That sounds like a fun idea for a game Ja-el! I'd play it.

Sure, when you get the game let's try it out. GMt has some pretty cool games but alot of it is chit based, which becomes a time vs fun tradeoff. I also finished the rules on my D&D inca gold version, so i'd like to try that one of these days.

Awesome dude, thanks for the scoop. Glad you had a positive experience with them. Ill try and make it out there and see if I dig it. Ya, the organizer seemed pretty nice.

I ordered that space wargame from gmt jahknee, so when it comes in ill give u a call so we can try it out. I've been reading rhe rules and scenario book and it looks pretty fun.

Yeah, I like the group but it's small, around 10 (slow day)-20 (busy) people per gathering and you meet up at a persons house so it's not like meeting at a game store. The nice thing about that is you get to know the regs real fast and everyone gets to know you. The thing with a smaller group though is the diversity of games is very limited. This group tends to like the euro type block games so be expecting to play those. I haven't played one war game there, so nothing like combat commander, or even axis and allies for this group. More like, Power grid, Puerto rico.. (you can read the games i played last year. Posted it in our group excel blog).

I haven't gone for a few months, just been busy with everything. but yeah, you should try it! The owner has an Eric Hess (know that guy?) sized game collection on the shelf-o-games. So you don't have to bring anything.

Hey Jael, did you ever go meet with a board game group in Pasadena? I joined one that someone from the Something Awful forums suggested to me, and I saw you're a member of the group too! You made a comment about meeting the people at one of the LA Cons. How's that group? I might go on Sat to one of their gaming sessions/BBQ but I'm working all weekend, so it would only be for a few hours if I can muster the strength.

I also joined a D&D group that meets at Games Empire in Pasadena which looks like a massive store with tons of tables. They've got like 10 D&D games going on Sat also, but dunno if I'm ready to take the plunge into 4E D&D. Where's the Chill/Buck Rogers RPG meetup groups!?

RE: Space Empires:4x, the rules are available to look at online and it looks pretty fun! GMT Page

I hope you didn't miss it (EDIT: you have until July 3rd, then the program is gone), but after Sony's horrible Playstation Network was down for a MONTH, they offered a "welcome back" program:

LINK

So, that 1st weekend they were back up, they offered 2 free rentals form their video store (you could rent for 2 days shit like Bad Boys and Ghostbusters. Movies you can watch free on Netflix and a bunch of other places.) They also gave a free month of their PSN+ service which from what I can tell only gave you some exclusive demos and really really bad indie games for free (which won't work after the free month passed.) You could also pick 2 free games for life from the following list:

Little Big Planet 1
Wipeout
Dead Nation (top down left4dead/smashtv kinda game)
Infamous 1
Superstardust HD

So just follow directions in that link and hopefully it still works. It was an option in the PSN Store that says 'WELCOME BACK' or something.

Thanks for the tips fellas! Poop under the fingernails, eh? That's one way to stop biting em.

How do I get free shit from the ps3 fuck-o Rude?

That GMT game looks very cool. Might even wash the taste of Dominant Species out of my mouth (worst,game,ever).

Good luck with Wylie's surgery Elrick and fam! My niece just under went pretty much the exact same thing about a month ago, and she's doing much better. Before hand she was having a horrible time sleeping, night terrors, and stuff that looked like learning disabilities but was probably more due to her tonsils and some other stuff messing up the poor kids sleep. The recovery was brutal. I think they gave her codeine or some kind of hardcore pain killer (for kidz) but it was so hard to get her to take it. So, couple brutal weeks for my sister and her fam, but my niece is doing worlds better now, so looks like it all worked out in the end.

Goodluck with Amazon, Art! I spend too much money with them, which wouldn't feel so bad if I thought I was contributing to your family's well-being. I played and enjoyed Heavy Rain as well. Looks great and is a pretty unique take on the adventure game formula. Loved loved loved LA Noir, which incidentally, is much closer to Heavy Rain than to any of the Grand Theft Autos. Think you'll enjoy it. The only other must-play PS3 game I can think of is probably Uncharted 2, if you've had a chance to play it yet. That shit was amazing and now it's like $20 bucks I think. Plus 3 is coming out soon. Also, since the big Sony/Hacker fuck up gave us the option for 2 free games, I picked and enjoyed Little Big Planet 1 and Wipeout. Wipeout is the best game ever if you're into racing/spacey kinda jams. Awesome visuals, music, and just a really fun progression. It's also 2 games in 1 (HD and Fury), so there's just a ton of content for the price of FREE or whatever it costs otherwise (maybe $15-20).

Games.

On the boardgaming front, look forward to trying out 2 new games:

First up, Ascending Empires! It's another flicky game like Catacombs but with a space/civilization strategy game wrapping instead of a dungeon crawl. Good reviews although I guess there's issues with the board. See if any of your game groups have it and let me know the scoops.

Other game I'm actually interested in is from GMT of all companies! Space Empires:4x. 1-4 player 4x wargame/strategy kinda deal. Word on the street is that the rules strike a nice difficulty balance which I'm looking forward to.

| In Other News

I have taken a job that is ALMOST closer to SF than it is to my house. Ah, the things we do to try and secure a stable future for our loved ones.

Sounds like you're making it work in the meantime Art, so I say go with it, hang with the runts as long as you can before you jump back in and sell your soul.

Along with the sleep, prior to baby arrival enjoy the following:

1) a clean house, full of adult things

2) expecting anything you put down to remain where it was placed

3) not getting poop under your fingernails

4) silence

5) being able to have a conversation

6) paying for only two people in your life (babies count for 1.75 more people in cost)

7) energy

I wouldn't change it for the world. :)

And in related news, Wylie goes under the knife on Wednesday to have his tonsils and adenoids removed so hopefully he can sleep easier, not be a mouth-breather, and improve his speech. Fingers crossed for a competent anesthesiologist!

Congrats on the kiddo mang! I will give you the obligatory... SLEEP AS MUCH AS YOU CAN FOR AS LONG AS YOU CAN BEFORE THE BABY COMES. lol. Yeah, when we started with the kiddos, we made the conscious decision to have one of us home with the kids while the other one worked. It's been a total bitch financially (and at times, psychologically) to pull off.. but we're not homeless (yet, lol), and we're still eating food every day. I figure once Bennett is old enough to self-advocate, we can look into Michelle working full time again and he can go to a pre-school. Until then, we're doing everything we can to keep expenses down in a range that allows us to exist on a single income.

I'm crossing my fingers like mad for Amazon to come through with a gig. Hell, I'd probably accept something way below where I want to be just for the opportunity to get in the door and then climb up the ladder from within. The commuter train JUST got connected down to where we live south of Seattle, so it'd just be a 1 hour ride on the train. Also, it's only $175 a month for ride-as-much-as-you-want. It'd cost me somewhere between $400-500 in gas, plus maintenance/wear/tear on the car (plus the cost of a car, lol) to commute to Seattle on my own.. and another hour each way on TOP of the hour-long train ride.

Gaming goodz:

Heavy Rain is like watching a movie in which you get to interact and guide the plot. It's like Dragonslayer (the old skool arcade game) meets.. I dunno.. a really fucking cool detective / thriller (usual suspects?). I LOVE the combat so far (ok, only got into one fist fight defending a prostitute from an enraged john, haha). It's a lot of fun. Button mashing, sure, but it's more puzzle-based than anything.

It's almost creepy how interactive the whole thing is. I love it for how unique and interesting it is. I also bought LA Noire recently because it's been getting such good reviews. But, I haven't cracked it open yet. I'm playing Heavy Rain in bed with the wifey at night after we put the kiddos to bed. So in that regard, it's something fun the wifey and I can do together as well.

Good luck at Amazon man! I've heard great things about Heavy Rain, and I have a copy someone lent me lying around -- maybe I should give it a shot. Mostly I've been playing Portal 2 (doing a chapter of co-op here and there with Rude) or Team Fortress 2 with Rude and, theoretically, Ja-el -- which is free now, you should check it out!

O-Rugs, you may have jumped ship before I mentioned that we've got a kid on the way, due in October -- and man, I wish we could do either the Mr. Mom, or for that matter if my wife could do the Mrs. Mom thing. It's just too expensive to live in this part of the country on one income though. Even for people making 6 digits, which I certainly do not.

Here's some stuff I read in the Believer lately that I found interesting and which may be worth a few minutes of y'all's time:

Interview with Gary Gygax, or actually, a kind of article about D&D and the interviewer's experience playing D&D with the Man Himself.

Interview with David Simon, creator of The Wire. Not too spoilerific if you haven't seen the show yet (but if you haven't, what the hell are you waiting for?).

| So yeah, like that.

For the record, I would just like to say that I think crab is delicious.

Also, on teh food-front, I recently discovered a vendor at our local Farmers' market that sells Habanero Jelly. I have a jar of the Raspberry-Habanero and it is just simply amazing. So good. The heat isn't really even that bad. I would have expected it to be much hotter.

Also-Also on teh food-front, I found a kick ass hole-in-the-wall spice shop down in Olympia. SO AWESOME SAUCE. I mean, they have 6-7 different kinds of smoked sea salt. I picked up an ounce of truffle salt for just $4, an ounce of applewood smoked sea salt and some black truffle oil.

Jerb Update: Still Unemployed. Not going to lie, I love being home with the kiddos all day and being Mr. Mom. It's like the Summer Vacation that never ends. Unfortunately, going to have to get a jerb here pretty quick or the family unit may have to downgrade to a very small living space. The good news is, I'm talking with the great folks at Amazon about a couple of positions. The neat thing about that is.. even though they're in Seattle, their HQ is literally 2 blocks away from where the commuter train drops off downtown. That would ROCK. I only live 5 minutes from the park and ride. Supposed to hear back from them this week.

Gaming update: I bought games for the PS3. It's been a long time. Enjoying the hell out of Heavy Rain and Gran Turismo 5. Yay!

Jon you might want to share your morality story on "crabs" or "no crabs" from tai hookers to rudy! I'm sure he's itchin for it.

Eh, I'm going out tonight. Thus our TF2 clan comes to an end. Thanks though guys, it was fun while it lasted!

Enjoy! Make sure you download a hackbot.