Musings on Random Musings

[James Gillen]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

Strange things that go thru you mind when on a sleep deprived 2 hour drive home.

 

NGD: the card game

 

Object: to dominate the ngd board by controlling the most number of threads.

 

I can very easily see this.

You need to send a proposal to James Ernest at Cheapass Games.

 

[No, that's the name of the company]

 

JG

[Tim]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

I can very easily see this.

You need to send a proposal to James Ernest at Cheapass Games.

 

[No, that's the name of the company]

 

JG

 

probably never do that. I'd have to get permission to use the names and avatars of the various posters. Possibly the permission of Hero Games, et al.

[James Gillen]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

probably never do that. I'd have to get permission to use the names and avatars of the various posters. Possibly the permission of Hero Games' date=' et al.[/quote']

 

Yeah, that would be proprietary, but the generic idea has much promise. Call it "FLAMEWARS."

 

JG

[lemming]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

Yeah' date=' that would be proprietary, but the generic idea has much promise. Call it "FLAMEWARS." [/quote']

Yep. The generic idea would have merit.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

Yep. The generic idea would have merit.

If you want a loose Magic analogy, then, instead of laying land cards, you'd lay "thread" cards, and they'd be of broad categories (political, religious, movie/book, and so on), and there would be some "legendary" threads ("The Longest Running Thread Ever", "Has anyone seen Rachel/Kara", etc.)...right?

 

And then you could "tap" various sorts of threads to "Summon" different posters to do battle. For example, to "summon" Dr. Anomaly you might need 1 Scientific/Astronomy thread and 3 Nearly Naked Chics threads or something...

[Bazza]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

For example' date=' to "summon" Dr. Anomaly you might need 1 Scientific/Astronomy thread and 3 Nearly Naked Chics threads or something...[/quote']It would only take 0 Nearly Naked Chics threads to summon me :D

 

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

Now I'm going to wait for Alice to post a link to pics of Rosanne Barr in a bikini. (Shadowpup didn't ask her to post pics of herself' date=' note.) It'd serve all these lech-goobers right.[/quote']

 

That's a good thought. I may just do that once I can post from home again.

 

That is very very cool. So now that you're all svelte and sexy' date=' when are you going to post bikini pics?! hehehe[/quote']

Never. I said I lost a little (it's really not noticeable unless you're me or Josh), and there's a lot more to lose. I'm just on the right track, apparently. But even if I were to lose it all, that's still a sight I'd spare everyone.

 

*gives herself a headache with the mental images of loose skin and stretch marks* >.<;

[lemming]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

Speaking of losing weight, I'm still dropping weight at a nice slow rate. And apparently my strength & con are gaining. Went ahead and carried the 105 lbs of cat litter from the store to home (about 1 1/2 blocks) without too much trouble. (the tripping over a hole was a fun diversion, but caught myself.

 

I think it's the daily litter lift at work along with the garbage runs. People keep telling me I don't need to carry so much at once, but as I explain, I'm lazy and don't want to make extra trips...

[lemming]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

When Cultural Insensitivity becomes an art:

Oh my.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

"You're an expatriate. You've lost touch with the soil. Fake European standards have ruined you. You drink yourself to death. You become obsessed with sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You're an expatriate, see? You hang around cafés." --Hemingway, the Sun Also Rises.

Bloody GREAT quote.

nothing too suprising...

The only thing I have to do to be a textbook expatriate is leave the country.

[BoneDaddy]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

I have no life' date=' only Something Positive.[/quote']I understand. The backlog kept me occupied longer than I'm proud to admit.

[BoneDaddy]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

Never. I said I lost a little (it's really not noticeable unless you're me or Josh), and there's a lot more to lose. I'm just on the right track, apparently. But even if I were to lose it all, that's still a sight I'd spare everyone.

 

*gives herself a headache with the mental images of loose skin and stretch marks* >.<;

You be nice to yourself. You're the only you you've got, and that's a friend of mine you're disparaging.

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

You be nice to yourself. You're the only you you've got' date=' and that's a friend of mine you're disparaging.[/quote']

Easy for you to say. You don't see it in the shower every morning.

[James Gillen]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

Just to reassure the millions

and millions

of the Tribble's fans that he still around

And it doen't matter what you think

if you smell what the Tribble is cooking !

 

Finally... the Tribble

HAS COME BACK!

...to the NGD!!

[Tim]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

Finally... the Tribble

HAS COME BACK!

...to the NGD!!

 

"Must...Talk,,, Like...William Shatner!"

[James Gillen]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

"Must...Talk' date=',, Like...William Shatner!"[/quote']

 

I- AM- KIROK!!!!!!!

[zornwil]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

Yeah, that would be proprietary, but the generic idea has much promise. Call it "FLAMEWARS."

 

JG

Yeah, just create heavily-abstracted caricatures based on how we present ourselves online (if we're not caricatures already!) Though I would sign a release if my persona were represented, no matter if it were negative.

[zornwil]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

Easy for you to say. You don't see it in the shower every morning.

People of size are too self-desparaging. I think you often don't realize how little that matters to most people and that to a minority it's actually sexy. I say that because my wife is also appearance-sensitive and overweight.

 

PS - which isn't to say that I wasn't and to a degree still am not victim to the same thing, to be honest, having been overweight and now whether technically overweight still flabby.

[James Gillen]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

r hkvmg ulfi slfih yfrowrmt z hxirkg gszg dlfow wvxibkg z nvhhztv uli nv zmw dsvm gsv kiltizn dzh xlnkovgv rg gllp lmob z nrmfgv gl wvxibkg rg

 

You misspelled "klitizn."

 

JG

[Super Squirrel]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

You misspelled "klitizn."

 

JG

no, that's correct.

[beauxdeigh]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

no' date=' that's correct.[/quote']

 

bvk, ml nrhgzpvh rm gsviv. rg'h kivggb hrnkov lmxv blf ivzorav gsv kzggvim

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

People of size are too self-desparaging. I think you often don't realize how little that matters to most people and that to a minority it's actually sexy. I say that because my wife is also appearance-sensitive and overweight.

 

PS - which isn't to say that I wasn't and to a degree still am not victim to the same thing, to be honest, having been overweight and now whether technically overweight still flabby.

See, the problem is, I keep seeing parts of myself that are starting to resemble my mother.

 

My mother has about 100 pounds on me, but I keep seeing that gap closing. My mother is NOT the attractive kind of overweight. In fact, she's the kind of overweight that has people averting their eyes and telling their children not to stare.

 

Okay, so I exaggerate. But I actually have been sickened by the shape she's in, from time to time. So when I see myself becoming that, I panic.

[zornwil]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

So this Thursday (June 9) zornwil/Wilson Zorn was in Las Vegas for a convention at the Rio and he asked me if I wanted to get together with him and hang out. We arranged that, and after 8 pm we met up at the Sahara and had a pretty good time walking from the Sahara hotel to the Mirage, and discussing current events on the board, his career, my life in Las Vegas, and other stuff. Unfortunately we didn't think to bring a video-cell phone or camcorder to take pictures and prove we exist.

 

But anyway: After doing a brief tour of the Wynn resort, around 9:30 pm, we started moving toward the Treasure Island to watch their corny new pirate battle ('Wot's this? This pirate ship's been taken over by Amazon strippers in red lingerie!'). As we walked by the Wynn though, we saw the northbound side of the Strip just crammed full of taxicabs all honking their horns at the same time, and eventually we noticed that they didn't have any passengers in them.

 

We figured there was some kind of walkout going on. After getting as far as Harrah's and Mirage, my feet were killing me and Wilson agreed that we should go back and see if there were any cabs available to get us back to the Sahara. We got to the Venetian and got a cab, and asked the driver what was going on.

 

It turns out there is a major strike taking place Thursday AND Friday for various reasons. One, hotels are now diverting customers who are going to strip clubs from the taxi cabs to the limo services. This is a huge bone of contention because when you drop someone off at the strip club, the owners give the cabbie at least $20 a fare, sometimes $20 a head. Outside the industry, this is referred to as a kickback. Among the cabdrivers, it's called Mom, apple pie and the American Way.

 

The other problem is that the 'book fee' that the cabbie pays to his company per fare- in addition to getting his gas and other creative accounting expenses taken out BEFORE withholding- has jumped from 50 cents to $1.50, making it that much more difficult to turn a profit by the book.

 

And according to the cabbie, this all got signed into law by Governor Guinn, the Republican-In-Name-Only who previously signed the largest tax increase in Nevada's history only to wind up with more money than the state knew what to do with once the 9-11 economic bust leveled out. So if this is law, and not just one company screwing its people, that would explain why I saw EVERY company honking their horns- Frias, Bell, Yellow, etc.

 

Again, this strike is supposed to be resuming Friday evening, at exactly the busiest commute of the week. With McCarran being one of the busiest airports in the nation, it may bring things to a standstill there.

 

So this might end up on the news, at least if you live out West. Otherwise, if you are one of the two or three other posters over here, or if you have a layover stop in Vegas Friday... you may want to change your plans.

 

Do not screw with a cab driver. Especially a Las Vegas cab driver. Especially when your economy depends on tourism.

 

JG

 

An update - I ended up staying up and going back out to get something to eat away from the hotel later in the evening/AM (Vegas' 24 hour atttude is very corrupting for someone like me who is a night owl by nature, I'm so tired right now...), and talked to another cabbie who said that he felt the strike thing was bunk and it's mostly a lot of loose talk by people, that the consequences to the drivers of a real walk-out (which is illegal he claimed, btw, there are contractual and legal obligations to provide service and drivers can be summarily dismissed for not picking up at hotels as well as for refusing city service); however, "loose talk" has a way of becoming powerful, and while it might be "illegal", just imagine if the idea does catch on, if all the drivers were to get fired it would cripple the industry for weeks if not months, so while I respect this driver's opinion, it is one of several and I could imagine this scenario going any which way - as James relayed, the demonstration yesterday was quite impressive.

 

Also, interestingly, I learned as this cab driver has been doing it for 30 years, that the strip club kickback was only around the last 5 or so years. It started, logically enough, when certain clubs would give drivers the kickback to steer customers to their instead of others' clubs. Then the practice spread and then the gov't got involved and it became standardized to be fair, although of course in so doing it eliminated any competitive advantage and "simply" moved revenue from the clubs to the taxi and limo drivers. And now we're where the driver described as James mentioned. Quite an interesting story, a very Vegas one!

 

Also, JG is indeed very real and as interesting and nice a guy as he appears on the boards.

[zornwil]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

See, the problem is, I keep seeing parts of myself that are starting to resemble my mother.

 

My mother has about 100 pounds on me, but I keep seeing that gap closing. My mother is NOT the attractive kind of overweight. In fact, she's the kind of overweight that has people averting their eyes and telling their children not to stare.

 

Okay, so I exaggerate. But I actually have been sickened by the shape she's in, from time to time. So when I see myself becoming that, I panic.

Understandable. I hope the knowledge helps to fight that future.

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: Musings on Random Musings

 

Understandable. I hope the knowledge helps to fight that future.

 

So all I have to do to lose weight is move to a new apartment really often?

 

That doesn't sound right, somehow.

 

Anyway, I keep doing all the right things, but I plateau at a certain level. I think I need to break down and pay someone to tell me how to break out of this pattern eventually.

 

Meanwhile, what's most important to me is that I'm healthy, so I'll just continue taking my vitamins and going for regular walks.