Hey Man, well this is Babylon

The new treaty re-affranchised Piotr from the years of imprisonment following his plane being downed behind enemy lines. Having not seen beyond his filth-ridden cells in a decade, the effulgence of the sunlit world outside brought him to his knees, tears streaming his face… but he cried not for the sun.

Upon his death, years later, he clutched half a broken necklace – his war souvenir – and gasped a stranger’s name.

The only visitors to his grave were his wife and a tall, teary-eyed old man with a foreign accent, who said only that they had been friends during the war.

Priming his steed to charge once more into the fray, the grizzled champion grunts, and lowers his lance back into position. The signal flashes, the onslaught begins anew. Like wild beasts fleeing a fire, his foes lurch forth as a disjointed mass. He easily pushes through, whacking their ankles and knees with a precision honed by years of practice and victory. The few unfortunates who do not dodge scream in vexation as his steed tramples their errant feet.

Safely through another crowded intersection, the old man lowers his rubber-tipped cane once more, and steers his power scooter down the sidewalk.

Tanks to Craig Brown of Historic Tattoo here in Portland, I acquired two new tattoos this past Saturday afternoon. Bonus Points to all who recognize the quotes:

I started re-reading Neuromancer last night for my first ever re-read. I’d forgotten how just plain good this book is. My original goal was to get myself back in the cyberpunk mindset for my new Shadowrun Monday-night game, but after only a page in I had become truly immersed in the prose all for the sake of its own qualities. Gibson is one helluva phrase-turner, to say the least. To this day, Neuromancer has the single most memorable opening line out of every book I’ve ever read (see post title)*. Every time I think of this book and those that followed it, that opening line resonates in my brain, spoken by Ron Perlman in the same style as the famous opening lines to every Fallout game. While I personally feel that the Bridge Trilogy was a better-written series than the Cyberpunk trilogy, Neuromancer still stands out in my memory as one of the best and most original books I’ve ever read. The re-read is highly enjoyable so far. Read more

A pal of mine requested that I transform the song “Hey Ya” by Outkast into an epic love ballad.

Here’s the result.

I have a feeling that only one person other than myself will find this amusing.

I really should start posting here more often!

Reading:
Red Seas Under Red Skies, by Scott Lynch. This is my second attempt at reading this. I got about 100 pages in on it sometime last year, but couldn’t focus on it for some reason. This time I’m doing much better, and am pretty hooked. My one complaint: I’m kinda tired of Locke Lamora. He’s an ass and is growing less and less sympathetic with each turn of the page. I fear he is going to be another Drizzt Do’Urden “Mary Sue” character. Jean Tannen is far more sympathetic, and frankly, far more interesting.

Writing:
Trying to finish up the newest draft revision of Cannibal Contagion. This one’s looking awesome, and I believe the product is nearing completion.

Watching:
Finishing up Season 4 of Battlestar Galactica – it FINALLY started getting good again with episode 6, after five totally abysmal crapholes of boredom kicked off what looked to be a pretty mediocre season. Also, watching through Season 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender with the Lady. The fact that she’s enjoying it excites me.

Playing:
I bought a new copy of Thief: Deadly Shadows recently and gave it another spin. I tried this game a few years back, and while I couldn’t get into the controls at the time, something about it has stuck in my brain like a nagging compass alignment ever since. After finding out that it is compatible with the Xbox 360, I tracked down a copy and have started playing it again. This time, I’m all about it, and I love the stealth controls. So far, this is an A+ game for me.

You have my promise, I’m still here. These last few weeks have been remarkably hectic. Admittedly, most of the free time I’ve had lately has been occupied with the games Dead Space and Fallout 3, but happily, there are a handful of… other developments as well (*squee*). Bethany and I have been working on our first-ever “Team Hotness” walkthrough, this one being a spoiler-free romp through the delicious halls of the USG Ishimura in Dead Space.

I’ve also been addicted to the sweet savory crack that is Fallout 3. I’m putting together a series of shorts blurbs about it that I hope to release on here soon.

Also, I’ve returned to a few of my older story projects, getting some creative writing in. No, I’m not one of those NaNoWriMo folks, as I just don’t have the time or desire to cram an entire novel in a month, nor do I personally wish to read the garbage scow of a creation that someone such as myself might actually manage to hastily assemble in such an inadequate span of time. I’ve just had that creative itch return as of late, and I’m liking where it’s going so far.

Uhm, that’s all for now.

- NPC

I made a post over on the Roleplayers LJ community about a party we’re putting together next weekend. If you have any ideas, let me know.

Have you guys ever run or played one of those Murder Mystery games? Well, what I’m thinking of trying to assemble is a cross between one of those and a LARP.

Next weekend, we’re having a party for my roommate’s birthday, and she’s both a huge RPG fan and a huge Resident Evil fan. The party’s theme is “Zombies vs Zombie Hunters,” and we both want to make something of a micro-LARP out of it. Thing is, I’ve never really assembled such a thing, so I’m looking for some ideas.

What we’re thinking is to have basically two “factions” at the party: the Hunters and the Zombies. We’re thinking of setting it up as a LARP, but we want it to be as rules-light as we possibly can. Something simple that can be easily put together in the span of a week and a half. A major consideration: we will all most likely be very, very drunk. Having hidden caches of items could be fun, and of course we’ll all be in costume.

I’ve re-typed this post four times, but I keep finding it hard to write out what I’m looking for, because the whole thing is kinda vague at the moment. So I guess what I’m looking for are suggestions and ideas for building, assembling, and running a small-party zombies vs hunters drinking game RPG night.

Bitches

• I’ve got nothing to bitch about today. I had expected that I would, but I’m just not going to let myself dwell on the negative for the next few days, or even weeks.

Roses

• I’ve noticed a handful of folks have already been downloading the new Cannibal Contagion rules. If any of you are reading this, please comment and let me know what you think about them.

Hopes

• This weekend my brother got into a pretty serious motorcycle accident. I hope he has a swift recovery.
• I’ve been working on making some changes in my attitudes and perceptions, and hopefully, these will become more solidified in the days to come.

Bitches

• Not being able to play Resident Evil all the damn time is a new bitch for me. Fortunately, Resident Evil: Deadly Silence makes that desire a little more possible.

Roses

• I very recently acquired a GameCube, and now I’m addicted to Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. It could very well replace Beyond Good & Evil as my most favorite video game, and that’s a bold, almost dirty statement.
• I’m nearing completion of the fourth playtest draft of Cannibal Contagion. Stay tuned, as it’s going to be a big one!

Hopes

• I’m organizing a group read-along of George R. R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones in the next two weeks. I’m really, really excited about this, and I do hope it comes together nicely and turns into a grand fun time for all involved.