Lust

As some of you may have gathered, I have a thing for pen and paper games. Well, really, I have a thing for games in general. But I especially enjoy games where you get a half a dozen people together around a table and play--hence why our weekly/monthly games make me so happy.

So the other day I'm killing some time over on the RPG sub-reddit, and people get to talking about customized gaming tables. It made me smile, imagining just how crazy some people can go over their respective hobbies.

And then somebody linked to this.

The first table that I came across was the Emissary.

At first glance, it just looks like a nice dining room table that can set about six people, made from actual hardwood instead of particle board. Nice, but not really anything special. 

But, appearances can be deceiving.

By day a mild mannered dining room table...

...by night a fun-tastic gaming table!

(Please pretend with me that I did not just use 'fun-tastic' as a word. Thank you.)

It can have between 4-6 drawer/desktop areas you can pull out, plus an area with extra room for your GM/DM. More importantly, the top of the table can be removed, and underneath is a dropped down space to place your maps and minis. If it gets to be midnight and people need to go home, no worries, just put the table top back in place and come back to the game at a later date and time.

Pretty nifty, and not too badly priced at $1,500. Still, not something I'm going to have taunt me in my dreams because I can't have it.

And then I came across the Sultan Gaming Table.

This is, quite possibly, the most awesome gaming table I've ever come across. Like the Emissary, it has a removable top and 'stations' for players and the DM/GM. However, these aren't some roll-out desk. These come complete with their own drawers, dividers, and map storage areas. For each player. (It sits 6-10 people.)

Tee-hee!

It also has built into it what they call a "Layer Cake," which basically allows you to lay down your maps and then place a translucent sheet of squares or hexes atop them so you can write on the maps without damaging them. Or spilling drinks on them. It also has a plain whiteboard you can place on top of that if you want to draw out the dungeon.

And speaking of spilling drinks, this comes with cup holders at each station. A small thing that made me quite happy.

The DM's station is also pretty freaking awesome, with storage for handbooks, dice, minis, and other odds and ends for the game. The sides of the table can also open up, providing a "bay" for you to roll your dice, preventing mishaps with dice killing minis.

Trust me, when I'm rolling dice, you want something protecting the minis.

Of course, all of this awesome is not cheap. The advertised price before taxes or any added features is $8,850.

Yeah, that's not happening any time soon.

Nor do I have room in my house for such a thing.

But if we ever win the lottery/get a massive inheritance/suddenly start making millions a year...

This is in no way a paid advertisement/endorsement. Geek Chic doesn't even know that I exist. I just wanted to drool and make a fool of myself in public.

Four things

I've got some stuff to get done today, so I can't focus too much attention on the blog at this moment. However, I have come across a handful a links I feel like sharing.

• For Literary Cat: A Dribble of Ink has a post up with a series of links for free downloads of short stories, novelettes, novellas, and one novel that are all up for the Hugo this year. If you're looking for something good to read on the cheap, feel free to go through these!

• For Something Catchy: Here's a rage comic that Sam and I came across last night. I have a feeling you'll be able to relate.

• For the history buffs: from the article, I have the impression this is only for the iPad and doesn't include the iPhone, but I wanted to point it out because it's pretty freaking awesome. Basically, someone's designed an app that is an interactive newspaper that takes you through the Civil War in real time. Meaning they started releasing articles on April 12, and each day they update with headlines from the actual war, photos, military maps, and other trivia/information that had to do with that day during the Civil War. It's $7.99, but would be an awesome learning tool.

• For my D&D buddies: This video is pretty cute, and made me giggle.

A Capella Mario

It's Monday. It's rainy. My sink may or may not be fixed.

Let's brighten our day with a bit of Mario, shall we?



Sam claimed it was one of the best arrangements of the Mario music he's heard. I'm inclined to agree.

Also, go check out his You Tube page. He has a lot of other awesome videos (particularly Ching Chong).

Unintentional Themes

So, it would appear that this is my video game week, even though that was not my intention starting out.

Life's funny that way sometimes.

Anyway, today's random bit of entertainment comes courtesy of will, who left me this link in my post about Civilization 4.

I laughed for at least ten minutes after watching it, though I do have to warn there is a little bit of language in it. Later that evening I showed it to Sam, and we started looking at some of the other videos that Brental Floss had done of "What if             had lyrics?"

They were suitably hilarious, but I will warn that some of those videos (particularly the one for Zelda II: Link's Awakening) are Not Safe For Work.

However, there was one in particular that I wanted to share. It's in a different vein from the other videos that we looked at, and I find it strangely beautiful.

Enjoy!

Epic Win

Courtesy of Hip Gamer, who spotted it on Game Informer (which has a larger version of the pic).

Fan Art was originally done by Ag+ (you can see the original site here, though I must warn you it's all in Japanese).

I totally wish I could by this as a poster, because I think this just might be the best piece of Fan Art I've come across in any of the fandoms I follow....

Civ 4 is consuming me

My brother picked up the original Sid Meier's Civilization when I was about seven years old. When he wasn't around, I'd try my hand at it, because if my Big Brother was playing it, then it had to be awesome.

(Big Brother is ten years older than me. This resulted in a lot of hero worship on my part.)

It took me a whole year and multiple tries before I finally beat it on the easiest level, but I was so bloody proud of myself for it.

A few years later, after Big Brother had left to join the navy, I got my hands on Civ II. I played it for a couple of months and then lost interest in it.

Fast forward to college, where I was constantly looking for a game to goof on instead of reading for my classes. One night while going through my old games, I came across Civ again and decided to fire it back up. (DOS emulators for the win!) Things that had confounded me at eight were now blindingly obvious. I set out and beat a game of it in a weekend. Later I pulled Civ II out of storage, and I've periodically played it off and on ever since.

I like to play as the Russians. I don't know why.

Since installing Civ 4 on Friday, Sam and I have been playing it several hours every day, trying to figure out what's new and different. The last couple of nights we've been trying our hand at a multi-player game (which I suspect is a direct result of finally beating FF13 after getting it at Christmas. And by finally beating it, I mean getting all but one of the achievements. *grumbles about stupid Treasure Hunter*)

All of this to say, even though I'm continuing to keep an eye on the internet for new and interesting things, my brain power is currently dedicated to trying to take over the world through religion and culture.

It's dangerous to go alone

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the original Zelda's release in Japan.

This makes me happy, but also make me feel incredibly old. I was almost two when it came out.

The first game system I really remember is the NES, which my brother got for Christmas one year, I believe. My father's reasoning was that it would save money in the end, because every time you died in-game, you didn't have to pay another quarter to play again.

My family fell in love with Zelda when they played it. My parents and big brother spent hours and hours drawing out maps for each of the dungeons on graph paper. Not only did they make the layouts, but included what enemies were in each room, where to use bombs, what needed keys, and the best routes to take to find everything and beat the dungeon quickly.

In the intervening years, we have recopied those maps on at least four different occasions, because the previous versions would grow so old and yellow that you could hardly see what was written on them any more.

The Legend of Zelda's been such an integral part of my family's culture, that it became a right of passage to beat the game. I believe I was about 11 or 12 when I finally beat it. I had downloaded an NES emulator onto my computer and started playing through it. Mom saw what I was doing and told me to dig out the NES and play it old-school.

Mom and Dad then proceeded to guide me through the dungeons and give me tips and hints. Prior to that, I had always manned the maps and told them where to go.

It was a bizarre feeling.

This past Christmas, we guided Sam through the game. It was a bit different of course--they had downloaded it onto the Wii, since the NES now lives with Sam and I. Still, after a couple of days Sam had destroyed Ganon and rescued the princess. When he had finished, I heard C-3PO in my head saying, "You are now a part of the tribe!"

(I know the original quote is "we are now a part of the tribe," but that's the wonderful thing about imagination--it can adapt.)

So, it is with great joy that I celebrate Zelda's 25th anniversary!

This is for all you people who like FPS...

Everyone has something they're not good at. For some people it's writing, for others it's dancing, for a few it's social situations, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

For me, that something is First Person Shooters.

I grew up watching my Dad and brother play games like Castle Wolfenstein and Doom. Later I watched friends playing Halo and Quake. Eventually I married a man who also enjoys the occasional Half Life or Call of Duty.

I, however, am not built to play such games. I have accepted this.

And I do enjoy watching people play these games. But I always wonder, when watching them, just where in the blazes they store all of that equipment--multiple guns, ammo, rocket launchers, grenades, chain saws, crowbars...

And now, thanks to Reddit, I know:

For everyone who has ever played any sim related game...

...I about died laughing when I saw this. It's sick and twisted, I know, but if I'd ever played Roller Coaster Tycoon this is totally something I would have done at some point.



Thanks to Reddit for bringing this little bit of joy into my snowy life.

SNES theatre...

This is freaking awesome, and totally made my day look better.

So, one last thing before I disappear.

Checking out today

Literary Cat is coming over to play today, and then the whole crew is getting together to hang out tonight. As I've just finished all of my chores for the day, that doesn't leave much time for blogging.

But don't worry, I still love you!

(Yes, even you.)

And to show it, I'm going to leave you with a fun link that you can play with for hours. Or, at least, Sam, Sherri, and I have all played with this for hours....

There and back again

Glad to see that my experiment with the Blogger scheduler worked out. On the other hand, it does remove one more excuse for why I don't update all the time. Ah well.

As to our trip, some things did go sadly "wonky" over Sam and I's Christmas Vacation, but we did make it safely home yesterday afternoon. Some of you may remember I had a bit of a nasty cold in the middle of the month, but after a few days of laying around watching cartoons got to feeling much better. By the time the Christmas Party rolled around, we were both in tip top shape and had a fantastic time hanging out with all of our friends.

The next day (or maybe it was two days) all of us got together again to continue our latest adventure in D&D with the big group, and while we were there my nose was constantly running and I was downing pain killers for the sore throat that was developing. Hip Gamer noticed what I was doing and nonchalantly pointed out that if I had strep he was sorry, as he'd gone to the doctor the previous week and they'd put him on anti-biotics, though they didn't think he'd actually gotten strep. Walking Hyperbole then chimed in and explained he and Adorable Nurse had had horrible sore throats and coughing the previous week.

Oi vey.

The night we went over to Sam's parents for Christmas with them, I was noticing more drainage and coughing, so I tried to keep everyone at arm's length. By the time we left for Kansas the following morning, my voice was crackly and could not hit any of the upper registers. Which made me very sad, as it meant A) No singing Christmas Carols during the car ride and B) I had a raging headache/sore throat while riding in a car. But I could still torment Sam.

After we'd finished all of our Christmas Eve celebrations at my parents' that night, my voice was completely gone and I was utterly out of it. As there was a remote chance it was strep and not just a bad cold, Sam called his sister to see if she wanted us to go ahead and continue on to Kansas City the next day. We both really, really wanted to see our niece and new nephew, but we also did not want to get the new baby (or big sister who loves cuddling with the new baby) sick.

Everybody wanted to see each other, but they finally decided that as much as they love us, they did not want to risk a houseful of sick children. Completely understandable. Instead, the hope is to get up there around the end of January and see them then.

That decision resolved, I went and collapsed into bed.

Am I the only one who thinks McCoy looks like Gollum here?

What followed was a joyfully hazy time of sleep, movies (including ST IV), food, sleep, Nintendo, sleep, card games, pictures, and, oh yes, sleep. It took a few days, but by the time Monday rolled around I had my voice back and was coughing only occasionally, so we went and visited my Grandma Nena  (Hi Grandma!). It was an enjoyable afternoon, filled with good conversations, food, and the final round of Christmas fun.

And yes, I did bring home more recipes from Grandma. Good things will come of us this.

Trust me.

We made it back to my parents' house that night, and concluded our final evening with my parents by watching Sam participate in a long-standing family tradition--he beat Ganon in the original Zelda.

Yesterday morning, Sam and I packed ourselves up in the Jeep and headed on back to Oklahoma. It was a fantastic trip, all things considered, even if I was sick and we didn't make it all the way up to see Sam's sister and her family.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas!

Recovery

Sam and I are doing much better, and the rest of the day will be taken up with helping the house recover from 3 days of neglect. Then tomorrow will be all about baking and making stuff for the Christmas party on Monday.

As such, I'm going to be away the next day or two, so I thought I'd share this bit of wisdom I came across this morning. Why didn't he tell me this 20+ years ago?



If my father were to tell me one thing, and Sir Patrick Stewart was to tell me another, I don't know who I'd be more inclined to believe. That wonderful voice! O.O

Day Thirty-Five -- Snapshot of My Thought Process

As Sam and I were driving home tonight, we passed BJ's (a restaurant chain through out this area). Sam begins talking about his opinion of BJ's (he's not much of a fan), and this is what ran through my head:

Strange, Brad is a huge fan of BJ's.

However, for some reason as I was thinking the thought, the word Brad morphed into Fred.

I then proceeded to start thinking about how Brad and Fred share two letters ("r" and "d" for those keeping score at home), and then I started thinking about the game Text Twist, and how you have a word with six letters and jumble them and try to make smaller words.

So what word has the letters "a," "b," "d," "e," "f," and "r" in it, I wondered.

The word that immediately popped into my head?

Barfed!

I immediately started giggling, which resulted in my having to explain it Sam.

Yeah, I'm strange.

Day Twenty-Three -- Games

Many people would not--do not--consider me a "true" video gamer--not the hard core video gamer that so many of my friends are/claim to be. I'm not obsessed with the gaming world, and if I play more than two new video games in the course of a year, I'm doing really, really well.

However, I am a gamer. I play it all--card games, board games, console games, PC games, flash games, word games, mind games, logic games, puzzle games, counting games, pen-and-paper games, table top games--the whole gamut. I'm good at maybe a handful, but I absolutely love playing any and all games. Nothing makes me happier than getting a group of my friends together and playing a board game, or being with my family and playing a card game, or sitting at home and playing the Sims 3, or a small flash game on my iPhone. Games bring me a joy and contentment that is hard to describe--though they certainly have their frustrating moments.

It's not that I'm obscenely competitive--in fact, most of the time I could care less if I win or lose (which is not to say I won't practice to improve--I do have pride). Mostly I just enjoy either the chance to hang out with people or the chance to keep my brain active whenever I don't feel like reading. Or when I'm trying to ignore a customer.

Wait, forget that last sentence.

Games spark my imagination in numerous ways--yes, even something as dry as Sudoku. Whenever I'm stressed games help me relax, and whenever I need to truly focus on something and think it through, playing a game at the same time diverts my attention just enough that I actually will think clearer on the problem I'm facing.

While books will always edge out over games, I must confess it is by a much smaller margin than most people would assume.


"If you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time.
--Chinese Proverb

Day Five -- Flash Games

To be honest I have a little bit of an upset stomach tonight, so I'm just going to leave ya'll with my personal favorite top five flash games (because apparently I'm all about top five lists):


5. Addiction Solitaire

When I was a lone, solitary sales rep at Radio Shack, I could literally go several hours without ever seeing another human being. This game was what got me through without becoming completely homicidal. I originally knew this game as "Gaps" on an old Sierra card game my mother had on the PC when I was a kid. Definitely a fun time killer.

4. Zuma

This game always makes me think of Tarvis, Will, and my parents. In that order. Highly recommend you play this game with a mouse and not a touch pad, however. (Speaking from sad, sad experience.)

3. Gridlock

In case you were unaware of this fact, I am a complete puzzle nut. I adore puzzle games. Gridlock is all about trying to get a specific block off the board by moving all of the other pieces in a unilateral direction. When I was a kid it was a board game known as "Rush Hour."

2. Word Whomp

No list of time-killers would be complete without a word game, and this one is my favorite version of the lot. The basic premise is to take 6 letters generated by the game and find as many words you can make from those letters as you can in about a minute and forty-five seconds. Another good version is Text Twist.


And what is our favorite time-killer at Angel Cole's Work in Progress?


1. Bejeweled

A tried and true classic, nothing has sucked up endless hours for me quite like Bejeweled. One of the best and worst things that ever happened to me while working at the DTC was having this game on my phone. (Yes, that is what I did during performances. Your point?)


There you have it--five time-killers to make effective use of whenever you want to put off being productive. :-)

And if you want a truly, ahem, memorable experience, you can always try this game. (Sherri, I'm looking at you.)


"The nice thing about doing a crossword puzzle is, you know there is a solution."
--Stephen Sondheim