I cannot recall any tv show that I have watched generating as much polarisation as this week's Torchwood. (Of course, I am slow at these things, and watched the later Buffy and mid-period West Wing only a couple of years after first broadcast.)

To generalise brutally, my impression is that a majority of the fanfic side of fandom was appalled, while the more literary sf side was generally fascinated, with plenty of exceptions on both sides. To summarise reaction from my f-list (a number of these posts are locked, so you'll have to take my word for it):

( links )

( What I thought )

( Is that the end? )

Walked a bit over 1.25 miles today in half an hour. That's down a lot from my 2.5 mile walks in 45-50 minutes, but it still feels so good to be walking again; I feel a little more "clunky" in my body than I have been but it didn't freak out or flare up from the exercise.

I also had a mini-omelet with smoked fish and shallot greens for breakfast. Real food! Joy! I've been eating fruit, too, anything that's not super seedy and that I can chew carefully.

And I slept a lot, but hey, that's normal.

Ok, so I ended up staring at the Psion and pondering the question of how its power point model compares against the standard build. To do this really requires an assumption, and that is that an at-will power with it's maximum augmentation is comparable to an encounter power of the same level. So before anything else, that assumption required some exploration.



The psion's Level 1 At-will's, maxed out, get this:
2d6 + stat, plus penalty equal to a secondary stat to enemy's attacks until the end of the next turn (Burst 1, All targets, Range 10)
2d6+Stat damage and you are invisible to the target until the beginning of your next turn (Burst 1, all targets, range 10)
2d10+stat damage and target takes a penalty to defenses equal to secondary stat mod until the end of your next turn (Range 10)

Compare this to the level 1 encounter powers of another controller (the Invoker):
1d6 + stat damage, push target 2 squares (Close Burst 3, all enemies)
1d6 + Stat Damage, Each ally in burst gains +2 bonus to AC (Burst 1, range 10, enemies only)
1d10 + stat damage and target is immobilized until the end of your next turn (range 10)
1d6 + Stat damage (or 2d6 is single target) and target is dazed until end of your next turn (Range 10, 1, 2 or 3 targets)

And the Wizard:
2d6 + stat damage (Close blast 5, all creatures)
2d8+stat and target is dazed until end of next turn (range 10)
2d8 + stat and secondary attack against all adjacent enemies for 1d10 + stat (Range 20)
1d6 + stat damage and targets knocked prone, plus create difficulty terrain until end of your next turn (burst 1, range 10)
1d10 + stat damage and target is weakened until end of your next turn. (Range 10)

I feel like it's safe to call these comparable, or close enough for government work, but before I go any further I want to put that assumption out there for examination.

Just under the wire for today's deadline, I've submitted 5 games for this year's Pacificon (formerly Conquest SF) at the Santa Clara Marriott on Labor Day weekend (September 4-7). Last year I ran six, so I hope all of these will get scheduled. 4 players each, 4.5 hours each, since they're scheduling in 2 hour slots with 30 minutes between, so there's time for breaks.

( Dogs in the Vineyard, Lacuna, Don't Rest Your Head )

I hope to see you there!

And who knows, if I round up the right people maybe I'll attempt Super Bliss Force Zeta on Friday or Saturday night! It could happen.

Also both my games (Don't Rest Your Head and Don't Lose Your Edge) are full, as Special Guest GM at the July 18 Endgame Good Omens minicon, so I'm looking forward to those and the August 1 Endgame 8th Anniversary Party.

It looks like, according to Variety, that Hal Jordan will be played by...

Ryan Reynolds.

http://weblogs.variety.com/bfdealmemo/2009/07/ryan-reynolds-is-the-green-lantern.html

*giggles*

This'll be fun.

It's weird getting back to apartment life. And this is not your quirky urban apartment building; this is a full-on apartment complex, with not much of anything you'd call personality. To add to my mild sense of dislocation, Cockeysville is a suburb cut in the classic style. We're right off Cranbrook Road, which wends its way through at least a couple of miles of apartment complexes, mostly identical and many owned by the same management company. Our cross-street is lined with brick ranch houses and a middle school, which is populated in the morning by flocks of SUVs dropping off flocks of kids. I am an urban dweller by choice and inclination, and I have said goodbye to my preferred environment for a while.

On the other hand, it's a nicely spacious apartment, and it's got a dishwasher and a washer/dryer pair in the apartment. Totally hot. I can catch a bus to work right across the lawn, and the bus drops me right in front of my building, so there's that. Also, good food: the Indian place nearby is good, the Chinese place nearby is OK, there's a top-notch comic book store with a good mainstream RPG selection within walking distance...

The weird thing for me is that if I do walk to the comic book store, it's not unusual for me to be the only person in sight who's walking. Suburbs! It's not like there are way fewer of the things I love to do around here. Hm. I miss having indie/art house movies within spitting distance, and I miss having game stores with play space easily accessible. But other than that, I'm totally good for the things I like to have in my life. It's just that most stuff is driving distance rather than walking distance.

It is awfully warm down here. I was mildly horrified to realize that for the first time in my life, I'm living south of the Mason-Dixon line. As a Yankee, I should probably burst into flame or something. I know, hyperbole -- it's not actually all that different. The immediate neighborhood is a tad bland but that's more the suburban than it is the state. Baltimore seems like a pretty cool city.

We have given into temptation and Ikea-fied the apartment. It has a certain style going for it. I should wander around and take videos and post them or something. I am remarkably happy with our dining table; we got a nice one that is just right for a couple but it expands out to be a perfect gaming table for six people. We also have big clunky square bookshelves next to the table, which hold gaming books and michele_blue's collection of glasses. It is a highly pleasing blend of geeky and classy.

There's a walk-in closet. I thought I wouldn't care but it turns out to be the coolest thing in the world, because there is room to hang everything. And T-shirts go up on the shelf. And undergarments go in the dresser next to the bed. Why did nobody tell me about this? Alternately, why did I completely ignore the accoutrements of modern living for so long?

The job looks superb. I actually knew I was in the right sort of place when I walked in the door and there was a seven foot tall character statue in the lobby. Aw yeah, gaming. Working in middleware just wasn't the same.

I think we're sort of open for visitors. We need to get bookshelves. We also need to get a day bed for the guest room. But visits work out, and there's always the couch!

I am trying to get some Living Forgotten Realms kicked off. Little interest so far but we've got a week or so to build. Hrm. I wonder if there's a Baltimore gaming LJ community? I found the Facebook one, I hit the LFR mailing lists... I'll have to look. Possibly I should also hit the usual forums.

http://gelatometti2.blogspot.com/2009/07/celeritas-100-bullets.html

[Eddy]

Jim Lee just illustrated a new piece for his buddy, Joe Hahn of "Linkin Park," to benefit the "Riders for Health" charity. The custom-decorated motorcycle helmet will be on display at Joe's store, SURU in LA from July 12th from 12:00-8:00pm through August 16th as part of the "Celeritas" exhibition.

Tomorrow night, Jim will be attending the private reception held at the store where they'll be auctioning off his heavenly/devilish helmet, including others by James Jean, Alex Pardee, Barry McGee and more. And for the artheads out there, the art has been sealed with a spray fixative to keep it all together.

Since that's not open to the public, you can still catch Jim at the "100 Bullets: Last Shot" party thrown by Meltdown Comics earlier in the day, to help celebrate the release of the final 100 Bullets tpb, "Wilt," in-stores now. He'll be joining Brian Azzarello and Rev. Dave Johnson as they bid a fond farewell to Vertigo's modern day crime classic.

Say goodbye to Graves, Dizzy and my favorite, Lono in style with the creators and all kinds of store exclusives too. VIP or Standing-Room-Only tickets are sure to sell-out before the event, so order yours now!

Ellen Million Graphics

Took a mighty pile of boxes to the post office yesterday, including the two huge boxes for DragonCon. No, not huge. HEAVY. Yay media rate.

Got 1 calendar page finished. Tonight, I MUST work further on them. And the anthology. Must, must, must.

I'll have to check when I get home tonight, but I may be sold out of the 2xl white shirts now.

Printer #2 ran out of toner yesterday mid-shipping label. *sighs* A week to get new toner in, so some orders are stalled waiting for this. Not all of them - I only do bookmarks and magnets and cards on that printer.

Torn World post for today will be the one that I meant to (and briefly thought I HAD) post yesterday... once I scan the sketches for it.

Art and Authoring

I worked for a while last night after my brain pooped out on calendars on a big piece no one's seen yet - that will stay that way for a while. It's big. As big as Roses of Fairyland. And I worked on ACEOs for Annie and Erika, finally.

Nothing scanned.

Health and Home

Stalled on siding. We're not pleased with the professionalism of the quote we got, then got some conflicting information on the product we were planning to go with, so we're pausing and doing some more research.

Dayjob today, and had a nice talk with my boss about hours and workload. I think we're on a good plan of attack to get everything done without unduly stressing me out. The new employee is working out smashingly. REALLY like her.

I still love my car. She likes to GO. And it's delightful to have a decent sound system in a car that isn't full of very loud road noise. I've never had anything so nice in my life.

Planning

Calendars! Anthology! More Dragon*Con/fair stuff! Orders! Broken record!

I spent the day working on a Habitat for Humanity house. We were remodelling an existing house in order to fix building code problems and make it more energy efficient. My part of things mostly consisted of demo-ing bathroom tiling on the floor and wall, helping destroy the bathtub (the initial breaks were done by one of the uber-buff guys who got the thing initially started, and the rest of us took turns, it was pretty impressive -- castiron covered by porcelain), and then helping frame part of the walls. The external walls are made of brick, so we put up insulation (blue styrofoam type, although I think they're also putting in the nasty pink fibery crap later), then created 2x4 frames for all the exterior walls, to hold the wiring, any extra insulation, and to hold up the drywall. I learned a fair bit and damn, my forearms and shoulders are tired from all that hammering. We met some nice folks. One of the team leaders, an Americorps volunteer, was fun, helpful, and a little flirty (albeit too young). One of the crew chiefs was annoying -- as a crew chief, his main mission was to help show us how to do stuff, but he kept taking over instead of letting us do it (and wasn't always all that correct about what he was telling us to do). Still, not a bad day at all, although I'm now tuckered out and feeling a touch deaf. Glad to have a quiet evening on the agenda tonight.

Right. That's it. Children of Earth is over. What a steaming pile of shit that turned out to be. Every cliche checked. Pretty much every opportunity to make something interesting out of this missed. Russell T Davis, you are a petulant child throwing his toys out of the pram. Sod you! I did not think anyone could fail of his promise more spectacularly than Joss Whedon. Well congratulations Joss, you are no longer at the bottom of my shit list. Anyone thinking vaguely of watching Torchwood: Children of Earth when it broadcasts in the US and elsewhere, save yourself the bother. 5 hours of my life I won't get back. The first two episodes were so bloody promising too! Makes it all the more bathetic. Aaaarh!

The premise is this: reply to this post by yelling (or even saying gently) "Words!" and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your LJ and explain what they mean to you. And/or give me another five words to describe myself with.

compound interest. yeah, baby.

Just reading through a recent list of recalled baby items - cribs made with plastic (!!!) brackets and tracks that deform causing sides to detach. One instance of a baby suffocating, more of babies simply entrapped and parents freaked. Cribs with metal brackets holding up the mattress that break/warp. Pacifiers that strangle. Clothes that strangle. Play yards that collapse. Stroller brakes that fail. High chairs that lose the backs of their seats.


Broken bones, bruises, head trauma, suffocation, strangulation, choking ... It's enough to make me never buy any baby things ever again. Holy freaking cow, are there any children's items made sensibly?

Kitti announced a last-minute impromptu skate nite last night, and since I desperately needed another activity that wasn't running I jumped all over it. It seems horrid to say, but Michael Jackson's death improved the quality of the music at the rink. I knew maybe 30% of the songs this time, instead of the usual 10%. Shame, though, that they wimped out and cut off "Smooth Criminal" right after the "bloodstains on the carpet" line. Idjits. But Kitti and I still had fun, so I'm not complaining. But the day they actually PLAY a Green Day song I will have a flippin' party.

And despite being wary about how I'd feel, my knees held up quite well. I concentrated on my form (not doing anything fancy) and I skated admirably for over an hour.

I did not, however, skate THIS admirably:

Oh Torchwood! What are you playing at? Guess he's not a robot then?

Perhaps with substance.

I've been working a lot of long days the past few weeks. Lots of 10+ hour days, working at home, vendor dinners and such. (And even if the food is fantastic, vendor dinners are still work - pleasant chitchat with people you don't really know can be taxing. Business relationships are odd.) I've had some good times with friends as well, in between then and now - amazing what I've packed into the time I've had.

I know I have had even more time than it seems but recently my brain has been turning off when I don't specifically need it. Next week I will have some important meetings at work, which will be brutal and the week will be mostly prep work to build up to it. And then the week after that is San Diego. The week after that I'm trying to find a way to get to my parent's place but man, is if going to cost me a fortune, no matter which way I go. I have the money but I'm trying to be better about my spending as I've noticed it is very tempting to be all, "Oh, well, I have all that house money just... sitting there..."

Not really a safe mind set.

On the house front, the weird house sold yesterday, which is unfortunate. I have a long list of more I want to go look at. I wonder if I'm being too picky but with a house, I can't imagine that is a bad thing. It isn't like a shirt that if I don't like it, I'll just end up giving it to Goodwill or waiting until I like it again.

I feel like something is missing from me and I don't know what it is. I get this way from time to time. I wait until is passes and I'm betting a lot of it will fall away from me once I get to the airport. Travel makes me feel myself in a way that nothing else does.

I do see the irony of being frustrated with the others around me for not being able to shake out of the things that have a hold on them. Really, I do, especially when I'm taking a 'stay on target' sort of approach. It doesn't mean I don't advocate the getting up and chaking it off method. Just right now it doesn't work for me.