Game Masters Appreciation Day

Game Masters Appreciation Day

by | Beyond Geek, Featured, Pop Culture

Game Masters Appreciation Day

Each March Fourth, we celebrate Game Masters Appreciation Day, to pay homage to those individuals that place themselves in charge of our adventures. Those people that lead us into fantasy, science fiction, or whatever genre of game we are playing need to be appreciated. They need to be the ones that we celebrate more often. As a player in my youth, I hated the times that I had to lead an adventure in D&D and though there were certainly some DMs I liked more than others but, I still would rather have someone else DMing then me.

Game Masters Appreciation DayThe DM is not only the one that leads you on adventures, though. They are the divine wind of the game. They are the one that decides what that horrible “1” that you rolled means. They keep the campaign going. The hurl the forces of evil at you and expect you to keep it coming. The handle the hard questions and don’t balk when you decide to go to the village nearby instead of into the cave that they spent two weeks designing.

Here are some of my favorite out of context D&D quotes that I have found online.

DM Quotes from Dorkly.com:

  • You think the bears and boars have an alliance?
  • I try to seduce the lock.
  • I impale the merchant in his sleep. … How does his wife react?
  • We can’t kill the cannibal pony, I love her.
  • He is crippled and screaming in agony so no you can’t use diplomacy now.
  • Your stealth is so good you disappear from this plane of existence.
  • I now realize that letting you summon a kraken at will was an extremely poor choice.
  • …. it dies of stress from too much criticism.
  • We aren’t leprechauns, please don’t sell us.
  • Just because I am a lady doesn’t mean I’m going to carry all the food. That’s what the dwarf is for.
  • I won’t allow you to interrogate him by farting.
  • You can’t set water on fire just because you rolled a critical.

This list could go on and on. The number of weird conversations, odd statements, and just plain weirdness that happens around a tabletop adventure is endless.

Show your Game Master some love on Game Masters Appreciation Day. Bring them their favorite food, or a treat of some kind. Or, better yet, just go along with their ideas and stop fucking up the game.

Like a C5 Like a C5 Rocket

Like a C5 Like a C5 Rocket

by | Beyond Geek, Featured, Pop Culture, Science

On this day, 1962, NASA made a big announcement. They said they were gonna rocket it Like a C5 Like a C5 Rocket.

Ok, forgive my bit of punniness, but I am and always have been a fan of the US Space Agency, NASA. In 1962 they did announce that they were going to create a new rocket called the C5. This rocket became the backbone of the space race. It powered all of the Apollo missions and would eventually put us on the moon.

According to Wikipedia:

The three-stage rocket would consist of: the S-IC first stage, with five F-1 engines; the S-II second stage, with five J-2 engines; and the S-IVB third stage, with a single J-2 engine. The C-5 was designed for a 90,000-pound (41,000 kg) payload capacity to the Moon.

Lots of numbers and those numbers equate to power, lots of power. Th C5 was eventually renamed the Saturn V and these Saturn rockets were the biggest and coolest thing on the face of the planet. Really they were the most awesome thing we had a little off the planet as well.

As you may or may not know, Wernher von Braun the famed German rocket scientist was the brain behind the project along with hundreds of other German scientists. Von Braun’s designs put all the thrust that we needed behind the rocket to fuel Kennedy’s statement that we were going to put a man on the moon. That man on the moon would never have gotten there without the passion of the people of NASA and the C5. It is amazing what happens when you strap some electronics and three guys to the top of the biggest rocket known to man and shoot them at the moon.

The really amazing thing to me is the fact that this rocket was announced in 1962, developed in 1963 and by the end of the decade.. was taking people to the moon to walk around for a little while. When you really look at this announcement, it was the start of most of the technology that we cherish today. It was the fire that drove our ideas and plans to the moon. January 10, 1962 – history altering date in science, technology and maybe everything else.

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The Conjuring

The Conjuring

by | Featured, Movies

The Conjuring

This movie is based on a true story about the life and careers of Ed and Lorraine Warren, a pair of paranormal investigators and demonologists. It is directed by James Wan and written by Chad Hayes and Corey Hayes. The film itself was 20 years in the making. Ed Warren took the original tapes to a producer who agreed to make it into a movie and it was picked up and dropped several times before finally being picked up by New Line Cinema.  The Conjuring was released on July 19th 2013.

The movie cast starred Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson who played Ed and Lorraine Warren and they actually went to Connecticut to spend time with the Warrens to learn more about the roles they were to portray. Also in the film is Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor who play the parents of the afflicted family. Lorraine Warren herself has a short cameo in the film as well.

The movie starts with the Perron family moving into an old farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island in 1971. Paranormal events start happening almost immediately and continue to plague the family almost daily. Once the attacks become more violent in nature Carolyn Perron (mother) decides to call in the Warrens for help. They find the house itself is home to a creature named Bathsheba who was an accused witch who murdered her child and later committed suicide on the property. All hell starts to ensue from this point forward and continue to the end of the film.

This is my favorite type of horror movie. No blood, guts and slashers just an awesome psychological thriller that pulls the audience in from the beginning and doesn’t let go to the very end. The film is very well made and the plot is terrifying. It makes you feel like you are there and experiencing it yourself. Of course, as I said I love this type of movie because to me this is something that you can believe actually happens.

So if you haven’t seen The Conjuring and are looking for a truly scary movie that will also make you think twice about dismissing the paranormal this is a must see. It also has the bones to make it worth watching more than once. I myself have watched it numerous times and it keeps getting better. I have picked up on several inconspicuous things that I missed every time I watch.  I would definitely put it in the top 10 of my favorite horror flicks and if the paranormal is your cup of tea then I think you will to.

Oh, by the way, don’t miss the sequel “Annabelle”. It is just as good as the first.

What if the Flintstones Were More Realistic?

What if the Flintstones Were More Realistic?

by | Comic Books, Featured, Pop Culture

Slate.com had a great review of DC Comics new version of The Flintstones. Gone is the goofy group of cave people that lived in a little town called bedrock. Wilma and Fred are still here but they are less like the Honey Mooners and more up to date in a 1 million year BCE way. More up to date topics are covered – including gay marriage. The dinosaurs are still there and they still have personalities but more than just: “It’s a living.” These dinos reflect on their plight in life. All in all, it looks like a good book and with the first 6 issues being in trade paperback form, this might have to be something that I pick up to read. But my thought is: What if the Flintstones Were More Realistic?

Source: Mark Russell and Steve Pugh’s comic book reboot of The Flintstones, reviewed.

All of that being said, I wonder what it would be like if The Flinstones were a little more realistic:

  1. Family Time? Not so much. Try small groups with no family units. The strongest male is the winner and the ruler. The men would hunt, the women would do everything else, most likely.
  2. The Wheel – No cars with foot power. Not only no cars but really all simple machines would have been out of their reach. Sad non-scientific cavemen. Also, no dino driven washing machines, cameras or record players. Not a single luxury – wait a minute that is the wrong sitcom.
  3. Dinosaurs – Nope, no dinosaurs but they would have had oversized and undersized mammals and lizards. These mammals would have been their main source of food, clothing, etc. And no Dino especially the talking version that we had from time to time in the old cartoon.
  4. Jobs – If simple machines eluded our ancestors, then employment would have been over their heads for sure. Now, that is not to say that Og the caveman might not have been regulated to cleaning the back of the cave but not paying jobs at the local gravel pit for Mr Slate.
  5. Bloody, Short Lives – In reality, without the intervention of the Great Gazoo, the Flintstones would have had very short, very dismal, very bloody lives. Of course, you have to have the Great Gazoo – especialy voice by Harvey Corman.

Josh Brolin is Cable

Josh Brolin is Cable

by | Comic Books, Featured, Movies, Pop Culture

As of today, Josh Brolin is Cable.

josh brolin is cableJust in case you missed the wonderfulness of this statement… Josh Freakin Brolin is Cable.

Now, in case you missed it, Josh Brolin has been acting in Hollywood for a long time. He was a huge part of my childhood, appearing in one of my favorite all time movies: The Goonies. I will be honest though – he kinda dropped off my radar, even though he was still working, until he popped up in Planet Terror in 2007. After 20+ years, Brand from the Goonies had gone and grown up. What replaced him was a leading man that was ready for anything that Hollywood threw at him.

Some of my favorite Brolin flicks:

  • Old Boy – 2013 – This is a remake of a Korean film. It might be one of the most violent movies I have ever seen and I am a fan of violent movies. Kidnapped and hidden away from years Brolin is looking for revenge.
  • Men in Black 3 – 2012 – Potentially Mr Brolin, doing his best Tommy Lee Jones impersonation was the best, maybe only, good thing about Men in Black 3.
  • True Grit – 2010 – You got have special people to remake a John Wayne movie. In this case, you have Brolin and The Dude, I mean Jeff Bridges.
  • W. – 2008 – Maybe Brolin’s best acting performance ever. He became President Bush. He was W.
  • Planet Terror – 2007 – Rodiguez + Zombies + Brolin as Dr Block = Cinema Fantastic!
  • The Goonies – 1985 – This movie was and is my jam! I love The Goonies. It is perfect from beginning to end. And Brolin as Brand might be the best big brother in movie history.

josh brolin as cableDown to business. When you see Josh Brolin next to images of Cable it seems like such a no-brainer. How did we ever think of anyone else playing this role? He has the look. Ryan Reynolds has a few inches on him in height but I think Brolin will look bigger as Cable. And Brolin definitely has the ability to play the straight guy to Reynolds Deadpool.

I never thought as a comic book collector back in the day digging through long boxes at the comic shop that I would see a Deadpool movie, much less a second Deadpool movie with Cable. Now Brand from The Goonies is playing Cable. Such a wonderful world that we live in.