Secret World I

Interruption III

Right now, I'm reading Primo Levi's If Not Now, When? I still have several chapters to go, but there's once again a passage I wanted to share:

"...On the contrary, they were lighthearted: in the partisanka adventure, different every day, in the frozen steppe, in snow and mud, they had found a new freedom, unknown to their fathers and grandfathers, a contact with friends and enemies, with nature and with action, which intoxicated them like the wine of Purim, when it's the custom to abandon usual sobriety and drink until you can't tell a blessing from a curse. They were lighthearted and fierce, like animals whose cage has been opened, like slaves who have risen up in vengeance."

Good Sunday

Last weekend, we made our annual visit to Wenzel Farm, and then came home to relax for the rest of the day. Cara made banana bread, and at Elias's request, we watched some old episodes of The Twilight Zone: 'Walking Distance,' 'Time Enough at Last,' 'Third From the Sun,' and 'To Serve Man.' Needless to say, it was a wonderful afternoon.

Speaking of Elias... I've carefully concealed the existence of the Star Wars prequels from him for the entirety of his young life, but on the way home the other day he said the words I've been dreading for so long. "Dad," he asked, "did you know that there are other Star Wars movies that we haven't seen? There's a queen, and Anakin Luke Skywalker..."

Cruel & Unusual Meal Plans I

More news from Htrae: Jawbox will commemorate the Dischord reissue of their fifteen-year-old major label debut with a reunion appearance on a late-night talk show.

Interruption II

On Friday I finished John Berger's Hold Everything Dear. A particularly resonant passage:

"On the one side: every armament conceivable, the dream of no-body-bag wars, the media, plenty, hygiene, many passwords to glamour. On the other: stones, short supplies, feuds, the violence of revenge, rampant illness, an acceptance of death and an ongoing preoccupation with surviving one more night - or perhaps one more week - together.

"The choice of meaning in the world today is here between the two sides of the wall. The wall is also inside each one of us. Whatever our circumstances, we can choose within ourselves which side of the wall we are attuned to. It is not a wall between good and evil. Both exist on both sides. The choice is between self-respect and self-chaos."

Autumn Equinox & Birthday of Bilbo and Frodo

"Then the weather clouded over. That was on Wednesday the eve of the Party. Anxiety was intense. Then Thursday, September the 22nd, actually dawned. The sun got up, the clouds vanished, flags were unfurled and the fun began."

Last Day of Summer 2009

As is our tradition, we celebrated the change of seasons, as well as the birthday of Bilbo and Frodo, with a potluck dinner. Yesterday Patrick, Michael, Molly, and Nate joined us, and after a delightful meal and a delicious dessert, we played a little Rock Band, and then a game of Funny Friends. I have to say, while I might prefer Friese's Power Grid on a purely mechanical level, there's distinct charm to the little narratives one constructs while playing Funny Friends.

It's been easy to let this project fall into neglect, but I'm hoping to break that habit. There are many dreams in my life in various states of realization, but none of them are even close to what I want them to be. I'm ready, though, to make a true effort. Here's to the coming of autumn.

RIP Mike Seeger

I'm sorry to hear that Mike Seeger of The New Lost City Ramblers died last night. I know that I'm not alone in having gotten a lot of pleasure out of his music, and my condolences go out to his friends and family.

Thoughts on Moon

Actually, I don't want to say too much. I eagerly anticipate new films, keeping an eye out for trailers and reading up on reports from film festivals and shit, so it's rare that I see something without bringing any preconceived notions with me. I managed to do so with Moon, however, knowing only the broadest details of the premise, and it proved to be quite rewarding. So let me say only this: it's a rough-hewn, evocative, unassuming, atmospheric piece of science fiction, and I recommend it unconditionally.

Omnivores

I picked up a copy of Will Hindmarch and Jeff Tidball's Things We Think About Games a while ago, and have been wanting to mention Thing 051 in particular, which concerns itself with "omnivores," folks that play a variety of different kinds of games - boardgames, card games, electronic games, RPGs, etc. Here's a quote:

"But not only are there fewer omnivores than their enthusiasm might suggest, many self-identified omnivores are lying to themselves. No matter how much you might like to think of yourself as a roleplayer, if you haven't picked up an RPG book, much less sat down to roleplay, since college a decade ago, it's a bit of a stretch."

No doubt that's very true for many folks, but might I suggest that aside from "true" omnivores and the woefully self-deceived, there might also be a third class of player, one with which I unabashedly identify: those who consider themselves platform-agnostic to a large degree, but are also aware of how their tastes frequently ebb and flow. Cara has pointed out before how I tend to be serially fixated on different forms of play, sometimes engrossed in Far Cry 2, other times preoccupied by indie RPGs. A year ago, I was playing boardgames as often as possible, electronic games when I could, and RPGs almost not at all. Lately, those priorities have shifted - I've been reading plenty of RPGs, playing them as often as possible, playing boardgames when I can, and barely playing electronic games at all. Maybe a year from now I'll have a new computer, or the folks that I roleplay with will be too busy to get together. I don't think I'm alone in this, either - it seems like many of us, especially those of without a lot of free time, shift our attention with the seasons, changes of circumstance, or the appearance of new and intriguing games. Isn't that true?

Birthday

Today I am twenty-nine years old.

May Day 2009

Happy holiday to all.

Interruption I

I've just finished reading War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges. One passage in particular has held my attention:

"We are tempted to reduce life to a simple search for happiness. Happiness, however, withers if there is no meaning. The other temptation is to disavow the search for happiness in order to be faithful to that which provides meaning. But to live only for meaning - indifferent to all happiness - makes us fanatic, self-righteous, and cold. It cuts us off from our own humanity and the humanity of others. We must hope for grace, for our lives to be sustained by moments of meaning and happiness, both equally worthy of human communion."

Spring Equinox & Portland NRD

Once again, there's been a long silence since my last entry. Naturally, I hadn't intended to go quite so long without putting anything up, but free time is always scarce and it's been easy to let this project slip further and further into disuse. Today is the first day of spring, though, and I'm hoping that the change of season can also serve as an opportunity to start posting a little more regularly.

Speaking of long-neglected projects, I'm trying to relaunch Portland NRD, the message board I set up several years ago. Like previous incarnations of this weblog, I never really contributed frequently enough to get the board off the ground, but I would still be thrilled to see it do so. I'd envisioned it as a place where my various interests - radical theory and history, speculative and fantastic fiction, punk counterculture, other worlds, and play of all kinds - could coexist and intersect. If that sounds like something you might be interested in, you'd be more than welcome to post.

Resolutions: New Year's Day, 2009

Another lengthy break from posting - I apologize. Many other things have been occupying my attention, with family and friends visiting, holidays being celebrated, and some unusually snowy weather all providing welcome changes to my days as of late. It's a new year, though, and one of my resolutions is to contribute to this project more regularly and in a more substantial manner. 

As someone who looks for a fair amount of significance in shifts of season or year, I'm actually quite fond of the idea of resolutions. I have many this year - to exercise more, eat more healthily, spend less unfocused time on the computer - but chief among them are to play more and to spend more time working on various creative pursuits. In particular, I have several picture book projects that I'd planned to have finished long ago, and I'd be very happy if I finally completed them this year. Here's to hoping... 

Video: "Yalla Yalla" by Joe Strummer & the Mescalaros

Radio silence for a few weeks, I know. Things have been busy, but without much of note to report. Even games have been scarce lately, though there are plans for both boardgames and a Call of Cthulhu session this week, so hopefully that will be changing.

In the meantime, a little music. I've been listening to a lot of old records that I haven't heard in quite a while: Lifetime, Crucifix, the Subhumans, and the first Mescaleros record, from which the following video is taken. If there's anyone in this world that I've never met, yet admired and been inspired by, it's Joe Strummer. I'm sorry as hell to have passed on the chance to see him play on his last couple of tours. At the time, I'd assumed that there would've been something kind of sad about seeing him years after the end of the Clash, but in hindsight it seems like he really came through all that with his spirit intact... "Well so long liberty/ let's forget you didn't show/ not in my time/ but in our sons' and daughters' time..."

Fright Town

Met Franco, Lindsay, and Tawny at the Rose Quarter last night to go to Fright Town, where a coworker of mine was working makeup and acting in one of the haunted houses. It's been a long time since I've been to a haunted house, but I remembered that my last visit involved walking through, stony-faced, for some reason trying to prove that I wasn't scared. Fuck that shit - if I'm going to a haunted house, I want to jump and shout and have a good time. And I wasn't disappointed. My idea of terror is generally more H.P. Lovecraft than Friday the 13th, but when someone lunged out of a hidden door with a chainsaw, I jumped. Not to mention that there were a couple of unexpected, unsettling moments when the actors would start calling out "Where's Harry...?" or "Come back, Harry..."

Neal Stephenson: September 16th, 2008

Neal Stephenson was at the Bagdad a couple of weeks ago to promote Anathem, and I met Michael and a friend of his there. It was a good time, though perhaps a little shorter than I'd anticipated. Stephenson read a few short passages from the book, answered questions for about half an hour, and then it was time to queue up for autographs. Having someone's signature on something they've made is a phenomenon I've never really understood, so I'm glad that a little entertainment was offered to those who weren't standing in line: a brief performance by a few gentlemen who helped record the music inspired by Anathem.

Anyway, the Q&A was the meat of the appearance for me, and I wasn't disappointed. Some of the questions left a little to be desired, but Stephenson himself was friendly and interesting. I tried to convince Cara to read The Diamond Age recently, but she didn't care much for its frequently digressive tone. On the other hand, I've really enjoyed that Stephenson's work has always been free to pursue whatever tangents seemed appropriate, and that same breadth of interest was apparent in person.

Incidentally, while answering one question, Stephenson briefly mentioned a lengthier lecture he'd given on the future of SF, which is readily available here.

Signs of Life: Autumn Equinox, 2008

The first day of autumn, as well as the birthday of Bilbo and Frodo. Earlier incarnations of this project were marked by prolonged periods of inactivity, which were often broken only by the changing seasons. I'm pleased to know that - thus far, at least - this latest attempt has been plagued by such an affliction to a much lesser degree. I still haven't been able to spend the time on posting that I would like to, but have attempted to make brief appearances with relative frequency. A few posts have been incubating over the last few weeks: another session report, a few thoughts on a Neal Stephenson appearance I recently attended, and vague plans for a post on adventure playgrounds. Hopefully they'll all soon see the light of day.

Session Report 1.9.08: Diplomacy

Patrick, Michael, Mikey, Franco, Tom and I spent the lion's share of our Labor Day playing Michael's copy of Diplomacy. It's only in the last couple of years that I've become really enthusiastic about board games, and so there are quite a few classic games, Diplomacy included, that I've never had a chance to play. Having finished a game, I can easily say that it's an excellent design, and I enjoyed playing it a great deal - though not without a few caveats.

Within the first two or three turns, the game's appeal had become clear. I realize that this is a kind of strange comparison, but the tone of the game almost reminded me of something like Werewolf or Mafia, in that a very light rule set provides the framework for some very rich social interaction. Naturally, that means that the quality of one's game depends even more than usual on the other players. Luckily, we all seemed to be enjoying ourselves a great deal, and more than willing to throw ourselves into the game.

Well, most of us seemed to be enjoying ourselves. Patrick was put into a pretty tough position early on, and eliminated from the game about halfway through. That might not have been much of a problem in a shorter game, but this meant that he spent hours sitting out while the rest of us finished playing. Of course, Diplomacy is from a time when player elimination was par for the course, and Michael later said that usually more than one player will be eliminated, so that at least no one would be killing time alone. Still, even the possibility that a player could be shut out for so long is pretty big shortcoming for me these days.

Mechanically, of course, Diplomacy is the progenitor of a lot of what we enjoyed about A Game of Thrones - particularly in its emphasis on negotiation and its secret and simultaneous issuing of orders. I don't know if it was the lack of other rules, or the formal negotiation phase, or perhaps the significantly longer playtime, but I felt like Diplomacy was a lot more conducive than AGoT in creating those meta-interactions. Our game lasted about six hours, which is a lot longer than I can generally play a single game and about an hour longer than I would've liked, but there's definitely something to be said for seeing one's plans slowly unfold over such a long period.

Overall, I thought Diplomacy was great. It more than deserves its classic status. At the same time, the anachronisms of its design and the fact that it's such a time investment mean that I can't really see playing it all that often. When I do have a chance to play, though, I don't doubt that I'll enjoy it immensely.