Man, that Elzar the Gozarian is a huge dick.

Podcast, OMG. I don't have the slightest idea as to what I could contribute, but I'd be willing to help out? About the only recent gaming I've been able to conduct is flight simming, but I'm really not sure how riveting a discussion on air combat manuevering and breakdown of engagements would be. LOL. Well, I know that *I* would enjoy it.. but that might be about it. Heh.

Just be glad you didn't get the midnight drunk and dial last night. Anyone in my contact list was fair game, but I think Aaron gets these calls no matter what just by defaul of being the first name in my contact list. let's just say I was at a wedding reception with an open bar and the Scotch Monster got ahold of me and wouldn't let go.

Good times.

I got a phone call yesterday afternoon from the janitor at my wife's school, asking me if I would audition for their blues band today. That has to be one of the singularly most bizarre phone calls I've ever had. So, I went down there today to see what this thing was all about because, well, why not.. and as it turns out.. it's really more of an R&B group, not a Blues group. So, I have no idea what they'd need or want with an acoustic guitar guy.. but, whatever. I have the feeling that we were definately not what they were looking for. And, nevermind that I haven't been practicing on the geetar for the better part of 2 years or so now, so I've got total pussy hands with zero calouses. Calousses. Calous. Fuck if I know.

Yeah, like that.

P.S., Mike's avatar picture is teh hawtness. I'm just sorry we haven't had the opportunity to see it until now.

P.P.S. Bring back Ryan's snorkel avatar.

I say, go for the video-podcast! Now, I don't know how itunes handles them, I've seen some, and I guess a radio one would be easier/more sensible, BUT at the same time, a video-podcast might push it to the next level. It could be laid out just like you mentioned with those various idears you mentioned, but with video you could actually show the various games we'd talk about, and say for something like Blood Bowell, you could do little stop-motion segments to describe the various strats (or for all those war games u guys play - might help if there were a visual component to them.)

It could be like a poorman's version of Attack of the Show (minus the hot babes and carl's jr-esque attitude "buuuuuurger... friiiiies... and a coooooooooke".) Webcamz are teh cheap (i got 2 for zeus-sake!) and i would love to film little segments. But honestly, I've seen very few video-casts, so I don't know how popular they are or if u need anything else other than the usual podcasty things.

PS I'm just house-sitting in Gardena for the weekend, so I'm poor and bored, so if you wanted help on anything Eric just give me a jangle. Otherwise I will continue to read and watch glorious satelite terror-vision, rawr.

OK Myke... you have GOT to get call waiting! :) I've been trying to contact you all week in re: your super-duper-glue but your phone has been busy every time I've called. (I've tried calling 5 times!) Anyway, I am not gonna be around this weekend -- the ladyfriend and I decided last minute to go down to Monterey -- but I wanted to drop off your sweet, sweet glue in case you are gonna need it this weekend. Give me a call in the next hour or so. If I miss ya I'll just get it to you in a day or two, or alternately, find Enron's copy of Axis & Allies and dump the whole mess in there.

@Aeryk: I don't have any intriguing podcast ideas, but I'll put 'em up if I do... I have to admit, I'm not much of a radio guy. Although I have a face made for radio. Dude. I totally just worked myself over.

Cool Man

Mike: Good to hear from you after a good 4 months of absence! Thanks for the kind words for Leslie and I, and I hope you can make it through another hectic/insanity period in your life. Someday, in the not so distant future, I also hope you can kick your shoes off, settle back in a comfy chair, pour a nice Guinness cascade, and exhale. It's coming, when and where we don't know, but that day is coming!

All of The Action Team: If there were to be an AT podcast, what would be some segments that you would want from the greatest podcast ever? Some ideas I drummed up last night were:

"Thrill of Victory, Agony of Defeat" - Describe a game session where you achieved terrific victory, or had your ass handed to you on a plate, and how it all transpired.

"Coach's Corner" - Breakdown and dicussion of strategies and strategems for your favorite games.

And then the standard reviews, news, notes, and session reports that every podcast does to a small degree. Ideas?

*crickets, crickets*

Since I feel a bit like that rant was directed towards me, I think I should say that I don't view you or Leslie any differently than before. I love you both but as Jon and Aaron will testify I have precious little time in the universe for anything at the moment. This isn't my fault and I'm sorry if it makes anyone feel that I'm ignoring them because I'm really doing all I can to hold my life together and not have a nervous breakdown (again). Please don't take this blog to indicate that I'm upset either because I really just wanted to express my continued friendship as always on exactly the same terms. Though I might rarely communicate, you, my friends, are what keeps me going through these tough times, and you are actually always with me. Ok, that's about as much sentimentality as I can take, but you get the idea.

Rant away you slags!

Start the LAPD oct 30th! Rock! Was on my two fave shows this week, Dexter and Heroes! Ep 11 of Dexter (so like 2 months away) and episode 8 of Heroes (maybe about a month.) The heroes one i should be TOTALLY right there next to the star playing an India family member as he tosses his pop's ashes into the ocean - spent 12+ hours yesterday at Zuma beach for Heroes - was fuuuun - meet some really cool ppl doing it. So 2 more weeks of acting fun! Anyone got a spare 2k to lend a brother till he starts the new J-O? I will gladly be someone indentured servant for it. Chain me up!

ugh

blecch. In my ranys about the people that have been disappearing and checking out in our lives, I probably should have mentioned that plenty of folks are the same as always and are always there for us and have adapted and changed to fit the "new us" perfectly. Some are even better than ever! My intent was not to upset anyone or point fingers, I am just looking for input about what eveyone sees differently about us, if anything. I didn' want it to be combative, or insulting, or hurtful, or anything.

Some mental ramblings are best left off of a general blog, and certainly should not be in print, unless the author can better explain what he really means.

Sorry everyone for the uncomfortableness, that was not my intention.

Hey Aeryk, to address your question, personally I like hanging out with kids and enjoy the fun uncle role, so when my other friends started having kids I thought it was cool. In fact, kids have a phenomenal talent for the extreme repetition style of humor so prevalent in the Action Team, although they are far less skilled at earning Humanity Points. They are also good for entertainment when your adult friends are silent, largely because raising kids has exhausted them beyond numbness.

I do think that when you have kids it is a lot harder to bestir yourself to do anything social and easier to make excuses not to go out, which is bad, because if you consistently make excuses to not go out then people will stop actively contacting you. Soon you're home schooling your children and eventually, sacrificing yourself and all nine kids to Jesus Christ. I'm not saying that's your situation, but it is something to think about. By the way stay away from the Bible, that shit is fucked up.

I had another really intense busy day, but it was either less intense or I'm just getting used to it. There was one totally awesome part of the day though. An acquaintance at work is interested in picking up the new Days of Wonder game, BattleLore. I told him it was based on Memoir '44 and brought it in to show him, and we ended up playing at lunch in his cube. It was incredibly relaxing actually. I think we'll do the airdrop mission tomorrrow or Friday. Another relaxing thing to do at work might be to get a happy ending massage.

Huh.

Elzar as far as I can tell you are still the same jArk as ev4r, just more responsible. Then again, being in SF makes it kind of hard to judge things on a more frequent basis at the old Gozarian homested. So what do I know?

I am sick! Ass! I went into work sick as a dog cause I am stupid and didnt want to miss my training. Now I feel like more shit. Screw work tomorrow. I am going to fester in my own foul viral crockpot of an apartment and be a lazy sick turd all day.

America, Fuck No! Uggg...

Kara, Jailynn, etc. + Family Members + General Rant = my posts

You, Ryan, have not skipped a beat since the boy. You have even achieved "Dead Beat Nanny" status! (which I hope you remember being in reference to you playing xbox while the phone was ringing and telling us, "phone's ringing". Hilarious!)

I have caught myself letting obligations slip here and there because I have been used to using Wylie as an excuse as to why I could not do things due to exaustion, babysitting, etc. Now that that phase of his life is over, I still use him as an excuse, because it is convenient, which I am trying to curtail when it is not true.

This revelation got me and the wife thinking about being parents and what has changed and what has not, and what other people see when they look at us these days, and what our friends and acquaintances see.

Am I still the same jerk I was before?

PS A Wisconsin University instructor included an essay comparing Bush to Hitler in a book required by his syllabus. He likened the burning of the Reichstag (which was started by the Nazi's) to the WTC attacks, which he says was orchastrated by Bush. When challenged on his theory, he replied, "Hitler had a good 20 to 30 IQ points on Bush, so comparing Bush to Hitler would in many ways be an insult to Hitler."

America! Fuck Yeah!

Ummm... are you talking about me? Maybe this is just a general rant...

The Baby Team

While the Mrs. and I were talking about this last night and this morning, she mentioned that it can be pretty lonely having the kid and being abandoned/avoided by those that do not.

It sounds harsh, but it is true. It sucks having this thing you are really proud of and love more than anything, be the reason you are treated diferently.

Kids are weird, man. I don't know how to explore this without sounding preachy, or on a pedestal, but from personal experiences, people with kids see the world the same as they did before, just with a new level of love and joy they never thought possible. We liked who we were before the kid, and we like the same things and the same people, the only thing that has changed is our financial responsibilities and time commitments have shifted somewhat.

Maybe people that don't have kids see you as overly burdened, tired, and tied down. Any personal freedom is lost, and the responsibility of the kid is just so immense that you couldn't possibly have time for anything else. Also, the kid cuts into their personal time because the parents they once knew, are not as footloose and fancy free as they were before?

I dunno. It's a strange subject.

I appreciate Enron and his uncomfortableness with kids, I am the same way, but all you gotta do is spend some time with a kid, or a kids parents, to see that they are not plaguebearers, they are just, you know, kids. I feel a similar way with kids that are older than Wylie. I mean, I know what to expect, and how to treat/interact with a kid 6 months and younger, but any older and I am lost.

Shit man, I made Haylee roll on the ground and cry because I smiled at her while her mom and dad were out of the room, but as soon as you understand that everything a kid does is a phase, and is learning, and anything "bad" that happens is not your fault (within reason) and not permanent (again, within reason) it's easier to take being around them. Hell, you might even ENJOY them!

What am I saying? I don't have a clue.

Jon, care to add anything? I know you were probably closer with Jordan and Yukari before Ian and Maya, but does it mess with you, or bother you now that you are used the the whipper snappers?

Posts! Man, the blog is being a little odd on my end of things lately. Posts are disappearing into the ether only to reappear all at once in mass. Very strange. But, it was good to catch up on everyone's posts from today all at once.

Regarding baby: yeah, I think that it's a combination of not thinking being around a kid is fun and also not being quite sure how to act (or what would sound like something fun to do while kid is present). It's kind of like being married. All scary, totally overwhelming and built up into this "thing" that is foreign, unknown and monumental.. when in actuality it's a fairly small thing and represents very little difference in day to day living. But, it's nearly impossible to relate that to someone who hasn't crossed that line for themselves.

So, in a very similar way.. people without kids just don't understand that life isn't really all THAT different than it was before, that you're really quite capable of being fun and having a good time and managing baby-duties, too. But, yes. I totally get the fear of kids thing. It's like they'll catch the disease if they're in the same room with a kid for more than a quick/casual "drop by". Kind of funny and/or frustrating at times.

However, that's their choice and their response. It's hard sometimes to remind ourselves that we aren't responsible for other people's reactions to the world around them. I have to remind myself of that daily, sometimes. Heh. Life is 5% what happens around us and 95% how we chose to absorb and respond to that stimulus. If someone doesn't want to get to know Haylee personally and is fearful of that relatioship, then that's their bag. I can't force someone to be, think or do anything they are not able to become, believe or achieve on their own.

Sounds simple, but it's not an easy one to get ahold of. I struggle with it all the time.

Anyway. I'm rambling at 1am.

Late,

~A.

Hell Is Other People Who Are in Hell Because of You

In the last couple of weeks my job responsibilities have changed considerably. All of a sudden I have gone from being the only person testing an unreasonably large, complex project to managing a team of four people testing an unreasonably large, complex project which additionally is confusing when you have never used it before, which they haven't. Also they're in another location because apparently it's cheaper to pay an external company a RIDICULOUS amount of money per hour.

Anyway normally it's fine but it is definitely a change going from managing myself to managing lots of others, especially when somebody is having a moronic day for no reason and I get to watch the moronity unfold in slow motion.

Bah, I just needed to rant.

Uggg-naught responses

Yeah, well I do tend to be a tard around kids. I donno what the hell to do with them. Put them in the corner I guess. Not that it poses a problem with contacting friends with chitlins. I just suck at calling people in general. Or at least that is what my GF and family always say. I guess I sort of hate phones.

I wish I was caught up with BSG. I still have not seen the second half of season two and so I have avoided watching this season altogether. Booo... I also would love to watch this 'Kings' you speak of. Stupid bay area thinks we all want to watch the Sharks. Fuggers!

I am motivated to do shit, however I am chronologically challenged.

I wanna see American Hardcore in a big way. Last I saw it had not made its rounds to SF. I should check to see if it is now.

You know, I have to say that I feel the same way about the new Dr Who. He seems less fitting than the last doc. I suppose I will get past it. It is a bit weird that they regularly change out the actor.

Rude-Dog: That is some sweet randomness you threw down there. That'll be awesome to see some Actionteam presence on TV.

Elz4r: BTW, once gh3ydor, always gh3ydor. Sorry, but that's just the sad truth of the matter. So buckle up your life vest and set sail with us. Don't forget your bar soap and a towel buddy. Oh yeah and bring some conditioner too.

D>M>

Musings Vol. XVXXVXLLCM

- I could not be more pleased with the season premiere of Battlestar. It is SO good.

- I am a little annoyed at the new Doctor Who actor. Of course I was also annoyed by the last one too, but I learned to like him, so we shall see.

- Lots of games for trade/sale/grabs! I am trying to move some of them on BGG, those that are desireable, anyway.

- 6 months is a RADICOOL age for kids!

- The Kings finally have what appears to be an elite rookie on the team destined for superstardom in Anze Kopitar. I don't want to jinx it, but OMG this 19 year old kid is AMAZING!

- Getting the house in order for potential sale/moving is no fun at all. We have a meeting with an agent next week to look the place over and tell us if he thinks we could get our price as is, or if we should throw down some more cash into the house (granite countertops, etc) and put it on after the holidays to get what we want. Either way, it is teh sux right now.

- I wish you peckers were more motivated to do cool and fun things like making the best podcast ever, cause a one man show is no fun to listen to.

- Skype has free conference calling now.

- I have my copy of Blood Cricket on order, and have not yet watched Rudy's space station U2B with sound yet. I have seen it on the soundless lappy, but not with sound. Looks like space is filled with cigarette vendors!

- Have not seen American Hardcore yet, but I have flaked a few times, so I am getting closer! Also, not seen Jackass 2, actually have not seen a movie since Wylie, but I kinda sorta want to!

- Babies can do weird things to people without babies, or people that don't know anyone with babies. It freaks them out or something, some friends and acquaintances disappear altogether for some reason. Maybe they think that the parents are no longer the people they used to be? Maybe they think the parents have no time for fun? Maybe they are freaked out by the responsibility? I dunno. Art? Comments?