Category Archives: General

General

My First Columbus Crew Match

I’ve wanted to go to a Columbus Crew game since they were formed in 1994, but it’s been the last two years as my interest in the sport itself has grown that I’ve really wanted to go, so I basically count the last two years or so of wanting to go as the real deal. Two years of wanting to go and not being able to for a variety of reasons, mostly work related. If I had the time off work, I had the kids and a two plus hour trip each way with young kids… If I didn’t have all those, it was normally really bad weather (as in thunderstorms in the area) or I just didn’t have the funds, and on occasion forgot or was busy with other things, a chance to to some board gaming with the local board game group, an important video game beta test, or whatever, including important things like spending time with loved ones. The point is, for a couple years I’ve really wanted to go but things didn’t work out.

I sadly can’t even really watch the games on TV as my TV doesn’t get that channel. I’d need a cable box for that, and I already spend enough extra on the cable for much needed Internet speed improvements. I can’t use the MLS Live app or anything like that either since I live in an area where the service is available, it is blacked out locally. I did recently find a site that often has the games showing live, though the quality leaves much to be desired. Still better than nothing.

Fast forward to recent events. On Reddit there is a sub-reddit called The Massive. There one of the users gives away extra tickets to the game, and as a bonus they are in the supporter’s section called The Nordecke (for fans of American Football, think of the Dawg Pound for the Browns). I entered, thinking there was little chance of winning, but in the end won anyhow. I finally was going to get to not only see a Columbus Crew match, but it was going to be perfect weather, there were going to be fireworks after the match as it was the 4th of July, and as an extra bonus I’d be in the Nordecke. Hopefully someday I’ll get to pay it forward, and help somebody else who wants to go.

So after spending some time with a loved one, if a bit too little time, I made the three and a half hour trek to Mapfre stadium… Continue reading My First Columbus Crew Match →

Board & Card Games, Gaming, General, Warhammer 40K Conquest

Warhammer 40,000: Conquest LCG Comes to OCTGN

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I’ve previously mentioned that Fantasy Flight Games has a new Living Card Game (LCG) coming out called Warhammer 40,000: Conquest. Needless to say I’m pretty excited about it… Perhaps not as overly geeked out as I am over Imperial Assault (see previous story), but it was one of the games I was most excited for prior to GenCon (since then Abyss has slid down a bit and Five Tribes has moved up to just below Conquest and Imperial Assault for the post GenCon stuff). Anyhow, I can’t wait for it to come out.

Sadly, I don’t have a play group to play it with. I’m sure plenty of people at the Boardgamers of Greater Akron will be playing it, but it is a bit of a drive to Akron from where I am, and I don’t know anyone local who’s into LCGs. So being able to play the game over the Internet is always a sweet deal. Sure one could use Skype and just put the webcam on the table, but that requires a playlist of people to play with a much larger table than my desk, and a few other complications. Lucky for us, there are methods of playing LCGs, TCGs, CCGs, and other games over the Internet. For card games the two main platforms seem to be OCTGN and LackyCCG. This post will focus on the OCTGN plugin, but I know there is development ongoing for a LackyCCG plugin as well (by another person than the one who did the Conquest one). OCTGN is presently Windows only (though they mention they would like to do a Mac version and touch screen version eventually), while LackyCCG is multiplatform including Windows, Mac, Linux and iPad.

Before we continue, let me note that I am in no way involved with this project, either the LCG itself (although, FFG, if you want me…lol), OCTGN or the plugin being discussed below.

So what do you need? Continue reading Warhammer 40,000: Conquest LCG Comes to OCTGN →

Board & Card Games, Gaming, General

Resistance With Regular Playing Cards

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The Resistance is one of the best games to play in a group. However sometimes you don’t have your deck with you but might have access to a deck of regular cards and the game is possible with a regular deck of cards. I’ll present some basic rule sets for playing the game with regular cards below…

The Resistance is a hidden role game for 5-10 players (it works best with 7-10). You can go over 10, but the rules presented here are for up to 10, and it becomes a bit more unwildy above 10, above 10 you are probably better moving to Werewolf, Mafia (a webcam version is popularized by Daily Mafia), Two Rooms and a Boom as they are better balanced for larger groups. Anyhow, as I was saying, it is a hidden role game. You are a member of the Resistance, fighting against an corrupt government. Each turn somebody becomes leader and decides who’s going on a mission to destroy the government. However, your group has been infiltrated by spies, who may sabotage the mission if they are on it. The number of spies depends on the number of players. If the Resistance makes 3 successful missions, they win, if the spies sabotage 3 missions they win. Continue reading Resistance With Regular Playing Cards →

General

Present State of My Digital Card Game Playing

I’ve spoken before of the Digital LCGs, TCGs and the like that I’m wanting to play. A small update on some of those.

I am still not in the Hearthstone beta. Can’t comment too much on it outside of what I’ve seen. For the moment I’m digging Infinity Wars and Card Hunter until I can get in.

I actually got in the Infinity Wars beta after all. Very good game. However I’m stuck on one of the early missions (Warpath Campaign 2 for anyone interested in helping… if I’m still stuck when help comes). Here I am playing the game (the screen cap may say Offline Now, because I likely am offline from Twitch at the moment, but it was recorded there and rather than export it to YouTube I’ll leave it there for now, anyhow the video should work.):
Continue reading Present State of My Digital Card Game Playing →

General

Digtial LCGs, TCGs and the Like of the Next Generation That I Want to Play

I’ve never been a Magic the Gathering player. I’ve had decks, but never really played.

Recently I’ve really gotten into Android Netrunner. In my opinion it is one of the best games for two people out there… but it isn’t digital… well not officially, you can play on a client called OCTGN, but for the most part you really need to be able to get to your local FLGS (favorite local game store) and play. My local FLGS in Akron, Underhill’s Games, has a weekly Netrunner event, but my car situation keeps me from making it like I would like…

Meanwhile I also have Lord of the Rings: LCG, which can be played solo… but again, not available digitally officially yet…

So digital card games are what I’ve been looking into.

The big one at the moment is Hearthstone, but that is in closed beta and I’m not in it yet, once I’m in I’ll report more and post up some videos. There are plenty of videos of it on YouTube and Twitch. Check it out. Blizzard, who made World of Warcraft, Diablo and the StarCraft (I need to get those for Ari) made this one. It seems very well done as one would expect from a first level developer like Blizzard… (Side note, I can’t wait to see Blizzard All Stars and Titan.) This is perhaps the big boy on the block, at least in the general public eye.

Infinity Wars is another big one out there in beta. I downloaded the client a few days ago, but didn’t make an account until today (Sept 1st), and sadly they just shut down beta invites… like had I signed up when I downloaded I probably could have got in, but now I’m on a 2-3 week wait. Again plenty of videos on YouTube and Twitch… to which I’ll be adding to for sure. As of the writing, they shut down new beta invites for 2-3 weeks. Had I tried to get in when I downloaded the client I probably would have been in already and making content for it…

Hex: Shards of Fate is perhaps one of the ones I’m most interested in seeing. It seems to be combining an MMO with a TCG. Yet again, closed alpha (not even beta yet). This one you can buy your way in, but I don’t know if I’m sold on the idea of buying in… I’m not clear yet on the MMO elements… what little I’ve seen seems to be just a next generation digital TCG, but I haven’t seen any of the PvE stuff yet. I’m very interested in the concept here at the very least.

SolForge I have on my iPad… I haven’t really used it yet though. I know lots of people are playing this while waiting to get in on the above.

There are a few others on the iPad that I’m not going to link to directly, but there’s Summoner Wars, Nightfall, and Ascension…

Of course Magic has its own digital version…

General

What I Would Have Done for the New Superman/Batman Movie

The way I imagined The Superman/Batman movie. Lex Luther (Bryan Cranston) reaches across the bay to Gothem’s richest citizen Bruce Wayne (now cast as Ben Affleck, though I didn’t have a casting choice in yet and I’m fine now with Affleck) in a voice of concern about this new caped crusader that nearly destroyed Metropolis in his battle with Zod (I didn’t mind the end of Man of Steel, Superman 2 had the same result, and in that one they laughed it off rather than Superman being upset about it). Batman comes over, they have a fight but they realize they are on the same time. Meanwhile Joker (no casting choices yet, I though about seeing if Mark Hamill would unretire his Joker, but this isn’t voice acting and Mark’s acting itself is what the question would be) along with my beloved Harley Quinn (also my beloved Katee Sackhoff ever since she started campaigning for it, though I might hold her off for a part in Justice League) starts causing havoc across both cities. Batman and Superman, not friends exactly, but working on the same side fight their common enemy, in the end finding that Luthor is the one pulling the strings and encouraged Joker, Luthor has something bigger planned… roll credits, tease Justice League (which is where Katee might be better cast as Wonder Woman, a tough roll to cast, Eliza Dushku would be possible, but doesn’t really fit the role as well physically, but perhaps that would be more the point).

General

This Is Water – Your Must Watch Video of the Moment

If you watch only one video anytime soon, then this is perhaps the one.

From the video description: In 2005, author David Foster Wallace was asked to give the commencement address to the 2005 graduating class of Kenyon College. However, the resulting speech didn’t become widely known until 3 years later, after his tragic death. It is, without a doubt, some of the best life advice we’ve ever come across, and perhaps the most simple and elegant explanation of the real value of education.
We made this video, built around an abridged version of the original audio recording, with the hopes that the core message of the speech could reach a wider audience who might not have otherwise been interested. However, we encourage everyone to seek out the full speech (because, in this case, the book is definitely better than the movie).
-The Glossary

General

The Hobbit At 48 FPS

I finally got to see The Hobbit today at the local theater in the High Frame Rate, 48fps 3D the way Peter Jackson filmed it and intended it to be seen. A bit about the movie… it’s a great movie and a must see, I’ll speak more about the movie in a bit.

The big news about the movie is that Peter Jackson filmed the movie at 48 frames per second…
Continue reading The Hobbit At 48 FPS →

General

Insane Amount of Video Game Posts

Looking over all my old posts, there have been an insane amount of video game posts… of course there hasn’t been much else going on in my life really, and most of my friends/family are on my Facebook anyhow for the more random odd things… I keep saying I should update this more often and never get to it… 🙂

General

I Hated Gym Class

Like many geeky non athletic type people, I hated gym. Add social awkwardness, thanks Aspergers, thanks, being shy to go with that lack of athletic ability and the schoolyard pick really diminishes one’s self esteem. I hated dodge ball the most, but that is another topic for another day.

Today I am going to raise my suggestion for an alternative to gym at the high school level, or at least somebody do a good video series (more on that later). I think it is important to keep gym part of the daily routine in primary/elementary school and middle school, more on those later, but in high school where you should only need 2 years worth to graduate, I think it is time to add alternatives beyond the regular gym that everyone can take. You can take 2 years of regular gym, or 3 years of the coming suggested alternate classes, or split it, 1 year of regular gym and 2 of the alternates, so there is a bonus to taking regular gym in that it takes less time.
Continue reading I Hated Gym Class →

General

Hopefully in SWTOR Friday

Well, not that they fixed my pre-order registration issues (I still can’t post to the official forums, but that is a fairly minor annoyance at least until I get in for early access and won’t be a “real issue” until the game launches), I can look forward to Early Access. There was official word posted about the remaining Early Access times:

 Posted by: Stephen Reid
A quick update on today’s invites, and a little preview of tomorrow.

Today, we invited people who had pre-ordered up to the very beginning of October (roughly). Tomorrow, we’re going to be inviting the same number of people again; that will take us up to the last week or so of November. On Friday, we’ll be inviting even more, and we’ll give you an update on that tomorrow.

You’ll see more servers coming online tomorrow, and almost certainly there will be some queuing. That was always expected. As a reminder, our plan here is to maintain healthy server populations post launch, and during the excitement of launch that will mean queues. That said, we’ll be working hard to keep those queues reasonable.

We’ll check back in tomorrow with another update.

So people who ordered up through November should be in today (Thursday, 15 November 2011) and those of us who ordered after that should be in Friday (assuming that the invites go out the same day you can get in)… of course work will cut into that time a great deal, but Sunday I am largely free.

General

Farewell Old Friend

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Today I said goodbye to one of my oldest and dearest of friends, Lisa Kohn. I’ve known Lisa since somewhere around ’95/96. We became really good friends, eventually she was one of my first loves… She wasn’t the first girl I was attracted to, nor the first girl I ever went out with, and we were never really a fully official couple so far as I know, but she was a very vital part of my life, and I am the better for her being in my life. I remember fondly a great many times together, running around having a good time, going to her parent’s home, or my parent’s home and on one occasion even taking her with me to Minerva for the extended family.
Just days before she passed, we had exchanged messages on how we would see each other again soon. I was looking forward to hanging out on occasion, seeing her friends and family again, and just remembering the good times together. She has been robbed from me… us… and perhaps this says a lot, not that she is simply gone, but robbed from us and that spot in my heart and mind that she occupied will now have to be content with just the memories, but they are good memories and they shall be cherished forever.
This was perhaps the second biggest loss of my life. Losing my sister was number one, and now this. It is sad to lose a grandparent or aunt/uncle, but when they have had such a rich full life, I don’t know, the loss doesn’t seem the same. Perhaps the fact that all those earlier losses were when I was much younger also accounts for it.
My dear Lisa, I hope you are happy and at peace and I thank you for every moment we had together. For all those fond memories. For helping change me into a better person and being a light for me at a dark time of my life. You will always have a very dear and special place, not only in my mind, but my heart as well. I morn your loss and celebrate your life. And while it pains me to think that we’ll never be able to hang out again, or I won’t hear your laugh, I will cherish all those times we did have together, and remember there once was a girl, a very special girl who forever changed me.

General

Look Here, a New Dark Tower Book!

I love Stephen King’s the Dark Tower series. Perhaps his best works. Now a new graphic novel in the Dark Tower series is about to be released. Dark Tower: The Battle of Jericho Hill follows Roland and his Ka-tet on the run after the fall of Gilead…
I read the first few books in the first series, and it was really good.
You probably should read the regular books in the series first, then get into the graphic novels, even though they take place before the novels. Also that first novel can be a bit hard to get through, but after that they are a fun, fast easy read.
The graphic novels start with: Continue reading Look Here, a New Dark Tower Book! →

General

Our Crumb Cake Recipe

I have fond memories of baking with my grandma Thomas. We made cinnamon jumbles, cookies, and this crumb cake. The recipe cards always say “Olive Crumb Cake”, but it is supposed to read “Olive’s Crumb Cake.” As I understand it, Olive was one of my grandmother’s friends, and this was her recipe.
The cake is nice, moist and spongy. The cake sort of crumbles, but it is the crumbs on the top that give it its name. It is a wonderful breakfast cake as well as a snack cake.
Ari and I made this the other day, and I thought I would share it.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 Cup Shortening (I recommend butter flavored stuff… I’ve used butter itself as well, but the recipe says Shortening so I’ll repeat what it says).
  • 2 Cups Flower
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 Cup Sour Milk (to make Sour Milk, pour 1 cup milk into a bowl, add 1 Tablespoon Vinegar and let stand for 5 minutes)
  • 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda

Directions:
Continue reading Our Crumb Cake Recipe →

General

Just as I Thought They Need a Movie About Rugby

I just saw a trailer for yet another ping pong movie, and then one for soccer, and I started thinking, I have seen movies based on lots of sports: all the aforementioned, golf, football, basketball, a few others, but never one for rugby. Oddly, the very next trailer I clicked at random on Apple’s Trailer site was for Forever Strong, staring Sean Faris, Gary Cole and Sean Astin. (Despite the All Black Haka style intro we see at the start of the trailer, shown below, the movie takes place in the USA.)

Watch the better quality trailer at the official site linked above.

General

When Covers are Better Than the Original

Johny Cash cover’s NIN’s Hurt.

Of the cover, Trent Reznor said:

I pop the video in, and wow… Tears welling, silence, goose-bumps… Wow. I just lost my girlfriend, because that song isn’t mine anymore… It really made me think about how powerful music is as a medium and art form. I wrote some words and music in my bedroom as a way of staying sane, about a bleak and desperate place I was in, totally isolated and alone. [Somehow] that winds up reinterpreted by a music legend from a radically different era/genre and still retains sincerity and meaning — different, but every bit as pure.

General

Don’t Freak Out, Cell Phones Can Not Pop Poppcorn

There are several versions of the following viral video going around where a few kernels of popcorn are popped using cell phones.

Not only is it impossible to pop popcorn with cell phones, they are most likely a viral advertising campaign seeing how many similar videos were posted the same day by a few users. It could be a massively coordinated joke, but be it a joke or viral advertising, they are fake. See Physicist Debunks Cellphone Popcorn Viral Videos, and Snope’s entry which mentions the popcorn bit while debunking an earlier version of the joke where somebody cooked an egg between two cellphones that were on for 60 minutes (also not possible). The Snope’s article also includes a video where the British show Brainiac expands on the egg experiment by using 100 cell phones.
EDIT: Turns out it was an ad for Bluetooth headsets.