Month: September 2002

  • I need to change.  Yeah, I know it's all the rage these days, but I'm serious.  I talk too much and listen too little anymore.  I used to be good at both, but now I've grown accustomed to telling people what they should do, even when I shouldn't.  So starting today I intend to listen more and talk less.  I know I can do.  It's just a matter of letting go and letting God. 

    The Rebel Informer at CopperCon was the first place I saw about the cancelation of Farscape.  PAD's Journal was were I first saw the campaign to Save Farscape.  Even though I don't have cable, I like Farscape, Stargate SG-1, and Power Puff Girls.  I wouldn't want to see any of those shows canceled without the creative people's input. 

    0 days remaining.  It looks like I'll be back to normal Xanga tomorrow.

  • Entry take two.  Hopefully this time using the spell-check feature won't kill my whole entry.

    So I take my bike to the shop this morning only to find out that they don't stock the type of rear derailer I need, and that they may not be in business long enough for a special order to go through.  So now I have to use the bus for commuting until Monday when I can take my bike to the shop where I bought it.  Ugh! 

    Uh oh!  I've finally caved in to the posting of quizes to journals.  I said that I wouldn't, but this one was just too entertaining of an outcome to not share.






    Hopefully I can keep from posting more.  I've managed to delete some after pasting them into my Compose window, and I'm sure I can do it again. 

    Well, it's supposed to be another Doctor Who night tomorrow after work.  City of Death and The Greatest Show in the Galaxy are scheduled.  It promises to be fun. 

  • Yay!  Peter David's blog is up and running again! 

    Boo!  Yahoo!'s gone all morbid on us with grey and black imaging for 11/9.  Grow up Yahoo!  Thousands die every fragging day.  If you only mourn one day a year, you have some messed up priorites, Yahoo!. 

  • OK, so I finally watched my Willow DVD tonight, even though I bought it the day after my birthday.  Wow!  I remembered loving that movie, but I forgot just how cool it really was.  Dang that was a great movie.  Some of the special effects, especially the double-headed dragon, seem woefully out of date.  Yet, the From MORF to Morphing special on the DVD claims Willow was the first movie to using morphing technology.  Very facinating. 

    So, at our MSHAG game session last night Bill showed up with Wayne as promised (unlike last week), but Ken was a no show.  It even surprised Jon, whom Ken had promised that he'd show up for the session to play Michael.  Oh well.  No one fed Mike or I, nor did they give Mike any gasoline money.  So he was less than pleased.  It's not the first time they failed to deliver on their promise.  Me, I choose to be happily surprised when they do, so that I'm not disappointd when they don't.  But then again it's not my truck, and I'm not the one who's unemployed.  I think they all had fun, even Kristy who seemed rather tired.  Bill even said he'd show up again in two weeks when we play again!  Pretty scarey, considering how unreliable that boy has been in recent years when it comes to gaming. 

    5 days remaining for my free trial of the Xanga Upgrade.  I don't believe I'll miss it. 

  • Flippin' IE!  It closed itself for some error once I was several paragraphs into this journal entry.  I really ought to just type this in word and paste it afterwards, but wouldn't that defeat the purpose of online content?  Oh well. 

    CopperCon went amazingly well this weekend.  Normally whichever theme CopperCon is using for that year is hard to pick up unless you're already in the know.  However, this year I saw SW everywhere.  SW was in the Participant's Green Room, the Masquerade, the SW fan clubs' room, the fonts on all convention items where SW related--with a heavy emphasis on Star Jedi, the newsletter--The Rebel Informer, SW related Video Room showings, Barbara Hambley as the GoH, several SW panels (including the three for which I was scheduled as a participant), the Mara Jade body painting, SW costumes wandering the halls, the DSG sponsored UBS Blood Drive, the Charity Auction lightsabre, the renaming of convention space rooms by SW planets, and even the Holiday Special being sold in the dealers' room.  Attendance was up to nearly 600, well over last year's attendance.  And it looks like our team will not be called upon for next CopperCon.  I think I'll attend that one as an attendee anyway. 


    I finally submitted my Trollhalla character to Ken St. Andre this weekend.  Because information about Trollhalla which is not at Trollgod's Trollhalla web site cannot be diseminated to non-members I won't explain any more about that here.  Either you know what that means or you don't. 

    Friday I checked in on the SW fan clubs' room during setup.  They didn't really need much in the wy of help from me, but I did hand out with them until it was nearly time for my offsite appointment with a notary.  Then I bought a watercoloured graphic novel of The Hobbit from the Samurai Comics booth in the dealers' room.  Following that I rode through the storm to the notary's, came back, attended FAN04 in Alderaan--SF Fandom 102:  Required Reading, donated blood in the United Blood Service van and received some cool DSG and Phx Suns donated items, played in the Changeling LARP sponsored by Tithe of Souls, and stopped by the Chill Room sponsored by the ConFusion Crew.  Once the Chill Room shut down I watched the later half of Rock Star with Chad, Kristi, and Rob down in the SW clubs' room.  Then I rode home at dawn for a shower and breakfast.  After accidentally sleeping a half hour, I set rode back only to arrive barely in time for my first panel.

    I had a good turn out for FAM02 in Tattooine--Japor Carving at 10am. I brought my ceramic crafts tool box for people to shape their tan Sculpey III modeling compound.  Everyone who attended the panel asked what japor was, and everyone who asked remembered the movie scene.  So that worked out.  I hung out with the SW clubs again until the programming director asked for some help at Mojo's presentation.  Then I had FAM01 on the Patio--Lightsabre Duels at 1pm.  It was both hot and humid, so we had them bring pitchers of water outside to us during the double elimation tournament.  The winner was a preteen girl who was undefeated, even against the adults who participated.  Tycho Celchu and Darth Vorpel both showed up during our finals, and they played afterwards for fun.  It's a good thing Celchu wasn't in the competition because we would have been forced to disqualify him.  He failed to follow the light touch rule when in combat.  He even went so far as to throw a sabre right into my face and give me a mild bloody nose.  Not cool.  I then had dinner in the Staff Lounge (which is also open to participants, so I think its a misnomer to call it a staff lounge) followed by what was supposed to be the Feng Shui LARP.  Unfortunately it was canceled and replaced by a midnight pirates vs zombie LARP in the actual hotel pool.  So I watched George Lucas in Love in both standard and GLIL editions in the Video Room followed by a hand of Shadowfist in the Gaming Room.  After that it was supper at Lafitte's--the hotel restaurant with a thirty minute wait to be seated.  I poked into the parties in the Participant's Green Room and various private rooms for TusCon, WestCon LVII--KonKopeli, LosCon, and the San Diego bid for WesterCon LVIII. 

    I ended the night with ConFusion Modern Dance, where DJ Mokandu told me the party doesn't start until I show up.  High praise indeed.  Even a few PFF members complimented me on my choice to not worry about what other people think while on the dance floor.  Dave called me the Dancing King.  It all made me curious as to what I look like when I dance, as I just let the music move me.  I don't usually pay much attention to how I dance unless I'm trying an actual dance step for some reason. 

    Sunday morning I unfortunately slept a whole five hours until 11am, rushed to the convention and forgot my cell phone at home.  I hung out some more with the SW clubs and Participant's Green Room, then attended FAN02 in Endor--The Star Wars Phenomenon.  We had an interesting panel including a 14 year old who was as qualified as I was (most likely because he was raised in fandom since birth), David Williams of the UFP, and Mike Willmoth--a local SMOF.  Only the kid and I knew anything about the Expanded Universe, and we luckily had opposite tastes.  There's nothing so boring as a panel where they all agree and finish what they have to say in five to ten minutes.  Luckily, the two older people talked about what it was like for 1977 movie goers on opening day.  That panel could have gone on for several more hours, but I had to go to church.  So I said goodbye in the SW clubs' room and left.

    All in all I had a good time. I'm not sure how much fun any of the SW clubs' members had, but I hope they got something out of it all.

    Well, I'm tired and I have a bike ride to Gilbert and McKellips tomorrow.  I'm outta here!

  • CopperCon Episode XXII Program Schedule


    Well the first evening of the convention was fun.  I got the chance to play a couple of hands of Shadowfist in the 24 hour Gaming room, got my badge (cool design!), and my schedule.  It looks like I will officially be on FAM02 at 10am Saturday, FAM01 at 1pm Saturday, and FAN02 at 2:30pm Sunday.  If I didn't have to meet my mother tomorrow to sign stuff with a notary I'd have Friday free and clear.  However, I should be able to be back in time to attend FAN04 and GAM06.  I dunno.  Maybe I'll attend ART11, but I haven't done costuming in years.  And the fools put GAM06 and ART11 opposite each other.  Ugh!  Why does that always happen to me?  It also looks like I won't be attending the Masquerade again this year, as they've scheduled GAM08 against it.  Considering that Feng Shui is the role playing game set in the same world as Shadowfist, you'd have to threaten bodily harm to prevent me from playing that!


    There's a couple of SW-related rumours about LepreCon XXXI floating about at-con, but I promised not to spread them.  Even though these rumours were confirmed as true by the convention chair for 2005.  So you haven't heard anything for me, OK? 


    Woah!  I'm reading through the Program book, and I see TusCon XXIX will have Timothy Zahn!  Dang it, I have to work that weekend.  I wonder if I can talk Brett out of his trip he has planned for that weekend.  I'll call him at work tomorrow and see.  Wish me luck! 

  • Do I ever need a new mattress!  Ugh, my lower back has been in pain all day, sometimes to the point of not being able to move.  Doing my stretches only seemed to help it some.  I hate days like this.


    So I never made it to Pearl Art Supply today as planned.  I didn't get either break, so I needed to eat at lunch.  Then after work Bill showed up to take me to Cheyenne's surprise eighteenth birthday party.  Unfortunately, all of her friends cancelled, so she was stuck having a party with a bunch of Bill's friends.  Luckily Sam brought both Set and Flux and fun was had by all. 


    I don't know what time I'll be going to the convention tomorrow.  Because Thursday night is only open to pre-registered attendees, participants, and staff, things will probably be rather light.  One or two programmed items, no parties, and lots of people just hanging out.  I'll definitely bring some Shadowfist decks to play.  I can always guarantee some Shadowfist action on Thursday night at the convention if nothing else strikes my fancy. 


    Before the con tomorrow I need to:  get japor snippet carving materials (see previous entry and related comments), take some papers to be notarised, and get some sleep.  I usually take off the Thursday of a convention so that I can get last minute convention stuff completed and get some extra sleep.  I tend to go without much sleep at-con, so any reserves that I can get will be greatly needed.  So too will I probably need some extra sleep on Monday.  I don't like missing out on stuff, so as long as I don't have a chauffeur to stop me I tend to stay as late as possible.  As usual with private hotels, the Embassy Suites doesn't have a bicycle rack.  So I'll be locking my bike on the stairs as usual. 


    Uh oh!  Spunky is eying my lap.  I better save this before he decides to come up here and type something of his own.  I'd hate to have to retype this again.

  • OK, well I bought a blue, a green, a red, and a violet Hasbro lightsabre today.  These newfangled ones are tough when struck together.  There's even a warning lable on them which warns against thrusting them into objects or people becuase they are designed to lock open and will not collapse back in like the old style sabres.  That should arm those who forget or don't know to bring their lightsabres to CopperCon.  I couldn't find a doublebladed in the new style, but I don't think I will bring mine.  It just wouldn't hold up to the new style sabres.  Look how poorly it held up in lineup fights. 

    I've been given the official panel writeup:


    FAM01 Lightsaber Duels
    Young Jedi (or Sith) of all ages will be instructed in the art of the
    lightsaber and will have the chance to duel. As befits elegant weapons
    from an elegant time, duels will be light or no touch.


    So I guess they decided upon an instruction part before the duels begin.  I'm not sure if that means instruction upon the rules of the contest, or if they actually expect instruction--helmet blinded and all!  I guess I'll find out Thursday when I show up to the convention.  Tomorrow I go shopping for japor snippet carving supplies.  Wish me luck.

  • I've noticed that none of the several Xanga sites I read, including the couple I monitor regularly, use their Review or Event folders.  I wonder why. 

    chernabog's reviews


    chernabog's events

  • Dang Xanga always going down when I'm trying to post!  At least this time shortly before I posted I copied the contents to the clipboard.  Here's what I was thinking a few hours ago:

    Ugh. So Bill once again started burning bridges with those who foolishly call him their friend. Cheyenne asked me today why I am even friends with him. Why anyone is even friends with him. Well, I can't say he's ever really burnt his bridges with me. It takes a lot more than the minor stuff he's done to get me to write someone off. Hell, I've even forgiven my father for the crap he's done to me. Bill is small potatoes after that. But Wayne is severely disappointed in him now, so much that he puts him in the same category as Monte. So you know that's pretty low. And we won't even mention the whole Cheyenne thing. Wow! I just realized Bill would be pissed if he ever saw this entry out in public viewing for everyone. Mister Private couldn't handle this scrutiny. Oh well. He'll just have to live with the consequences of his and my actions.


    Today Bill was supposed to give Wayne a ride to the Crusaders #100 event for our MSHAG game. He bailed at 5pm (when we originally had a start time planned for 5-5:30pm). Wayne was then forced to take a ride from Monte because by then it was too late for him to make other arrangements. Luckily Jon offered to give Wayne a ride home. It sounds like Wayne will take the Red line from work next week, get picked up from the bus stop by Chris, and get another ride home from Jon.


    OK, so Monte gets out of class in Lavene at 6:30pm. We were supposed to start without him. Instead we show up at their place by 8pm. 3 hours later. Thanks Bill. Then on top of that, our order was wrong from Chuy's. I had promised to pick up the Whole Tri Tip pack from Chuy's for everyone, but we ended up with a Party Pack of 10 chicken pieces instead. So we had to go back and get the tri tip anyway because the chicken wasn't going to be enough for the seven of us. Because we were starting 3 hours late, everyone was hungry and in a bad mood about the whole ordeal. Luckily, once everyone had eaten they settled into our shortened game time and had fun battling the Elements of Doom.


    So we'll just see how things turn out Wednesday. If they turn out Wednesday. And hopefully Bill and Ken will show up for the MSHAG game next Monday. We'll see.


    Well, at least I have off work tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow will be a less stressful day. TTFN.