Hey, by the way.. I'm learning more and more goodies about photoshoppery, digital imaging, painting and all that stuff. Here's something I came up with right quick for a virtual flights squadron that I fly with a couple times a week. They have molded themselves after the 332nd Fighter Group, "Tuskegee Airmen", of whom I have immeasurable respect and admiration for. Anyway, here's what I came up with:

More or less, it just comes down to the auto-draft picking me a whole bunch of really good guys. The only thing I've done was to fill three roster slots on my team that were guys out for the year. I feel bad that these guys, who bleed Hockey, are gaming their hearts out to win and I'm the "I dunno what the hell I'm doing, LOL" guy stealing their fun. =/

As a bit of a review of Fantasy Hockney as a game system, I don't think it's very well put together. There's GOT to be a better way to make it (and keep it) interesting over 5 months of play other than to mindlessly plug in who is playing and who is not for any given day. Without putting on my thinking cap for a bit and coming up with something better, I don't have an offering or suggestion.. but there's got to be a better way. There just has to be something more than Spreadsheet Jockey Online.

JMHO.

Wow, it sounds like that Fantasy Hockey is a really well put-together piece of work. I'm surprised that it isn't announcing me as the current leader -- I never made a team at all, which seems like it should give me the edge over the birthday boy. (Happy birthday!)

Actually I am gonna make a new version of Fantasy Hockey for you guys. There are five guys on a hockey team right?

OK here we go.

BIRTHDAY BOY
THE LAS VEGAS GOATEES
Goalie: Jones
Forward (?): Joens
Halfback (??): Jeons
Power Player A: Jsoen
Power Player II: Jnose

TOTAL POWER: 25

ENRON
THE S.F. VIBRATORS
Gaoler: Magnus
Players 2-5: Fagnus, Bagnus, Eagnus, Sagnus

TOTAL POWER: 25

ROUND 1
Birthday Boy is Heads.
Enron is Tails.

The flip was: Tails.

Enron wins!

Tune in next week for another exciting edition of Fantasy Hockey!!!!!!11one

Oh yeah, I am younger than Aeryk, but older than Ryan. My birthday generally falls on a convention. WHICH DAY IS IT!???? (I like to create fun activities.)

Aimed at Enron

Good news! I am working both days this weekend! I would love to get to your place one of those evenings and take back Whitey Snakebitey and his epic bottle of Bacardi, however. Perhaps I will serve you a serving of green pecan-encrusted salmon with a side of defeat. Is Saturday night good for you? I am almost done assembling my fine Stormblade unit. That takes me up to 750 points of Cygnar. I say we kick things up a notch!!! (To quote a fat, sad-looking chef.)

Uhm, yeah. Sorry about that. I actually peeked in on Hockney in the last day or so and noticed that I'm somehow back in the lead again. I haven't updated my roster since about mid-december. =/

More betterness...

O: Anaheim, California, Los Angeles, whatever Angels vs. Clevland Indians. And what a gem of a day it was. Although I didn't know it at the time, that was also the first time I saw a condom. Although it was in zepplin format. Those drunk fools were funny as hell. I think they had a role in perverting my innocent mind.

The past few hours Piccolo Pete and Mexican Hal have been going through my mind. Mexican Hal, with pimentos and shit. Ahhh.. good stuff.

Elzar what was the name of that puzzle solving game you had on your old Mac SE? That was a good one. We used to sit at that one for hours.

All: Okay. I am a little frustrated. I have been very attentive with my fantasy hockey team, while all members shall remain nameless, a certain jArk has not been attending to his team for a very long time so that usually a third of his player are not playing and yet he still leads the league. FTW Mate? GRRRR! That and my goalies have decided that stoping the puck from going in the net is optional. Oh yeah, and my players are done playing two way hockey. Suck it Trebek. Maybe I will have better luck next season.

Bortz

"Your Momma's Tits Taste Like OJ"

LOL.. I remember being at that baseball game but I don't remember anything else.. even who was playing. Was that a Dodger game we were at? I just remember some drunk ass in the stands yelling at the visiting team's outfielder.. and that was the gem of the afternoon.

happy b-day art! cool shit! i'll call you friday to wish you a more personal happy birthday (WINK WINK OMG)

eric: whoa grats about the lil one being on the verge! awesome man!

my bday: 9976

really considering moving back home to save a ton of money on rent so i can save some dough and go to europe and shit places like that. if i do i will play games with you all (oops, they all live in sf now!)

bday: 9-22-75

Is everyone moving to San Francisco? WTF?

Your Momma's Tits Taste Like OJ

Elzar: Make sure you wear a pair of your best F. Boots for the birthing so that when that bad boy comes out purple you can declare, "That's no son of mine" and 'gas peddle' that kid back in there with maximum waffle traction.

surReal Estate: SF prices are rough, but I think a descent home can be had, although in the mid to upper end of that price spectrum. Then again, I have never gone and looked at the actual conditions of these house and condos. I just dont do much home shopping up here. These places are of course in good neighborhoods. Also the peninsula and east bay are also more financially affordable oppertunities, while reamining near SF, that have good neighborhoods, bigger yards and less density than SF. Also SF has a wide spectrum of options: Condos, Live/Work lofts, Flats, and Single Family Dwelings.

Andy Murray.. Whoa! Kind of late in the season for that move. Some of the ESPN postings were calling that it was bit uncalled for. That John Van Boxmeer should have been axed, but Murray was a scapegoat/player motivator move. Some people called for Dave Taylor's head. Faulting him for some of his moves (i.e. JR and Rbotallie). Ouch. Thoughts?

BDay: 11.04.74

O: Happy sweet, old-ass naked day. Draw me some nice blasphomous crayola artwork for old times sake. Lomeli's style. Viral infection in JP's colin butt

I keep looking at BSG at the video rental store, but I never seem to pull the trigger. I watched part of an episode recently on TV and I have to say I was severly annoyed at the camera work. They have this nasty habit of doing this mini zoom-in thing on peoples faces during heated conversations. Uggg, it just irks me. Its like I am watching a bad b-movie. Something a 13 year old with a camera would do. DO they do that all the time? Or was this a one time cameraman with a nervous tick thing?

D>M>

It's official. Another orbit around the sun is complete.

My wife and daughter bought me a really swanky Raiders watch and a cool pen that looks like it's carved out of wood. We're going to dinner tonight at teh Macaroni Grill for some good times and crayola tablecloth madness. Actually, I'm wondering if you tech and art-types would have some recommendations for me on a drawing tablet? I've been poking around a little and it looks like the Wacom Intuos3 6x8 is a nice unit, but I really don't have any experience with these things and am kind of looking for advice and/or user experience.

Elrockenstein.. baby any day! That's great news man. Starting about.. now.. you will never get a full night's sleep again. Heh. My little alarm clock is waking up earlier and earlier now that the sun is starting to rise a bit earlier each day. What used to be a sleep-in until about 8am is now shrinking back past the 7am barrier, with a wakeup between 4-6am for oil change and comfort. It is, however, the coolest thing ever being Dad. Don't be alarmed when Wylie comes out purple at first. Heh. The whole 'birth' experience was a bit surreal. I still can't believe Michelle did it without so much as an aspirin. Yikes.

Happy BDay ORugs!!!!

- I need everyone elses BDays so I can officially become more of an adult and put them in my "date book". Don't you all wany BDay greetings from the blog? Do it!

- BSG is the best show on TV, bar none. It is the best show since Firefly and Arrested Development. Funny how Fox can take great shows and drive em into the ground, and Sci-Fi of all channels, can maintain a breakout hit and support it, and even have a marketing campaign to generate interest in making a 3rd season (filming in April!!!). Ah, Fox. Were it not for my addiction to the Simpsons, you would be dead to me.

- It is official, the baby can be born any day now. < TMI> As soon as Leslie hits 2cm dialation, we can induce whenever she is ready. She is already 30% effaced, which is weird.< /TMI>

- I have this solo wargame, Ambush!, that I am going to start playing in the back room, which in honor of Peter, Mike, and Dr. Garbanzo has been cleaned up again. In Ambush!, you control 8 fighting men of the US army in France 1944, and it has a very heavy roleplay aspect to it. Each mission, you enter the map from one area, and then must slowly scout the rest of the map to find your mission objectives. All sorts of crazy shit can happen in the meantime, which you look up in an event book. Kinda like a chitbased, wargame themed, Heroquest. So, the Action Team is going to suit up and take on the Normandy campaign as soon as I get around to it. God save Pvt's Walsh, Anderson, Petersen, Mangual, Nikisch, and Killen. And since this is an alternative universe, Lee and Takara will join the ranks without being sent to internment camps instead! I'll keep you posted as to your various fates.

- Later, B-17: Queen of the Skies will be coming from eBay. Then The Action Team can take on the duties for flying a B-17 though our 25 missions before we are either killed, or sent home in victory!

- Dungeon Twister is a good game. Though one that can generate many "Go Paul" moments. Speaking of Paul, his dad is the landlord of our neighbor two doors down. Apparently he is a bit of a Slum Lord.

- Hey Enron and jr0n, are there still "nice" parts of SF and the surrounding areas that one could purchase a home for a reasonable price? Reasonable being being somewhere between 400 and 700k?

Teh Bloggah, TiVo edition.

Finally got some time to catch up on my backlogged TiVo'ed shiz.. and just caught the season finale of BSG.. HOL-EEEE SHIT! Wow.

The Colbert Report has certainly gotten a LOT better since its inception. The interviews, especially. There are still some of those 'cringe' moments during the interviews where things just don't go real smoothly.. but part of that is Colbert trying to be a character instead of himself, which some times breaks down in mid-interview as well.. and kills the feel of the show a little bit. Anyway.. it's still very funny and definately worth the 15-20 minutes per show if you get the chance.

Distraction.. man this show is just too great. If you haven't caught it, it basically comes down to being a game show with very easy questions but the whole time the contestants are trying to buzz in and answer the questions, they are being submitted to some VERY distracting shit. For example, one round had all the contestants wearing electro-shock dog barking collars. At first, every time they'd buzz in they'd get popped before answering.. and then mid way through the round they just started randomly electrocuting them. LOL.. I also am fairly fond of the nudist leapfrog racing and the round where the contestants buzz in by downing a full shotglass of hotsauce and slamming it on the counter. The final round for the 'winner' is a round in which they have 20 seconds to answer 4 questions, but if they get one wrong (or don't answer them all in 20 seconds), then the prizes they've won start getting crushed by anvils, blown up by explosives, trashed by the losing contestants.. or whatever. It's definately a high pressure moment. Heh.

Oi

Uggg... SO tired. I am not a big fan of Mondays. Blah.

So judging by the overwhelming interest in Kubla by The Action Team members, it would seem likely that it will only be jr0n and eNron attending. Unless certain members other than Elzar speak up (ie Dennis the posting Zombie, Ice 'I have the dreaded Avian SARS mad cow polio anthrax jaundice cold flu' Lee, Myke Moto Merkin, fArt, and Rude Dog).

Rude, I like the podcast. Sounds like a lot of the crappy ones out their. Personally, I think we need to catch ourselves on the mic producing a random stream of conscienceness instead of trying to produce a polished product. None of really get organized enough for anything other than random kernals of greatness in seas of mundane conversations. Either we do that or we put the real Action Team movie, the Conan series, and Rhino Fury audio to podcast. Then we would be the coolest podcast out there.

jr0n and I sort of went berzerker on terrain lately. I picked up some static grass that I think is the source for GW grass, but cheaper. One quarter the price cheaper. GW is a bunch of markup jarks. Anyway hills, aka pecan encrusted green salmon are nearly complete. I am working on a sweet house and some fences/walls. Jr0n started playing Cygnar again. Only thing I have to say about that is F the trenchers. They are some bastards. He is threatening to get some long gunners too. Assholes.

Three cheers to the new rule. Three cheers to inflicting myself to future punishment. Three cheers to posting at work. Idiot!

D>M>

BTW, if you every have the opportunity, I highly recommend picking up some Hobgoblin beer. It is so choice. That and it has a sweet D&D name. You can skip Fiddler's elbow though. It's only okay.

Blog from the Bog

Yes indeed, as I sit here in the bog, I am typing up a blog for you and working on other things which rhyme with it. Yesterday I spent all day trying to figure out how to make a Stormtrooper a) not shoot the begeebus out of me when he sees me (i.e. a pacifist Stormtrooper) and b) walk forever between three predetermined points in a tiny little room in Jedi Knight II. I was insanely happy when after 10 very frustrating hours, I managed it. Why you may ask, and the answer is simple - my continued efforts to pass off game modding/level building as academic reconstruction. Soon my Pompeian house will be filled with people (hopefully not looking like Stormtroopers anymore). Still it was a strange way to spend a Sunday.

Saturday was games day with Eric and Peter. A good time was had by all: Especially due to Dr. Garbanzo and "Stab"manda Sharpe, hunter of Lovecraftian creatures.

I second the second rool... though I realise that I will probably be amongst the most punished.

Myke

New Action Team Rule

Fust rool, es: The Laws Of Germany.

Second rool, es: If at any time any Action Team member has contributed such a low blog count that their face has actually dropped off of the current page, that member should be punished in some way that is to be determined by all non-offending Action Team members.

Remember, kids, we are NOT the IN-Action Team.

Action action!

(I'm looking at you Enron who sleeps not 20 feet from a computer every night, and occasionally with a laptop in his bed, as well as Mike, despite his busy schedule, as well as Denis who I think hates me now, and Ryan, who I KNOW hates me now.....)