Thrakazog

Re: A Thread for Random Musings I was reading this article and one line in particular jumped out at me: This statement and attitude is symptomatic of everything wrong with modern politics. It gives no value to the power of leadership. Wouldn't a good leader be able to influence the budget battle, especially given the significance of this fight for the soul of his party, regardless of poll numbers? Or am I just being naive?

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER Oddly enough, there was a box of these combo tools by the register when I paid for my round. They were made of metal, though. Calloway was the label and they were a greens divot fixer with a flat metal coin for ball marking. It was an attractive piece, but I fin the cheap plastic markers superior to coins. They leave less of a profile and won't deflect the ball should it's path cross the marker - and that's the whole point, right? Besides, they wanted ten bucks. The plasic jobs are free and I already have a functional divot tool.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings It really cheeses me off when I take the time to make sure that my PC meets not only the minimum standard requirements but the recommended requirements for a new game and yet my PC can barely run the thing without bursting into flames. If the game takes a NASA mainframe to run cleanly, it should say so on the box. I speak of FarCry. I guess Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 are right out. And a new video card is way down on the priority list given the new house. Grrr...

Re: Answers & Questions Q: What are the names of that new jungle mercenary-themed villain duo? A: The wiffle ball broke my lawn chair.

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER Yes, I broke it. I went to mark my ball and used it, noticed it wasn't seated well, went to adjust it and found that the pin had broken off from the flat head. It was part of a ball marker/divot tool set that was given to me many years ago. Now I'll have to get another. I mean, it is a little thing, but I've just never had that happen before and it struck me as odd.

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER The pin on my good ball marker broke Saturday. How the heck does that happen?

Re: Global Guardians - Champs by email (review) I've been gaming in the GGU for a few years. I've played many characters and I've run a few campaigns. I also volunteer time as a player liaison/universe ambassador/part-time consigliere to Jack kind of role. The audit process is a pain in the ass. That being said, it's has made me a much better Hero system character designer and has created a sense of legitimacy and fairness unsurpassed in any PBeM universe I've seen. Every campaign and charcater is in balance - point balance, power balance, game balance, universe balance. The power of such is not fully evident until you actually play or GM is said universe. Does it take a while to get going on a new campaign? Sure does. But the auditing staff has a full plate and they are volunteers, not employees. Everyone has lives. Sometimes these things take time. Again, it's worth it if you can show a little patience. As for personalities, well, who here among us can claim to be perfect? Jack and Rebecca Butler are two of the finest people I know. (Then again, I think I'm pretty good, too, so what does that tell you about my judgement? ) They work hard to try and make the GGU as fun as possible for the sixty or so people involved and they do it for no other reason than they want to. They don't get paid, they don't get accolades, there's no glory or fame or fortune involved (until Hero Games gets going on that Global Guardians sourcebook, but that's a topic for another thread. ) So the next time you hear a story about Jack being overly-aggressive or mean, think about the two hundred or so emails he deals with on a daily basis regarding the GGU and ask yourself how long it would be before your unpaid ass snapped at someone when maybe you shouldn't have. He's not perfect, he doesn't always apologize, and sometimes he's a bear. But in many ways that's no different than myself and based on what he's willing to put up with and sacrifice for his labor of love - which so many others enjoy as well - I'm more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt when he cheeses me off.

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER It depends on my mood, really. From a spectator's perspective, I find flame wars to be entertaining. As a participant, it depends on whether I'm proceeding from a righteous or a antagonistic standpoint. Of course it also depends on what the other guy does. Take the recent "you're an " quibble with Agent X in the Democrats Want the Terrorists To Win thread. It was hysterical watching him prove my simple and privately expressed statement over and over again by not letting it die, posting private messages to the list, declaring himself above generally accepted standards of ettitquette, etc. Highly entertaining to read. Some flame wars make no sense, though. And some just get downright nasty, to the point where some really innapropriate things get said. I wonder if after the smoke clears any of these individuals ever regret having said the things they said.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Enterprise totally rocks. I mean it rocks on wheels. Bigtime. What a show!

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Is this irony?

Re: A Thread for Random Musings What's next? Hmmmmm.....

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I'd like to read It very much, but my bookstore might not carry it. You see, every Friday there's this guy who sets up a long table full of used paperbacks on the streetcorner down the block. Its $2 a book, and he'll buy them back at $.50. He usually has somewhere around 70-100 books that cover every genre from horror to romance.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings As I come up the stairs of the WTC PATH station and hit the street, I'm greeted by a thousand uniformed NYPD officers gathering for a drill of some kind. They even had a squad of those paramilitary guys with the machineguns. I'll never get used to that.

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I'm not sure if it qualifies, but I just finished The Stand, the unabridged version. Not scary, but very engrossing. I never think of a sneeze as just a sneeze anymore. I'd give it a seven out of ten.

Re: My House Rules. Comments Welcome

Re: My House Rules. Comments Welcome It was a generalized comment not directed to anyone. Smoke it as you will.

Re: My House Rules. Comments Welcome

Re: My House Rules. Comments Welcome I can understand someone not agreeing with the concept limitqations inherent in the GGu house rules, but honestly, if you can't formulate an original concept that you like, you need to work on your creativity. I've been playing in the GGU sandbox for a little while and it's still hands-down the most complex, involved, "come alive" game universe I've seen. Loads of fun, despite having a few of my own ideas shot down now and then.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Police them come an' now they blow down me door One him come crawl through through my window So then they put me in the back the car at the station From that point on me reach my destination When the destination reached it was the east detention Where them whipped down me pants looked up me bottom so Informer you no say daddy me Snow me I'll go blame A licky boom boom down Detective mon said daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane A licky Boom Boom Down. Words to live by. Mmm-hmm. A licky boom boom down indeed.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings I've been under a lot of stress lately. Between buying this house, wondering if my new corporate buyout masters are going to lay me off or not, my wife's upcoming operation, this mandatory non-binding arbitration hearing over a car accident I was involved in a couple of years ago, etc. etc. etc. If I've been a little cranky lately (or crankier than usual, heh) then I apologize to the group. Specific apology goes out to McCoy, who while he rubs me the wrong way quite often, is not the cause of my stress and hence should not be the target of my ire.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings I'm no artist, and MS Paint is a severly limited utility. However, Darth Vader was requested, and so Darth Vader I have become.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Well, I didn't think it would happen, but after looking at another dozen houses I did find one that I liked better than the last one. It's a center-hall colonial in Navesink, NJ, and it's perfect. We're under contract and the home inspection is tentatively scheduled for Saturday. I've got my fingers crossed, but unlike the last inspection nightmare where the house was built in 1954, this one was built in 1996. I expect it to go fairly well. I'm still nervous as heck about it, but... a closet of my very own! More than one bathroom! Grass! Green, wonderful grass! And I shall mow that grass! Yes! I shall give up my Saturday golfing so that I may mow the lawn and trim the hedges and -- Um...waitaminute...

Re: A Thread for Random Musings The online auction saga continues. I received an email from the folks at EBay. I was outbid for the item in question. So, I went higher. Immediately I was outbid again. Apparently somebody has a higher max bid amount than I. I can feel it, that tickling in my gut. I think, whether I get the item or not, I am going to become addicted to EBay. The wife will not be pleased.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings I just made my first-ever online auction bid. I feel oddly nervous about buying something on EBay, but I know so many guys who do it almost as a hobby that I also feel stupid for being so nervous. It was for a near-mint copy of Gygax's 1983 release The World of Greyhawk. It included the folio, booklet, and the two large maps. The nostalgia value alone makes it worth every penny.