has hit the papers yet. It turns out it (or something like it) has. I link to it in my blog. They didn't take the tactic I would've. I might have had a sentence about the Wilmington Man. At least I used to, I would have asked, where does he work? how is he known? did he make the films himself or were they sent. I do have an advantage over the reporters, I started hearing about the story as a piece of someone's life with a connection to the community. I know he announced at college hockey games. The person who wrote the piece probably only saw it on a police blotter.
Something interesting about the even shorter story here, it says there were 30 videos and 29 counts of child pornography. What's in the 30th video? What is the disconnect? Also why didn't they at least google the offender's name. one of the firts hits when I goolgled it, after the child porn thing is this.

Bill Panuski
Director of Broadcasting

Email: xxxxxxx (email and phone hidden by me as some sort of vague attempt at responsibility)
Phone: xxxxxxx(if the university takes the site down thoug I want to keep this copy of the bio here)

Bill Panuski is in his 6th year, as the Voice of the Fightin' Blue Hen Hockey Club. He is the Public Address Announcer, as well, as the Radio / Internet Play-by-Play Broadcaster. In addition, Bill became the ACHA Director of Broadcasting, for the Division I National Tournament. He is also, the Voice of the Blue Hens Volleyball Team and the Men's and Women's Lacrosse Team

This is a far more interesting story. The way I would have written it and its still short and only takes 30 more seconds.

Wilmington/Newark
Local Sports Announcer Charged With Child Pornography
Ben Walker March 6 2009

Delaware State Police have charged The Director of Broadcasting for the University of Delaware Hockey Team with more than two dozen counts of child pornography.
State Troopers carried out six computers out of thirty-eight-year-old William Panusik's home today. A forensic preview has so far found 30 videos depicting child sexual exploitation.
The source of the videos is as-yet unreleased.
The University so far has no comment.

Here is where you show the mugshot.

The whole thing would have been in 12 point courier new.

Then again what the hell do I know.

Calm Before the Storm

I have looked at the blogs and webcomics and suchlike that I want to emulate, it turns out they have something in common, they take one to 2 days off a week. I'm not sure when my day off will be, either Saturdays or Sundays, so until I figure that out I'll give you the reader an idea of how to set up before a shared universe larp.

12:00 noon, wake up, shower, prep any costume pieces you might need

1:00 breakfast, and by breakfast I mean no more than a single piece of toast and some oj as lunch wil be heavy, deal with angry and confused calls that you ignored the night before asking about character actions before game start, calm the masses, breathe.

2:00 chase down other staffers, make sure everyone is briefed for their roles, fix any problems on wiki (see 2 blog entries ago)

3:00 Ultra-lunch, carb and caffeine load a luncheon, save some for later for the nights will be long. Discuss metaplot and plan for games, also schedule of the evening with players and/or staffers over stromboli.

4:00 type, print, and cut all the scene reciepts, schedules for the night, see if there are any last minute changes, call stragglers that may not have rides, arrange rides for up t 10 peopleif unlucky, self if lucky.

5:00 breathe, organize backpack, do equipment check, does laptop work, does backup laptop work, do walkie talkies work, are backup batteries prepped? call other staffers, make sure their equip works, (printer, other computers, etc)

6:00 go to site, remove squatters , make sure security knows we're supposed to be there, check to see correct doors are unlocked, clear room of trash, check lighting, check sound system at site.

6:30 bind and package, receipts, schedule, walkie talkie for staffers, prep sign in sheet, load web documents, (wiki, maps). find/purchase/borrow pens,

6:45 first players arrive

7:00 players are allowed to begin sign in and get sheets,

8:00 in-game clock starts

9:00 most people are there

10:30 second wave of people arrive

11:30 things either wind down or explode

12:00 midnight end of game announcements

12:30 clean up site, shoo others out

12:45 post-game analysis at diner

1:30 am post diner analysis at home, drinks provided to those who are of age, staff drinks free.

4:00 am sleep

5:00 am breathe

Dogs, both Reservoir and Sled

Well apparently I am no longer 12. I have discovered this in my recent attempt to take advantage of the snow day and sled. I was under the impression that Delaware is largely flat, flatter than the various square states, in fact the flattest place in America. Moxy Fruvous even had a trivia section in one of their concerts called "the lowest highest point" that mentions that Delaware is freaking flat. Flat however doesn't mean flat. there is a hill in Newark. not a natural one, like Val from chorus line (Dance Ten: Looks Three) Newark has brightened up its image with an implanted water reservoir.

After many years living in this town I found myself at this reservoir. I looked up at the hill, the hill looked down at me, powder and icy breeze from the reservoir whipping down and I trudged. when I reached the top I fell down. I realized I have not gone up an incline steeper than 15% since I lived in a house nestled in Rock Creek Park, but those days of freewheeling rock climbing and spelunking have vanished beneath 200 extra pounds of movie watching and rpgs. I was lying in the snow, looking up at my better half watching her run around on her sled, ingeniously MacGuyvered out of a waxed cardboard fruit box, some origami, some work with a pocket knife and several years of mechanical engineering training. She was playfully gamboling amongst the snowflakes after showing the requisite amount of concern that I was not actually dying and I felt something nudge me. A small dog has been let go on the slopes, it had decided I was the warmest non-moving object and had decided to take shelter beside me to get out of the cold. Some insane bint had let the dog go amongst the snow and water and such leash still around its neck, trailing its lead behind it with a tiny doggy sweater. now this doggy sweater I think mishandles the basic problem of an 8 inch tall dog in 10 inches of snow. First it was wool and therefore absorbed water, second it only covers the front half of the dog. I know if I was a tiny dog in deep snow I'd want some snowpants or something.

I waited fora while then climbed another hill to better get a look for my erstwhile girlfriend (and ride home) who had since disappeared amongst the snowbanks. the dog, this time bringing friends followed, we sat on the bench, we looked at each other and I have rarely felt such a kinship to an animal. we both had gone out into the cold with the people we love, the promise of a great adventure and winter fun in our hearts, and both of us were let down by the weakness of our respective clay.

Lindsay returned with her sled , tired and happy and offered it to me. I looked at the dog and it looked at me. I sat upon the cardoboard and crushed it into what turned out to be an oddly aerodynamic and effective shape. After a few feet of scooting I slid. Years of Calvin and Hobbes came back to me in a rush as I made my way down the smaller hill before a much larger descent and when I sat up after my winter wipeout I found that the small dog had followed me, skidding down in my wake, tail wagging. It seems my weight and momentum has cleared out or packed down the snow to the point where the dog could be happily rejoined with his master without trudging through show up to its shoulder.

A few minutes later I slid, (sledded? sled? sleighed?) down the big hill and it was fast and fun and wonderful. Lindsay followed on a borrowed skimboard, oddly enough borrowed fom the owner of the small dog, happy to be re-united with her put upon pet.

On the way back home a friend of mine told me that the reservoir had only become a park and such a picturesque place as an attempt to recoup some of its legal losses and big controversy involving its construction. I know this was a long way to go for anything newsworthy but I had fun on the journey.