I’m right in the middle of Dealer’s Choice: The Complete Handbook of Saturday Night Poker, and it rocks. If you ever thought about setting up a regular poker night with your buddies, this the how-to manual you need. Even if you’ve been playing in such a game for years, the book comes with over 200 poker variants for you to …
Geek Mafia for Free
My friend (and former Pinnacle freelancer and co-creator of the hit computer game City of Heroes) Rick Dakan has just self-published a new novel: Geek Mafia. It is, as the tagline says, a novel of comics, games, and crime, subjects dear to my own geek heart. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but it’s high on my …
Politics and Gaming
Robin Laws, in commenting on the use of Rule 21 to force a closed session of the Senate yesterday, provides a quote that speaks right to my gamer-politico heart: “Thus again confirming that America, while it expresses an engaging core concept and includes plenty of cool crunchy bits, was rushed to press without sufficient playtesting.”
Free Tomb of Horrors
The fine people at Wizards of the Coast have updated their classic Dungeons & Dragons module The Tomb of Horrors for version 3.5 of the game. Best of all, it’s free! I have fond memories of this, the most lethal of the TSR-published adventures, despite the fact that my cleric got slaughtered in a horrible and arbitrary way. If you’re …
Robby the Robot for Sale
Hammacher Schlemmer puts out a few high-end, premium toys every year. They’re always cool, but this one is amazing: a life-size, working Robby the Robot. For only $50,000. I don’t think you’ll see that under too many trees this Christmas, but it’s the ultimate Forbidden Planet toy!
Popcorn, Anyone?
My good friends and fellow Alliterates–Rob King, Lester Smith, and Steve Sullivan–just launched a new website aimed at e-publishing (at least for now) short fiction. They’re also looking for others to join them in their endeavor at Popcorn Press. Check them out, and wish them luck!
Pinter Wins the Nobel
Playwright, screenwriter, director, actor, and poet Harold Pinter won the Nobel Prize for Literature yesterday. I’ve enjoyed some of Pinter’s work, but not managed to read nearly all of it. However, Pinter wrote the last play in which I acted: The Room. So I feel some connection. Our production took place in the Residential College Theater in the East Quad …
The Dyvil You Know
Jeff Grubb posts that he’s donated $200 to the Red Cross, $1 for each request for his new RPG Dyvil. If you haven’t made a request of your own yet, check Jeff’s post for the details on how to get it. It’s not only free to you, it’s for a good cause.
Health-Care Woes
The New Yorker has a great article by Malcom Gladwell about just why our health-care system in the US is as screwed up as it is. As the father of quadruplets plus one, health insurance and health care occupy a lot of my attention. No matter what side of the issue you stand on, this essay is a feast for …
Comics for Katrina
Some of the greatest people in the comic book industry have gotten together to auction off some truly amazing pieces to raise money for relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina. They call their effort Inkwell Relief, and they’re auctioning off all sorts of things on eBay, with all net proceeds going to the American Red Cross. If you’ve been looking …