As a reminder, I’ll be on Geekerati Radio this Monday, August 25, starting at 9 PM my (Central) time and 7 PM their (Pacific) time. The call-in number is (646) 478-5041. If you’re available, be sure to give us a ring to inspire the chat!
DJA in the News
Glenn McDonald, whom I met briefly at Gen Con, writes for the Raleigh-Durham News & Observer. In the issue dated August 22, 2008, he has a kind article about the show, which includes a note about how local Jason Morningstar’s Grey Ranks won (or at least tied for) the Diana Jones Award. It features a short quote from me about how wonderful Jason’s game is.
The Diana Jones Award(s)
The Diana Jones Award committee announced the winner of its annual award on August 13, the night before Gen Con. And it went to…
Grey Ranks by Jason Morningstar, published by Bully Pulpit Games!
And…
Open Design and Wolfgang Baur!
That’s right, it was a tie. The committee doesn’t particularly like ties, of course. No one does. But in this case we had a clear and solid split between two equally and well-deserving items. So the tie stands!
Congratulations to both Wolf and Jason! Their work truly is excellent.
Gamers and Goldfarb, Part 2
After reading a few different points of view on why a national political campaign feels safe disparaging gamers, I stumbled across one idea that rings true.
It’s not an accident. It’s not Goldfarb being flip. He did it once and gave a clever apology, then did it again a month later. I’m going to assume he’s a smart guy who knows what he’s doing.
So what’s he doing?
In the minds of some people (notably the Religious Right), “Dungeons & Dragons player” is a codeword for “Satanist.” This works much in the way that “no litmus test for judges” actually means “picking pro-life judges.”
In this case, Goldfarb uses this misconception about gamers as a wide brush with which he can tar anyone he likes. Pro-Obama bloggers? Satanists. Editors of the New York Times? Satanists.
The mad brilliance of this, of course, is that if the people against McCain are with Satan, then just who is with McCain?
Geekerati Radio This Monday Night!
The fine folks at Geekerati Radio (the podcast linked with Christian Lindke’s pop culture blog Cinerati) apparently didn’t learn their lesson when they interviewed me last year. They’ve asked me to appear on their show once more!
Tune in on Monday night, August 25, at 7 PM Pacific Time (9 PM Central for me), listen live, and call in with questions, please! You can always listen in later, of course, but this is your chance to put me on the spot and ask me questions about anything in front of the collective ears of the entire internet.
Kobold Quarterly Interview & Kovalic
Jeremy Jones, who sometimes comments around here, recently interviewed me for Kobold Quarterly, the magazine published by fellow Alliterate and all-round good guy Wolfgang Baur. For me, the highlight of the interview is the all-too-kind quote my pal John Kovalic gave Jeremy for the article. Go ahead and read it, wipe your eyes at the raw emotion, and then come back here.
Here’s the ironic part about the quote. In it, John answers Jeremy’s question about whether or not I’m the Nicest Guy in Gaming. (A scurrilous rumor at best.) John’s response deferentially leaves the title to me, but the sheer quality of it proves that John is actually far more deserving.
I chatted with Ken Hite about it at Gen Con, and there’s no longer any doubt. John is the undisputed king!
(And I’m having him write blurbs for anything else I ever do.)
GAMA Elections
Normally, I steer wide of GAMA politics these days. However, three of my good friends–Hal Mangold (of Green Ronin), Michelle Nephew (of Atlas Games), and Paul Tevis (of Have Games, Will Travel)–were elected to the GAMA board at Gen Con. Condolences Congratulations to all three!
Vacation Unplugged
My latest post for Storytellers Unplugged is up. This month, I talk about the vacation I took between Comic-Con and Gen Con, as well as what it’s like to try to leave the office behind. I’m never very successful at it, sadly, but that’s just fine.
Here’s a shot of my office for about 10 days of that time. It came with Wi-Fi via a nearby satellite dish–but no running water.
The ENnies
On Friday night at Gen Con, I took home less than 1% of a silver ENnie for the small part I played in Hobby Games: The 100 Best. Still, I’m proud that people recognized what a great book it is, as well as what a great job my friend Jim Lowder did in pulling it together.
Congratulations to all my fellow authors on HG100 and to all the rest of the winners too!
Gamers and Goldfarb
Michael Goldfarb, an aide to John McCain, recently wrote a blog post about the flap over whether or not McCain stole his “cross in the dirt” anecdote from legendary author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. While trying to make his point that the similarities between the stories are perfectly plausible, he writes:
It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman’s memory of war from the comfort of mom’s basement, but most Americans have the humility and gratitude to respect and learn from the memories of men who suffered on behalf of others.