FrankL

Re: The "Nice Happy" Thread

I started to read my boys their devotional the other morning. I started it with a question (both of my boys love to build with blocks, canisters, anything that will stack), "Have you ever built a house on the sand?"

My eldest (4.5) gave me this confused look. "No, Daddy! That's what the foolish man does!"

Looks like he pays attention in Sunday school.

Re: So Easy Even A Nine-Year-Old Can Do It!

Awesome thing to do. Only question I have is why did you include pics of the evil-looking guy in the room?

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group...

*nods* I noticed that myself' date=' but he's never read it. The Eternal Student is a character used by other authors though.[/quote']

 

A friend of mine tried it. After his second or maybe third masters, a degree counselor told him it was time to put his learning to use.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group...

...McGinty's player introduces a replacement - Byron Timmons' date=' who has been a student at Harvard for just on a decade, in order to exploit a condition in a rich uncle's will.[/quote']

 

I'm wondering if this one will be another incarnation of the Eternal Bloodthirsty Lunatic.

 

The eternal student reminds me of Victor Tugelbend, a character in Terry Pratchett's Moving Pictures.

 

Victor's defining personality trait is his active laziness - he goes to great lengths to avoid work. His uncle left him a legacy that would pay his tuition as a student at Unseen University, but only so long as he got above an 80 on every exam he took. The mark required to pass and become a wizard is 88. Since Victor much preferred the life of the student wizard, where nobody was actively trying to kill him, he studied extremely hard and carefully got an 84 on every single exam except for three (once, he passed by accident, but argued his grade down a few points, and got an 82 and an 83 on the next two to be safe). The Bursar eventually noticed this and gave him an exam with one question - "What is your name?" - but Victor never took it, having headed off to Holy Wood instead. In this way, he is indirectly responsible for the ascension of Ponder Stibbons to UU's faculty, as Ponder ended up with his exam.

Re: Quote of the Week From My Life.

Had a discussion with a coworker today. He used to be across the aisle from me, but everyone in his department got moved and he got an office. He said, "Frank, I feel for you everyday. You have to sit right under that speaker while it plays that annoying station! Me? I don't have a speaker in here! I don't have to worry about The Bus."

Ha also told me that more than just tech and programming were having to put away the headphones. That makes me feel a lot better about the deal. I still don't like the music but knowing that it's not a policy aimed at us is helpful.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group...

mcginty : I don't come out much.

gm : That'll hurt your election chances.

mcginty : Stuff the election, i'm still plotting revenge against the ****s who killed joey. When i do come out of the basement i'm wearing a welders mask and carrying tools.

gm : Oh god, he's building the iron man suit.

 

Actually, he's been making weapons to use against an enemy that has gate boxes, that won't destroy the gate boxes when used.

gm

: Why not use mustard gas?

mcginty

: Didn't think of that... Although the iron man suit is a good idea too.

gm

: Uh-oh...

Re: Quote of the Week From My Life.

You work on a bus?

:-) The big Green Bus is an easy-listening station in Des Moines. http://www.thebusfm.com/main.html

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it...

Starfire by Stuart Vaughn Stockton. Great! A world dominated by sentient dinosaurs. Not a humanoid in the whole book, and he said on his web page that the sequel is done, accepted, and coming soon! I love the way he unravels things in the book. He doesn't just come right out and tell you everything. You get to gradually uncover it. For example, he has a military character mention patrolling near the Picket. I first assumed that the Picket was a line of demarcation that the warring parties had agreed upon. Then someone mentions that the Picket is uncrossable. Ah, Berlin Wall. Then you see the Picket.

Stockton has put a lot of time and love in the novel. The characters have their own slang but within a few pages you are so enmeshed in the story that you don't follow along on it.

Re: Quote of the Week From My Life.

I wonder how "distracting" it'd be if you played your own music at your desk' date=' with speakers, loud enough to drown out the muzak. This being said, I've gotten the same "unapproachable" excuse before as well. My response? "Grow a set. They don't need to be big to tap me on the shoulder, and my teeth haven't really qualified as weapons for a great many generations."[/quote']

 

My next up talked to the boss for me about it. The boss specifically said that he feels I am distracted because I don't listen to music on my headphones but to podcasts related to the field I want to work in (which isn't php). I'm not distracted. I feel I work better when I am not listening to the Bus FM.

 

I want to do a doctorate in theology (already have two masters in it) and am now working to pay off loans. I think one of the biggest mistakes I ever made was not going on right after the masters. Maybe a year off at most.

Re: Quote of the Week From My Life.

o_O

 

Why ban headphones? Are you doing pair programming?

Nope. That would make perfect sense. This is for 2 (stated) reasons 1) to make sure the designers at work see us as approachable (apparently some of them can't figure out to just tap us on the shoulder). 2) We might be distracted by what we are listening to. Please note I mentioned that I am right under a speaker. I guess the banal, easy-listening music isn't distracting.

Re: Quote of the Week From My Life.

New policy at work is that we programmers are not to wear headphones. So I now have to listen to the Bus FM as I am right under a speaker. Ironically, this is supposed to cut down on distractions butt I find the music maddeningly distracting. I have concluded that the Bus runs from Des Moines to Arkham, MA. I'm not doing well on my SAN rolls today. Not at all.

Re: Need a name for a windy character

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions! There were some really great names, but one jumped out at me.

...

Blue Norther (Texas term for a huge northern storm)

...

Saw this one and knew the winner when I saw it. I'll hit Query with the rep stick later. I'm fresh out.

Hello,

I am building a new character for a story and am drawing a blank on her name. I'll give a description* because I know you guys will have some great suggestions.

Background

Elizabeth is a college student who loves stormy weather. She is from the Texas panhandle and volunteers as a storm chaser. She is of German descent-tall, blonde hair, blue eyes. All powers in the story world are the result of genetic engineering.

Personality

Giggly and fun loving with an attitude that makes many people think she is a stereotypical dumb blonde. Actually, she's a chemistry student and can analyze problems very quickly. When she needs to get serious, she does. She is very talkative.

Major Powers

Flight

Enhanced strength (pretty much a given in the story world that all supers have some degree of super strength)

Weather control - She can incite and dispel tornadoes and thunderstorms. She cannot control lightning but is immune to it. Controls wind with extreme precision. Can stand in the middle of a tornado without being moved. Is completely immune to the wind and lightning of a storm but not any objects being blown by the storm. If struck by a blowing tree, she would be affected. She would not be hurt badly because of her defenses but would be knocked back. She can also create wind by blowing or thrusting with her hands.

Use in story

Elizabeth will begin as a one-shot enemy before joining the Crew. She is from another reality where she is a member of a team with several analogues of the current team. They are also heroes there. However, when she comes to the story universe, she is told that the Crew are villains. She believes this and ambushes Bolt when has no teammates nearby. Bolt is doing well in the fight until something she says tips him off to her identity; he knows her unpowered analogue in his reality (the team is already aware of other realities but they do not travel between them). In fact, they dated seriously for a while. Discovering her identity throws him off and she takes the upper hand until he manages to convince her that he is not the villain here. He correctly surmises who the true event manipulator is and convinces her to join them to fight him. After the villain is thwarted, they discover that she is trapped in their reality and she joins the Crew.

*Build will have to wait; I may need some help on that one also. I will probably write it up in the system I am familiar with and try to convert it.

Re: Quote of the Week From My Life.

We were racing a storm to church yesterday. We had only been in the door about 2 minutes when my mother-in-law walked in. The street grew suddenly dark and the streetlights came on. The greeter said, "Bring the darkness with you?"

"It followed me!" she replied.

My THOUGHT: "The Darkness that Followed my Mother-In-Law." Great title for a creeper.

Re: Take a Teammate to a Movie

Bolt - He'd choose something life affirming with epic battles. Probably a LOTR marathon or at least ROTK. Next choice, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. They all live, but are forever changed. Would he hit on her seems to be a question raised by many responders. If Bolt is dating anyone else, not a chance. If he and Nicci are splits at the time, if she is dropping clues or seems receptive, he'll try to hold hands or put his arm around her. Kiss goodnight is the hard limit.

Garret - Doesn't believe in the power of premonitions. He'll actually find a Rutger Hauer movie. Blade Runner would be perfect, and its one of his favorite movies. No hitting on her at all. He's mid-40s and devoted to his wife, even if they are estranged.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group...

Oh' date=' forgot to introduce myself: I am Netzach Benetek, Navigator Primaris for the Rose Tattoo.[/quote']

 

Glad to have you here. BTW, have you been in any other games with Dr. Hoz as GM or player? He's posted about the Vitus campaigns, a D&D campaign with him as a goblin womanizer, the set you're in, and a Cthulhu campaign. McGinty is a very well-known name here.

Re: I have a dream. (and MAN was it wierd!)

Anyone else get dreams with a Narrator?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Oneiropalindromedary

No, but I once had a dream with opening credits.

Re: Have you written a story?

I used JAGS to make characters for my stories. The published ones are linked in my sig. More are ready to roll, with two accepted in a book as followups to the Shylocke Averyson story, "Sunset Over Gunther."

Re: Dark New England (A Lovecraftian Potterverse Campaign in America)

Better an overt school than a forbidden art... because THAT always goes so well.

 

Modern societies use bodies for all kinds of purposes (scientific research, anyone?) There is no necessary contradiction in the idea of ethical necromancy.

We are not necromancers! We practice postmortem communication!

Re: Super School Boogaloo Two: Ripping Off Quidditch

Calvin Ball. The ultimately adaptable game.

Re: Who would play your hero(ine) in a movie?

Bolt, flying blaster - Ethan Hawke

Blaze, fire starter/controller - Kirsten Dunst

Aradia, vampire themed - Emmy Rossum

Poor guy is having to choose between them.

Different set of stories (fantasy series)

Grimthol, knight - Chris Hemsworth

Shylocke, bounty hunter - Chris Evans

Granish, mercenary and bounty hunter - CGI. Voice of Jonathan Frakes

Howard, former knight and mentor - Jerry Clower (the character IS based on Jerry, but no reader has let on that they have gotten it)

Karina, half-elven thief - Natalie Portman

Twindove, elven archer - Sarah Michelle Gellar

Hanna, holy fighter - Hayley Atwell

Re: Who would play your hero(ine) in a movie?

I typically cast my friends to play parts in my stories. They don't know that.

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares

Men Who Stare At Cthulhu

Do they find that Cthulhu stares back?

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares

Bill and Ted's Journey to the Center of the Earth

7 Alone in the Dark

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Biscuit

The Manalive Who Was Thursday

Re: The Well of the Worlds

Were the other session writeups available anywhere?