I had no idea people used YouTube to advertise until my friend George forwarded his advertisement for Team Bias.

I have a self-reflective post and a DarkCon 2007 review floating around in my head which I’ll post here eventually. 

B & I saw Curse of the Golden Flower on Civil Rights Day.  Wow!  A definate must see. 

It’s been raining these past few days.  Friday, I arrive at work and one of my coworkers says to me, “I thought you’d take the bus today.”  I was astounded.  After six plus years, you’d think he’d know me better.  I love the rain.  I always ride to and from work in the rain.  And this week’s rain has been the best:  steady, but not soaking.  If I don’t have to wear a different set of shoes home than I rode to work, that’s excellent in my book. 

Admitably, Saturday was a bit painful.  I had a blowout in my front tire on the way into work, and with the rain the bike just slid out from under me at the same time.  I slid down the asphalt of the street like a slip and slide, and the left side of my neck still hurts.  I did laundry yesterday, and the asphalt stains didn’t come out, so it looks like I’ll have to use bleach. 

I’ve been watching the first episode of The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet.  It was decent, for the kind of show it is.  I think the friendship between the hosts is more real than between Regis & Kelly, their main competition.  As I don’t really watch such shows, that’ll probably be the last I see of them.  However, if you like shuch shows, I encourage you to give them a chance.  They do an excellent job, and would definately watch them over Live with Regis & Kelly if given a choice. 

Earlier this month I also took the time to listen to the first episode of Ankarlo Mornings.  Darrell Ankarlo is a conservative talk show host who actually shows respect to folks on all sides of an issue, something few conservative hosts are capable of.  The sad thing is most conservative hosts claim to be Christian, then fail to act like it.  Ankarlo actually seems like the real deal.  And that’s something to appreciate in the media.  He’s no Pat McMahon or Tony Femino, but he’s a good addition to the News 92.3 KTAR schedule.  I’ll probably listen occassionally over time, even if I won’t be a regular listener.

The new Chuy’s on Greenway has finally opened.  They closed down the one on Bell and have changed that to another kind of bar/restaurant by the same owners.  I like the new restaurant, as have my friends and family.  I’ll try to remember to review it soon. 

You Are a Newborn Soul

You are tolerant, accepting, and willing to give anyone a chance. On the flip side, you’re easy to read and easily influenced by others. You have a fresh perspective on life, and you can be very creative. Noconformist and nontraditional, you’ve never met anyone who’s like you. Inventive and artistic, you like to be a trendsetter. You have an upbeat spirit and you like almost everything. You make friends easily and often have long standing friendships. Implusive and trusting, you fall in love a little too easily. Souls you are most compatible with: Bright Star Soul and Dreaming Soul

Where did fortune cookies come from and are they really Chinese?

similar_stranger said, “Somehow your quote makes me feel guilty. Oh well, small mind… at least it works–no?”  I certainly never meant anyone to feel guilty.  After all, journals (including weblogs like mine) are naturally about discussing people.  This here ‘blog is a discussion of me.  Does that mean we all have small minds?  No, my interpretation of the quote is that people that only discuss people are small minded;  those which discuss people and events are average minded;  and those which discuss people, events, and ideas are capable of being great minded.  It’s the natural progression of social development in people, IMO. 

I’ve been catching up on my lj blogs, but not my Xanga blogs.  Normally I do the opposite.  I need more time,  It’s had to believe that Advent starts next week.  My mother pointed out to me that I hadn’t put away my Christmas videos from last year when I pulled them out and placed them atop my television set.  (Why do we call it a set, when it’s a single unit anyway?)  There’s a lot of things I don’t make time for in my life.  I obviously need to reprioritize, something I seem to always be saying but not doing.   

Speaking of bad priorities, check out the most recent Onna Chance for another great gaming moment.  How could you not laugh? 

A week ago Sunday our hiking group resumed, doing the short basic trail between 40th Street and Tatum Boulevard and back.  Afterwards we went to 5 & Diner for breakfast, which was fun.  Then I went home for a nap before mass.  Father Joy read the gospel which inspired one of the best sequences in The Last Battle.  His homily focused on the Communion of Saints, a theme throughout all three readings.

Monday Bill and I went to Chuy’s before finally seeing the new Pirates movie at the discount theatre.  Can you believe that it’s $3 to see a discount movie now?!  The discount prices keep creeping up and up.  (I must be getting old.)  It was OK, but it was like The Empire Strikes Back or Back to the Future Part II in that it was obviously the dark second act of a three act story.  You knew early on in watching the film that it would end unended.  And amazingly, it did so fairly predictably.  That didn’t make it unfun, just not as entertaining as I had hoped.  That may also be part of the long period of anticipation preceding my chance to finally see it. 

Thursday saw a day off from work, so I went with my mother and grandparents to Thanksgiving Day diner at Cracker Barrel (yes, just like last year).  Afterwards we headed back to their place to celebrate my grandfather’s concurrent birthday, where my stepfather joined us.  He received a Marines ball cap from my grandmother, cash from my parents, and The Railroaders (from Bookman’s) from me. 

Friday my mother and I hit the Black Friday sales before I had to go into work.  We hit eight stores in two hours, plus eating breakfast from Jack in the Box while waiting between the stores we had already hit and the stores which hadn’t opened yet.  If you plan your sales out right the night before you can usually get everything you need quickly and without a lot of fuss.  Unfortunately, my mom know what I bought them and I know what she bought me, but that’s the price we pay for shopping when the best bargains are.  Of course, once I was at work it was relatively dead, as we don’t offer any Black Friday sales.  Thus, our holiday customers will hit the time-sensitive sales first and hit us when convenient.  Saturday was kind of slow, too, as usual. 

Saturday after work I also ran the first installment of Chapter Three in Chaos Out of Order, my continuing Dark Sun campaign set 300 years after the normal timeline.  They get some of the mystery so right, but then they get some of it so wrong.  It’s fun watching them slowly solve it, especially when one or the other has the right idea and the others disagree.  I think they’ve all been right at one time or another while the others disagreed.  As long as they’re having fun I’ll continue.

Yesterday I went to BJ’s birthday party at Peter Piper Pizza before my mother picked me up to go to mass.  It was fun, and BJ seemed happy with all of his many gifts.  I can’t recall them all, so I won’t bother trying to list them.  I gave him some Throne War, Netherworld 2, and Two-Fisted Tales boosters, a rule book from 10,000 Bullets, and a box of Deck Protector Sleeves so he finally has enough cards to hopefully build a deck and use the box.  Between the boosters I gave out for demos and those that he purchased at Hexacon, he didn’t have enough yet to build anything remotely playable.  I also had a chance to play Lisa in air hockey, which was enjoyable.  The time went too fast.  Despite my mother being antisocial, she did seem to enjoy talking with Kim and Lisa.  Maybe someday she can get the ladies to see what’s enjoyable about Doctor Who. 

At mass I was supposed to be the first lector, but ended up being the only lector.  Christ the King is a fun mass to attend every year, because before the main procession of the gospel book, altar servers, and priest we have several eucharistic ministers process forward with candles as the music minister announces sacramental and ministerial statistics for the past liturgical year (one stat with each candle that processes forward).  Of all of the parishes I’ve attended on Christ the King, St. Paul is the only one to do this. 

Father Gene noted before mass in the sacristy that one of the altar servers was now sporting an ear ring, and seemed surprised that his grade school allowed such a thing.  He didn’t make the server take it out, just as he never asks me to hide my long hair.  He did mention once again about his desire to retire in the next year.  I wonder if Father Joy would become pastor or if they’d assign us someone else.  In his homily Father Gene discussed kings and kingship, and how Christ is a holy king rather than a material king.

Before and after mass I was part of the team maintaining the Christmas Angels on the trees in the vestibule.  My mother volunteered to help, which was nice of her.  The Christmas Angels are clothing items (green angels), clothing sets (blue angels), or something nice–such as a toy for children–(blue angels) for the poor of El Mirage.  When I first was involved in our parish’s El Mirage Christmas Angels Project, El Mirage was a poor hispanic community in the rural area outside the metropolitan area.  Now El Mirage is mostly composed of upper middle class anglo families and retirees in various cookie cutter developments.  The poor of the community are now disenfranchised by their own city, which is now considered to be part of the metropolitan area.   The more things change, the more they stay the same.  Or something like that. 

Hey, I found my missing Feng Shui sourcebooks Back for Seconds, Thorns of the Lotus, and Blood of the Valiant today while looking for something else completely.  They had been filed with my outdated calendar collection.  Yes, I keep everything.  But, I was actually looking for some stuff I knew I had somewhere that I will be getting rid of after years of storing for absolutely no good reason.  Don’t ask me why the books were hidden with the calendars.  I have no idea.  And, no, I won’t be getting rid of my calendars.  They’re a journal of sorts with various events scribbled in them.  Future generations might want that history. 

Then I submitted some corrections to the RPG Wiki of RPGnet for the Feng Shui entries.  I’ll have to scan some covers sometime to complete their Feng Shui data for the Daedalus Entertainment (and Ronin Publishing) era.  Then I’ll work on inputting all of the Dark Sun data that they’re missing.  Remind me if I forget.  Thanks.

Well, Heroes:  The Best Show on Television will be on soon, so I’m gonna jet. 

Thanks to the_chaos_opera for the quiz:

Horus Sparkling personality, intense will, intelligent, understanding, impatient to exert influence. Colors: male: red carmine, female: gold Compatible Signs: Bastet, Geb Dates: Apr 20 – May 7, Aug 12 – Aug 19 Role:God of the pharaoh Appearance: Form of a falcon-headed man, wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt Sacred Animal: falcon What is Your Egyptian Zodiac Sign? Designed by CyberWarlock of Warlock’s Quizzles and Quandaries

“If an idea’s worth having once, it’s worth having twice.” ~Tom Stoppard

D&D in Nissan?

So, I’ve (obviously) been ultra busy these past few weeks.  I posted a mini-recap as a comment-reply in my last entry.  I just posted some pics from Hexacon XVI on my lj.  I still haven’t successfully attended choir practice more than once, so I’m going to just give up on that.  Supernatural Thursdays and Doctor Who Fridays are still a fun chance to hang out with my friends, and we’ve played a couple more sessions of Chaos Out of Order on Saturdays. 

Father Milt asked me a couple of Sundays ago whether or not the Psalm we were practicing for mass was the same as the week before, and I couldn’t even recall.  Which made me question,  does going to 8am mass even count if I can’t even recall it a week later?  I guess the intent was good, but they say the road to hell is paved with such as those.  So what do I do the next week?  Go to 9:30am mass, which I can barely recall a week later.  Perhaps it’s just a sign of being too busy, but I suspect it’s because I chose to do mass when I have to get up early.  So what do I do to fix the situation, lose more sleep and blog it or quit going to morning masses?  I mean, obviously I can’t control when my cousin visits Arizona, but I could choose to leave a convention (such as Hexacon XVI) early instead of allowing myself time for events to go over their timeblocks.  I’ve done that so I don’t have to accidentally show up late for mass or disrupt people by leaving an event running over.  I dunno, it’s obviously something that needs rethinking. 

Mondays I’ve been still watching Heroes, the best show on television.  Even the other week when I had to work on Monday, Monte was kind enough to let me stop by his place on the way home from work so I wouldn’t miss the episode.  He watches it, too, so it wasn’t too much of an inposition.  He even cooked up a good chicken-pork mix for our dinner.  Last Monday was also Parish Time before Heroes.  I baked anise cookies (using leaf and acorn cookie cutters) with caramel sprinkles for the occassion.    We discussed Wisdom, Work, and Worship and what elements of Catholicism fall under each category.

My mother and I went to Chuy’s for her birthday last month.  She enjoyed her card (which referenced angel food cake, her preferred birthday cake) and a mini-deck of cards I’d purchased for her during our last visit to Disneyland.  She had recently retired her last well-used mini-deck of cards, so it was perfect timing. 

My cousin was in town from Wilkes-Barre on business, but my grandparents held a picnic for him with my parents, niece, and I in attendance.  My cousin from Tucson was disappointed that she couldn’t make it, but the rest of us had a great time.  We all had to miss his wedding in Syracuse the other year, so we pestered him with various questions which he was gracious enough to answer.

For Halloween Jay ran the new Expedition to Castle Ravenloft adventure.  Bill made a 9th level elven fighter, Da made a 9th level dwarven cleric of Temmanon, and I made a 9th level monk.  It was quite fun, and it was great to do a Halloween game again. 

Elections kept me busy, too.  We had a four page ballot, with lots of candidates and propositions.  As soon as Hexacon was over I went into overdrive learning all I could, reading every candidate statement, researching every write-in candidate, reading every proposition, et cetera.  Of course, as happens in a democracy, only some of the people and propositions went my way. 

You are a Social Liberal (60% permissive) and an… Economic Liberal (11% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

“Great minds discuss ideas, Average minds discuss events, Small minds discuss people.” ~Unknown

It’s one of those all day rains where it rains hard, then soft, then hard, then soft, then over cast but no rain, then hard, et cetera.  It should make returning from church tonight interesting, to say the least.  My headlight is on the fritz, people in Phoenix drive poorly on rainy streets, and Moon Valley is not the most well lit of neighborhoods.  I certainly don’t want to have to wait for a bus home if the headlight goes out.

It seems as if half of Xanga is sick these days. I wish them all well.  Monday the county reported a 1000% increase in pollen count between Sunday and Monday readings.  So that would explain the increase sicknesses and severe allergy attacks locally.  Its one of the drawbacks to a rainy season.  High fire dangers in the summer is the other major drawback.  But I’d rather have these problems then another year worsening our drought.

No Friday D&D recap, as I missed the session to attend jinnetics surprise birthday party at Chuy’s Metro Marketplace.  Thanks to the folks there who let us hide a Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake in their beer cooler while we ate.  I miss hanging out with tha group of pals.

I heard that nothing really happened other than the kids all snuck out of the castle and saw an approaching army headed towards them.  I guess it was another night where everyone gathered late and left early.  I think the group is too big, and its about to fall apart.  I just hope it manages to do so without hurt feelings.  We’ll see.

Saturday we didn’t even have Earthdawn.  Kitty had some jobs to do in Flagstaff, Rusty had a RenFest party to attend, and everyone else decided not to play without them.  So it was another Mike, Mike, and Paul Shadowfist night.  We’ll see what happens to this group after the RenFest is over.  It’ll either come back together or fully fall apart.  It’s coming to a critical mass where it can’t last like this much longer, even here in disfunctional America.

Well, it’s time for me to head to mass followed by Saint Paul’s Cafe.  It’s Filipino food tonight.  I wonder how the LunarLumiere‘s family is doing these days.  I need to get back in touch with her one of these days.  Her parents made the best Filipino food.

OK, as I listen to Virgin Radio, I find that I like the mix of modern and oldies.  I wish American radio was that cool.  Who else would play The Red Hot Chili Peppers, followed by Queen and David Bowie, followed by The Verve, followed by U2, followed by The Beetles, followed by The Foofighters, followed by Coldplay, followed by Areosmith and Run DMC, followed by Stereophonic, followed by Lou Reed, et cetera?

So, back to the recap.  Friday night was Jackson’s campaign again.  Zed informed us of Moradin’s message to him that there were dwarves in deadly peril, and that it was time that he return the favour of being resurrected.  He was granted the power of Forged by Moradin, and the ability to bestow and withdraw that power from others who would aid him in his appointed task.  In game terms, Forged by Moradin is all the possitive dwarven racial traits without any of the negative dwarven racial traits.  These powers will only last the next twenty-four hours, because after that the dwarves needing rescue will all be dead. 

This caused a problem among the group, because those in charge had already decided to flee to a nearby city in the Underdark for resupply.  This despite the fact that we heard alarms going off before we fled.  The wouldn’t listen to Squig and Zed explain that they would no doubt use the two or three days we would be gone to fully fortify against our return.  After all, this time we had caught them by surprise.  Undead don’t have to sleep like we do.  Three days for us is really only one day of preparation and two days of travel, but for the undead already in place three days is like six days of fortification.  But like the unheroic cowards they are, they fear one or two of us dying for the greater good. 

Well, it was a fight, but Zed finally convinced them all to agree to help the dwarves despite Syrus’s attempts to paint Moradin in an unfavorable (dare I say evil?) light.  They all took the Forged by Moradin power except Syrus, who said he’d rather stubble around in the dark and be a detrimate to the party and the plan as a whole rather than take anything offered by Moradin.  We ran into Sadie the vampiric dridder again, who came to see what all the noise was from our arguement in the hallways of the Underdark.  We questioned, she told us of dwarves about to be sacrificed by both nearby Drow and nearby members of the Cult of the Dragon.  She also told us of a dwarven safehold nearby when we asked if there was a safe place to rest the night. 

So our elves found the secret door and let us into the 20′ x 20′ safehold which housed more mining cart repair supplies.  Our Harper friend (whose name I forget, but who is the one who was charged with this mission that we tagged along for) teleported back to Silverymoon with cash to buy the supplies they wanted from that other city, with the promise to return in the morning.  Our abjurer, Ethan, set up an Extended Alarm outside the safehold before we went to sleep, so we took no watches. 

In the morning the alarm went off, but it turned out to be a winged cat with a message it took to our priest of Sharess (Bast in the Mulhorandi pantheon), Delome.  He did not share what that message was, but the flying feline will apparently be another cohort for him (due to his Leadership feat).  Our friend returned with the supplies we were expecting during that confusion, and he brought a dwarf with him.  This dwarf is an uncle of Jer, and thus a member of the Silverclay clan.  He had been looking for Zed in Silverymoon.  The found a copper sword with the Silverclay name on it, and wanted to remind Zed that the mystery of his copper Alfredson blade and the (I forget their last name) copper blade of the young Dales (our half-demon, quarter-dragon wards) still needs to be solved.  He agreed to help us in the quest set out by Moradin in the meantime. 

And thus we ended.  As Steve wanted to go see some band at Joe’s Grotto on Saturday and Travis always attends the Tithe of Souls LARP the first and second Saturdays of the month, Saturday ended up being a Shadowfist night much like Friday midday. 

Sunday I went to mass, a great reminder of the importance of this holy season of Lent.  The homily was about washing away the distractions of the world and truely focus on God these fourty days.  I love how the whole mass changes during this season.  It’s a great opportunity for us to really examine the importance of opening the Word and the consumption of the Body and Blood.  The teen Confirmation candidates wrote their names into the Book of the Elect last night.  Soon Easter and Pentecost will be here heralding the entry of new members to our church.  *sigh*  I really need to work on my relationship with God more.

After mass I ended up attending another online conference for the Harry Potter Live Action Development Team.  We only had three of us this time, and it went a lot more smoothly.  This is probably because there were less people, and those people now knew what to expect from each other in an online meeting.  I feel we accomplished a lot, and we each have an assigned task.  Unfortunately, my log of the conference is corrupted so it will be rather hard to complete my task.  Hopefully someone else had the foresight to save their log of the conference. 

As you already know I had to go to bed early so I could work today, so I guess we’re all caught up.  I hear that Michelle was kind enough to tell the recipient of our planned surprise party that she was looking forward to his party at Chuy’s.  What the heck did she not understand about the word “surprise”?  Between her, BJ, and other people throwing monkeywrenches into the mix its amazing this is even going to be pulled off at all.  But I’ll allow myself the luxury of ranting after the whole thing is over. 

In the meantime, if you haven’t had your fill of rants by Paul, then check out my rant on local cons and their failure to recognise that publicity means using actual marketing techniques, not hs technqiues.