Big changes

I don't blog much anymore (never did blog much, really), but I guess it doesn't hurt to post an update.

TMG

It's official - I now work for Tasty Minstrel Games! This is an exciting change, and I think it's going to be a positive one.

I'm still going to do some engineering on the side. We'll see how that goes. It may turn out to be just a transition sort of thing, but if I can manage to keep that up, then it'll be a nice source of additional income.

Kublacon

In other news, I just got back from KublaCon last weekend. For the first time in many years, I felt like I didn't really have a good time at the con. Don't get me wrong, I managed to enjoy myself for some of the time. But I felt like I spent far too much time just not doing anything - standing around looking for something to do, or sleeping in far too late. I did do some socializing, but even in that respect I feel like I barely talked to any given person, so most of the socializing seemed superficial. I don't know what I used to do differently, but I used to play 30-40 games over a 4 day con weekend, get lots of prototypes played, and I felt like I really got to visit with the people I rarely see.

I don't know what's different, but if that type of con experience becomes the standard, then that doesn't bode too well!

Other stuff going on...

SAGA

In 3 weeks I'm hosting another SAGA fundraiser for Rincon at the Holiday Inn. Last time (March 30) it went VERY well. I'm hoping the next one (June 22) will be equally fun and successful. I also hope I get to spend more time playing games this time.

Summer Vacation

Soon after that I leave for my annual trip to Seattle! I already got a plane ticket TO Seattle... but I have not yet figured out how I'm going to get from Seattle to Ann Arbor for Protospiel and back home. Those tickets seemed extraordinarily expensive, though I have a Delta flight voucher that might cover it. Sadly, Delta flies through Atlanta, so I'd be taking a roundabout path to get home!

I suppose I should make some plans for my trip!

In frisbee news, I have been able to play at league lately. I've even been able to run pretty well (though clearly not as hard or as fast as I used to), and most times it doesn't even leave me limping the next day! It's reassuring that I should be able to play at Potlatch again this year, and I should be in much better shape than last year.

Gaming

In the gaming world, I've played Tzolk'in several times lately, as well as Bora Bora, and I finally tried Terra Mystica. Terra Mystica is getting a lot of good press from my friends. I don't know if I like it as much as they do, but it seems like I ought to give it another try at least. I do like Bora Bora pretty well. And I'm happy to finally be playing my copy of Tzolk'in!

And in entirely other news...

Television

I have continue to watch Doctor Who, but frankly I'm not terribly impressed with the recent episodes, nor with Matt Smith as the Doctor. I don't know if it's Smith, or Moffit, or what - I really liked the early Matt Smith stuff. I also liked the recent companion (Clara), even if I thought they overplayed that "impossible girl" bit. I was not sorry to read today that after the 50th anniversary special and this year's Christmas special, the eleventh Doctor's time will be up. I'm hopeful that I'll like whoever takes up the mantle a bit better - like the early Matt Smith episodes (like the Silence and the Pandorica stuff).

On the other hand, I just watched the season finale of another BBC America show which was fantastic. I mean the whole show was fantastic, not the finale. This show is called Orphan Black - and I'm happy to hear it'll be back for a second season. At first I wasn't sure what they could do for he second season, but they left plenty of viable story open. I look forward to that show coming back, and I highly recommend Orphan Black to anyone who likes things that are awesome.

That's probably enough rambling for now.

Recent Movies and TV

I have not seen much in the way of movies lately, but I've watched a lot of TV, some via DVR, some via HuLu, and some via Netflix. Here's a little rundown:

Movies
Showtime had a free preview weekend, so I DVR'ed a few movies that looked interesting. I just watched a relatively poor movie called Momentum about Telekinetics. It was from 2003, and I didn't like it as much as the more recent Push. I saw Push at about the same time as I saw Jumper, a movie about teleportation, and I think that was about the time I saw Next as well, a movie about precognition. So I guess I can file Momentum under "mediocre movies about supernatural abilities." The plot of Momentum was not terribly dissimilar to that of X-Men, come to think about it...

Another movie I DVR'ed from Showtime last weekend was called The Con Artist. I thought it would be about a con man, but in fact that title is a pun - it's about an ex-convict who becomes an artist. Get it? I didn't care too much for it.

In the theater not too long ago I saw the new Muppet Movie. I never really liked the Muppets before, I guess I didn't view them as a big part of my childhood like others seem to have. Therefore this movie didn't really speak to me at all.

When it was in theaters I also saw the remake of Footloose. That I liked. It was neat comparing it to my memories of the original.

TV on Netflix
I subscribed to Netflix a while ago - 1 DVD at a time and unlimited streaming for $10/month. Last September or so they decided to raise their rates by 60%, and recently I decided I wasn't getting much use out of the DVD portion of the subscription so I canceled that. I kept the streaming for $8/moth, and here's some of the stuff I've been watching on it:
* Sherlock - This is a recent re-envisioning of the Sherlock Holmes stories set in modern times, and it's really, really good. It's by Steven Moffet, one of the guys who wrote some of the recent Doctor Who episodes. There were only 3 episodes of Sherlock, each about 88 minutes long, and I eagerly await more. I heard that there's a new episode out, but doesn't appear to be on Netflix yet.
* Daybreak - A 13 episode, 1 season show from 2006... imagine if Groundhog Day were a cop show where a detective was being framed for murder, and while he relived the day over and over, he collected evidence to solve the conspiracy against him. I really enjoyed the show, and highly recommend it if you like cop shows.
* Torchwood - A British sci-fi show by Russel T Davies - another guy responsible for the recent Doctor Who. In fact, Torchwood is a Doctor Who  spin-off, and if you notice, "Torchwood" is an anagram of "Doctor Who." I watched the first season and I didn't like it NEARLY as much as Dr Who. The first episode of Season 2 was MUCH better, but I might quit watching it if it doesn't prove more worthwhile pretty soon.

I stumbled across another British show on HuLu a while ago called Misfits. It's kind of like Heroes or Alphas, only without the "hero" aspect. It actually seems rather pointless, but I guess that gives it an excuse to just be ridiculous fun! I don't know, it's just awesome - I just wish they'd use their 'powers' more.

TV on TV
Believe it or not, sometimes I still just turn on the TV and see what's on. I'd heard a lot about Big Bang Theory and how great or funny it is. I saw an episode once, and I'm not sure I like it... Now that it's on TBS they've been showing several episodes in a row almost every day it seems, so I've seen a lot more of it. Sure, it's kinda funny sometimes... but at the same time I find it somewhat insulting.

I was relieved to hear that the final season of Monk started last night... not because I was looking forward to watching new episodes so much as I am looking forward to the show being over. Monk is a pretty boring show, and I got pretty sick of it a while ago. Having watched most of the episodes though I let my DVR continue to record them. At this point I only watch Monk out of some misplaced desire for completeness - maybe I have OCD or something.

Right now I'm watching the season premier, and the last line I heard was maybe the best line I've ever heard in an episode of Monk...

Monk and Natalie are standing outside the apartment of a murder victim.
Natalie: "Are you going in?"
Monk: "It would be a crime not to."
Natalie: "It would be a crime if we do!"
Monk: "Then it doesn't matter either way..."

Heh.

Another good line

Season 6 of 24 (affectionately: The Bauer Hour) is highly unimpressive, but there was another good line in the episode I'm watching right now...

Morris O'Brian to Chloe: "Look, you know me better than anyone, right? Am I ever wrong?"

That is all.

What a comeback!

I'm watching season 6 of 24, which isn't nearly as good as season 5 was... but I just heard the best comeback in history!

Karen Hays to Tom Lennox (they don't get along) "What happened, did someone push you down a flight of stairs? (Tom had been beaten up)"

Lennox' response...

"No, I tripped over your ineptitude."