Saturday, February 28, 2009

What the Hell???

Yay Gordon Brown! 



Although it's doubtful that bad Bank practices  that are being "just now discovered" is sufficiently adequate in describing the current mayhem, and that financial institutions needs to be scrupulously regulated only now.  In fact government regulation and intervention needs to be publicly recognized and permanent, which even Obama hasn't had the guts to step out and openly admit to.  

Not gonna talk about politics, but we need some straight shooters.  

Government intervention and implementing banking laws does NOT equal nationalization or communism.



Yo Bro' I'm good man.  I'm not getting laid... off, yet.  (hehe) so in that respect i'm ok, but business is bad and it's prompted in doing some other ventures.


I confirm to deny of denying my intentions of remaining in the Philippines by the end of March / beggining of April  

I also Confirm that George W Bush was/is/am a jackass, although his father was very respectable
and that Gran Tarino is a good movie with a smellycunt ending

U got a new # hommy?  Lest all us asian gangsters go out a rapin' cousins and move out midwest n livin' n broke down traila parks!

Welcome back Johnny! Hope you're good. When you say "you're back" to you mean to PI or to SF? And to stay... there or here? Confirm/Deny.

| A Rise Of Darkness

REPOSTED:  some reason I posted this at 11:30 but it showed 10:30... 

Sounds like fun.  Mind if I use my necromantic powers and join in the carnage?  

How's everybody in SF?  I've just been a working stiff, the economys pretty horrid in Asia as well.  Nothing remains untouched, like madonna.   The US is the major buyer, I think 20% of total consumption with less than 10% of the world population.   In essence, the less spending, well less manufacturing.  A lot of layoffs going on in all the companies and even Intel shut down their entire factory from the Philippines.  Our company has mandatory 5 days now instead of 6 and not a lot of business, a lot of orders either being cancelled or pushed out.  Kind of a depressing scene actually because the managers are all constantly reminded that the company is losing money, cost reduction, and the production lines are pretty bare.

Enron:  I flew in 2 nights ago and having problems with the sleep also.  The problem was I slept alot on the plane because they didn't have the Television on the back of the seat this time around.   I feel almost ripped off when i get into a plane without the expected amenities since i'm paying the same amount of money.   I think i wake up around 5:30 am too.  No point to that, just wanted to share that your not alone in the wee hours of the morning.   

so, I'll be back for a little bit this time, but actually I am planning to stay around for the long run. 
So what that means is Barbeques and pirated movie marathons on saturdays are back.     Not to mention the critical mauling in the strat games by the stratmaster.  I really want to play space empires (or whatever that game is called)...  the one we started playing and couldnt finish?  
Keep in touch!   

| Descent

Tears you say? But from whom will the tears flow? Oh shit!

So I subscribed to and listened to the D&D Podcast and I have to say, I found it quite interesting. Are our games that recordable? The podcast definite drew me in and was motivational to get back to RPG. eLzar, thanks for the suggestion.

Yes I only faced the Trollbloods once with Ashlynn, but it was not a good showing. In fact it was grim I believe.

D>M>
Yeah I went 3-6 with Trolls overall. Stupid Trolls and their alien playstyle. "Walk up to things and hit them" is real hard for me I guess. Although actually you only played against them with Ashlynn specifically one time. I also clocked in losses against Mike and against David at Kubla Con.

Most-played faction by player:
Enron: Cryx (22 games)
Jr0n: Cygnar (25 games)
Myke: Protectorate (23 games)

OK, that's enough.

I too will listen to the D&D blogcast, hopefully to get inspired for our upcoming D&D game. (Hint, hint.) Also, we should finish off our Descent campaign today that has taken about a year to get to this point. My prediction is it'll all end in tears.

| Warmachine Stats

Those are very interesting stats. That is truly sweet that you compiled them sir. My hats off to you for doing something normally reserved for the likes of my statistical nerdiness. Without looking at the stats, I would wager a guess that the trollbloods played a significant part in killing your percentage. They took you quite some time to master, except for of all things, against my caster, Ashlynn. Food for thought.

Myke unbeatable with Severus? Even knowing this and remembering having issues fighting Severus, I still dislike the Harbinger quite a bit more. Is that logical? I guess even the statistician can be fooled by memory coloration.

Okay, my sleep schedule is driving me nuts. No matter what time I go to bed, I can't sleep past 5am. Grrrr... On the other hand, I feel human and energetic today for the first time since I left Italy.

eLzar: I will make a concerted effort to listen to the D&D Podcast based upon your recommendations. The description does sound quite cool. I have to admit that I have never listened to a true Podcast. Not because of some dislike for them or some psychological avoidance; but because I am a lazy arse. I do, however, enjoy me some D&D and Wil is an interesting nerd. I rather enjoy reading his columns. He just seems to have an insightful, agreeable and often humorous perspective.

I know you are all excited to hear that I am over halfway through sorting and selecting my photos from Italy. Yay! The only downside to digital is that it is too easy to take photos. Since we all LOVE stats...

1st trip, 2000, Europe, 17 days, 35mm SLR film: 210 photos.
2nd Trip, 2004, Italy, 17 days, Point & click digital: 1,072* photos.
3rd trip, 2009, Tuscany, 18 days, Digital SLR: 3,322 photos (~29.5 GB).

*I lost an unaccounted number due to a corrupted SD flash card. Likely I had about 150 on that card when it failed just after exiting St. Peter's Basilica.

Now this may seem excessive, but given I had 14 actual days of shooting, an average of 10 hours of daily wandering, 3 images per shot (for lighting) and about 5% bad shots deleted on the spot. 3322 * .95 / 14 / 10 / 3 = approximately 7.5 shots per hour or roughly one every 8 minutes. That's not too ridiculous right? Or am I fooling myself?

Also, on my first day back at work, I received a title promotion. You know the one. Where your get a new title and additional responsibilities, but nothing else immediately tangible. I think jr0n is familiar with this type if I am not mistaken. Now normally I would say this is assy nipples and what happened to financial growth; however, given the joke that is our economy and the fact that not a single person in our company/parent company received a raise this year, I am just glad I am not on the street corner. What it does mean for me is opportunity for continued growth and it also brings my title more in line with the work I perform. Yay me... boo Bush!

D>M>

| Warmachine Fun Facts

AKA, Enron the Warlord

After playing a game with Mike tonight, I got curious about all the games of Warmachine we've played over the years, so I copied them into a separate tab on the spreadsheet and collated some results. Some verrrrrry interesting facts here! Keep in mind we only started tracking games on 5/28/06, well after we'd started playing (I think Enron and I started playing in early '05 in the Rat House, and Eric and Mike joined around Kubla Con that year). I also suspect there are a few games missing from this list.

Total logged games played by the Action Team: 76
Best win/loss record by player: Enron! 40 games logged, 23 victories. My hat's off to you, sir.
Worst win/loss record by player: Me! 42 games logged, 16 victories. Why do the ones we love, always hurt us the most?
Most played warcaster by player:
Enron: Cryx, Goreshade the Bastard. 12 games (8 wins, 4 losses - not bad!).
Jr0n: Cygnar, Commander Adept Nemo. 9 games (3 wins, 6 losses, ouch).
Myke: Menoth, Harbinger of Menoth. 10 games (2 wins, 8 losses... double ouch).

Biggest turkey, by player:
Enron: Lich Lord Terminus, 2 wins, 5 losses. All starting with that magical game where he parked him on top of a hill first turn, in shooting range of the Thunderhead. (Oh wait, am I allowed to talk shit to Enron anymore?)
Jr0n: Haley, 0 wins, 5 losses. Yeah, way to lose every time with what is widely considered one of the most powerful 'casters in the game, jerk.
Mike: This is a little unclear because for 4 of the games where Mike won, it's not recorded which 'caster he played and I suspect most of these were with the Harbinger. But as it stands... tie. Harbinger, 2 wins, 8 losses, matched with Amon, 1 win, 4 losses.

Fun Facts!
- Myke is unbeatable with Severius (5 wins).
- Enron is 6-2 with Ashlynn. I didn't remember this warcaster being such an asskicker.
- Jr0n has played the most unique warcasters (12, compared to 6 for Enron and 5 for Myke). This explains a lot, actually.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

| D&D Podcast

I know I posted about this some time ago, and really Rudy and I are the only people who listen to podcasts by choice, but y'all should check out the D&D podcast. Hear me out. Not so much for the podcast, cause unless you are really into D&D and listening to nerds talk about it, there isn't much for you. But a few months back, they ran a short 8 part series that was just a recording of the guys from Penny Arcade and PvP playing the new 4th edition.

It was really funny and I think worth a listen for two reasons 1) It feels like you are playing the game yourself which is a little bit of the old vicarious living for those of us who can't play regularly (at all), and 2) It is damn funny.

They just started a new series and this time Wil Wheaton joins the gang! He is an old vet of D&D, so he brings a little of the old-school lame to the group.

Just do a D&D podcast search through iTunes and rock out with your D20 kawk out!

| Uggg...

So to top of my jet lag, I managed to get food poisoning or a stomach bug. Worst night of sleep eV4r. I lost 10 pounds to boot. Sweet. But I seem okay today, so hopefully the oatmeal I just ate doesn't come back up.

In case you are interested in a Paintball gun sentry, check this silliness out.

D>M>

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

| I can has Jet Lag

I am so burnt. My main goal for tonight is to stay up until 9pm. Then I will be rewarded with sweet, sweet, juicy Bed. In the interim, delirium ensues. Tomorrow may yield many more betterness at maximum verbosity.

You too can have gigapixel action for less than $400.

D>M>