FBCD '13 & SWDay(s)

Hanging with Kenneth Rocafort at New Comic Book Day. Yeah, he came and did some signing at Legends Comics & Games. Well, I more hung out with his sister/translator/personal assistant as he was very busy DRAWING AWESOME THINGS FOR THE FIRST 10 SIGNEES & EMPLOYEES!.

 

And of course, had to get my first printing "First Look" & Issue #1 of Madame Mirage written by Paul Dini! Like a Boss

The Forth MAY not have been with me but there was revenge on the Fifth & Sixth! I wore my Star Wars Tie that Saturday and then Sunday & Monday I channeled the force and confirmed an event that will have some DEFINITE influences and I will keep you guys updated as that progresses.


Awesome, Right!?

Bat(man) Country

Pic from http://www.bryanyoungfiction.com/2011/10/lost-at-con-audiobook.html

I saw this book blip up on my radar a while back and tucked it away for later, like I do (speaking of which, I think I need out seek out "Scoundrels") and when (I saw it "free on Kindle for limited time" I jumped on it and thought I might read it on the cloud through my browser, but then I "shared" it with my fiance through her Kindle and blasted through the book in no time. I read it like a fiend.  After I read it, I actually bought the hard copy because I found it fantastic. As far as why, below I leave, what I believe to my my only Amazon review of ANYTHING to date.

Just Like A Con
It started a little slow, but the Gonzo Journalism feel it had kept me in until . . . I don't want to spoil anything, so I will say, to me, it felt like after the first third of the tale, it got into full swing. And don't worry, the first third will zoom by, just like an actual con, it was over much too quickly.
I will openly admit here that for a short time I thought this book was non-fiction and based on actual events (other than all the ridiculous things us con-goers KNOW actually happen every con) and was ready to start reading another Thompson-esque author with a secret Nerd-on. But alas, this was a beautiful, heartfelt, perfectly plausible flight of fantasy.
When I got into, what I felt was the "guts" of the story (Saturday night into Sunday night?) I could not put down the book. I blazed through the pages ready for the next event, no matter how terrible, or absurd. I was well rewarded.
I felt it got a little mushy at the end but it's brief enough and it was all info I wanted for closure, and I've read worse, so it was fine.
So yes, much like attending a con, all excited to start, trying to pace it out, make it last, then you get embroiled in the flurry of it all, a whirlwind of adventure punctuated by exhausted blackouts. And finally, the lingering painful ending filled with heartache that it's over but the safe knowledge that it will be there again, and is happening all over the world, hopefully making the human race a little less revolting to be a part of.

Pic from http://www.flickr.com/photos/itsatrap/2820804290/in/photostream/

 If you want to borrow it from me, let me know, its short, and it's an awesome read, highly recommended.

And What Did We Learn?

The Holiday season brought me many gift cards. I know some people find them tacky or lacking thought but I honestly love them no matter who gives them to me. Much like cash, I KNOW I have crazy weird tastes compared to the rest of the people who usually get me gifts, this way I can go find those things from those odd little nooks of the universe (my store) where these items can be found. Plus, if the items are a little MORE than what my gifters were looking to spend, BOO YA! discount for me and I think of them in conjunction with the item. Woohoo tangents!

Anyway, gift cards for places that peddle print! I bought me some Star Wars Karen Traviss "Oya Mando'a!" and some Pathfinder Tales F-yeah free feats! But I ALSO saw an intriguing title:
"Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Dungeons & Dragons: One Woman's Quest to Turn Self-Help Into Elf-Help"
Then when I picked up the book to investigate further I saw the Author was in fact one female name and that Wizards published it. Two out of three aint bad. Honestly though, I only have as much beef with Wiz as I do with Disney. I could list many things that make them evil Uber-Corp's but really, I love their products and continue to pray for those on the inside who help create those wonders we all enjoy (and, I hear there's some noteworthy input for 5E).
So I said "why not, its 'free' " and began pouring through it.

As I mentioned in my last review of a Mazzanoble title, there are quite a few anecdotes and much to learn about the "normalcy" of the author and her mother, the books antagonist?, apparently her mom even has a fan page.
This book is much more of a non-fiction, "read it cause you like to keep reading anything" sort of book. I'll be honest and say I did not enjoy it all that much, BUT, as I mentioned in the last review, I don't think I was the audience it's intended for and think my fiancee will really enjoy it. This is not to say that it was not an excellent book. It has great pacing, constant story telling of how the game relates to her life and fun little sidebars all throughout that help others find a little D&D in your own RL. So, worth a read if you come across it or have already finished a bunch of other books or are waiting for another installment of something to come out. I especially recommend it if you enjoy watching hoarders, buying "dummies guide" books or are maybe newer to nerdlife, I think you might enjoy this read. I know I'll be lending/ recommending it to many of my friends.

Part Time Opinions

Impressions of "A Part Time Sorceress" . . .

The Cover. A lot of pink . . . I suppose not TOO much though.

I read this book second, and how I came to seek it out will be outlined further in another post, probably my next regular update, as I intend to review her second book as well.
After finishing reading this book, the only things I really learned were more about the living habits of  modern semi-feminist/girly girls from the East Coast, their mothers proclivities, how they put upon their significant others, and the social circles they cultivate. As for what I would consider the "meat" of the book, it was comprised things I already know, surrounded by anecdotes and tips on how a "normal" female can get into D&D. I was happy that it was a very fast read and was able to finish it before I got to a point where it might have become totally unreadable.

 

 

 

The Author with someone whom I believe is one of her co-workers.

Having said all that, I highly recommend this book . . . to almost any female who doesn't read this blog, or understand any of the posts with "RPG" or "Table top" in the tags. Then again, my fiancee has been with me for almost a decade, played in a few campaigns, including different systems (not just Wizards D&D) and I think she will enjoy this book immensely. Also, I would probably still recommend it to any lady gamer I know who isn't exactly like me (that's a terrifying thought, what a slutty lesbian that would be). I am constantly trying to understand the opposite sex, ESPECIALLY the gamer/geek type as I will be the first to admit there are disparate misconceptions across the genders, and I'm not sure why, but I think this book would speak to many femme fraggers. More simply put, I don't think it was a bad book, on the contrary I would even say it was good and worth a read. It's just that I could barely stand it. Don't understand how those two statements can be true? I think you might be on the wrong blog, OR ask me for my review of the Watchmen movie some time.

Then again, I'm confident there are some ladies out there who agree with my more snarky side and see this as yet another brick in the marketing wall from Wizards that is an attempt to make D&D accessible to everyone from "bros" to housewives regardless if it maintains it's soul (whatever that is) as a game. I don't want to get into my feelings on 4.0, or any "x.0 vs -whateva system" at this time, but it does feel like they tie in to each other when you come from that perspective. Maybe I'm just a bitter gaming-conspiracy theorists but, I thnk most people might understand where I'm coming from on that one.

So yeah, get the book if you know girls, it might help. And since I usually throw a vid in somewhere, try THIS ONE > > > >

Bully, Sir? Not for Me

The Bartitsu Boys (and gals) are still at it!
As some of you might recall a while back I did some posting on Bartitsu and have since been following their site, waiting for different projects to be finished. If you're ready to jump in right away there is a small library worth of resources already, Or, if like me, you have a couple other tomes to dig through (Castle & Hutton personally) they have completed the fore mentioned Documentary. HUZZAH!

Soon, h47ites, I do affirm. I have managed to locate a couple schools in my area that teach European Martial arts as well as I've made a few contacts with different Fight Directors, so I hope to continue my training (and improve my physique at the same time perhaps?) in tandem with bartitsu research and incorporate my knowledge into my fights. I have also been researching Jiu-jitsu schools in my area and even a cane defense teacher in the area to start some cross training in the areas I want to focus on.

I've been contemplating trying to stalk some of the names posted across the Bartitsu site to see if I can get some hands on, live training, I think that would be the most invaluable. We'll see what Shows and work have in mind as far as scheduling.

I am a little annoyed with myself that I had never heard of Combat Con but plan to attend in the near future, maybe even try and talk my store into attending if we get into out-of-state shows. but perhaps more on that in another post.

MemeOrable: Choo-Choo

Everyone on my thought train! There will be many stops and no one knows where it's going to go. It might even derail. Lets find out!


I have an awesome shirt from last Christmas that often gets comments and questions.
And I often comment on how the shirt should read "400 BABIES!" or "SLOOOOWWWW DOOOWWWNNN" on the back. If you don't get the reference . . .

Here is the video


Which makes me think of



Which then leads my brain too


But back up to Power Thirst I think of
(be aware, this next one has A LOT of racial slurs, NSFW or probably mixed company. Earning my content warning.)


And then, keeping it ethnic, I do a shout out to my homie "sexy Chris"