This season, more so than last season, they have added some new scenes and compressed some characters. It actually works out fine because the main plot points are still being reached but it just makes it a little more exciting for those who have read the books because even we are a little bit in the dark. Like there are straight up major and minor characters that are completely absent from the show but you can see how they've morphed their basic roles into other character's essence. It's pretty neat. Also do this season there's just been some really amazing performances so it's been really fun to watch. I started to reread the second book and while at the same so slow compared to how quick that the show we don't get to tell the main email situations it's still like Johnny said fund to have all this extra day. The Google talk thing when I go. iChat thing has let me down so sorry you got goofy but I don't want to edit that see you guys get the idea good shit Kevin call. PS so much for that diet we'll still try to eat healthy but fuck a salad

| I KNOW!

So lame I stopped where I did!  Life got in the way and I'm afraid to just pick it up from my bookmark because I'm certainly going to be lost and confused, so rather than try I just let it sit there....

It was ramping up for some insanity when I stopped reading.  So as to not spoil it for anyone else all I'm gonna say is there were boats and eunuchs ready to roll, yo.

Oh man. Some of the craziest shit in the whole series goes down in the 2nd half of book 3. Have you read spoilers/heard the audio book or anything?

The wife really liked the show and gave the book a shot, but the show was just too accurate and fresh in her mind.

I've heard season 2 takes some detours... really looking forward to watching it.

| Interesting Take

I have rarely (ever?) heard original source material act as a spoiler for an adaptation before.  I like the show too, but I think that watching the show would spoil the books.  Sure, there is some commitment required for the books, of which mine has failed (only made it through 50% of Storm of Swords), but the payoff seems soooo much sweeter.  There was like a hundred page stretch in Clash of Kings where I could not put the freaking book down!

One thing I found is that if you read the book prior to watching the series, it acts as a spoiler.  The series is so well done and true to the book (with relative exceptions) that most of the "important" themes are represented.  I found that I had preferred watching the series first and then refreshening up and rereading the chapter to fill in some of the "thoughts" that the characters had while going through the chapters.  Also, if I missed any details while reading, the series helped by visualizing the missed plotlines and fills in the gaps.  What made the show so great to me was that I read the book so long ago that I had forgotten most of the details, so it didn't spoil much of the plot for me.  And I agree, this is one of the best Science Fiction series I have seen.

OK, to work

Diablo 3- SUPPOSEDLY it gets better as you progress through the game. It's supposed to really pick up around Act 3. Also, the hardcore mode unlocks at level 10 which actually sounds fun - one life, that's it - you die, game over. Rogue-like! Blizzard's massive infrastructure and probable support are also appealing, but the 30 minutes I played of the beta was enough to "show me the game" and it's not really my thang. Never really played D1 or 2 anyways. Never even finished Torchlight, but it was dirt cheap and I def got my $10 bucks or whatever's worth out of it. I'll support T2 because they seem like a cool developer.

Food: I think I'm allergic to lettuce and all things green. 4 more weeks is a LONG ASS TIME... we've also been trail running at least once a week and that's pretty fun. I LOVE LOVE LOVE hiking, but when you get to do it in like half the time, it's kinda awesome. At least these are easy fire roads. I'd still prefer hiking in more rugged/varied terrain.

Boardgame: Scotland Yard. I remember playing some form of this years ago with the group. Did/do you guys like it? There's an iPad version coming out this week I believe but I think I only ever played it twice. I love the idea of those kind of games (really want to play Letters from White Chapel some day) but don't remember much about it.

Zombies: Eric is king of zombies.

TV: Man, Game of Thrones has been SO GOOD this year! Only 3 more left. They totally upped the production and do a ton of shooting on awesome-location now, so things look a billion times better. They shot all this "north of the wall" stuff in Iceland and it looks incredible. Best friggen show. HBO's new comedy Veep is also fantastic and very funny.

| Diablo ]|[

I tend to agree with you 'Zar. I really do not like the need for a persistent connection with single player games or games that have single player components. I know it is some annoying anti piracy thing, but You never know when your Internets will be down or the servers will fail. Plus, 20 years later when I get nostalgic, there is a good chance these types of games will be unplayable. At least not without a mod of some sort.

Oh well, I can always go mine some 1 meter cubes.

D>M>

| Diablo, Shmiablo

So, I made it to level 3 with my monk before the server crashed and my single player game was rendered useless until Actiblizzard gets their act together.  Kinda lame.

All in all, I'm underwhelmed - shocking!  Given, I'm level 3, but it still feels like the old one-dimensional click-fest that the other Diablo games have been.  Torchlight is 1/3 the price and seems to scratch the same itch, so good on you Rudy for waiting for TL II - I think it would have been a better bet for me too.

All this being said, I'm LEVEL 3, so I have LOTS more to explore, but it gets a big MEH from me so far, and the fact that there is an always on Internet connection required for a single player game REALLY bugs me.

| Ack...

And here is who I suspect will chase you through the woods in Temecula...



D>M>

| Zombocom

You know what's funny, I'm not even that into zombies.  I mean, it's not a thing I do, but when you look at my recent track record one could easily deduce that I love zombies so much I want to marry them:

 - Walking Dead game - I like it!
 - Alan Wake - there are dead things in it!
 - Nightfall - a game with zombies in it, I like it!
 - Zombies, run! - a game I am using to get in shape and I like it!
 - Run For Your Lives - a fun 5k that I hope will recapture some of the goofy scares and thrills from my trips to Knott's Scary Farm
 - Diablo - I regret it without even playing it, but I hear there are zombies...
 - Listening to Cannibal Corpse (why?) right now at work
 - I colored eggs on Easter to celebrate the zombie Jesus, aspect of Bunny.
 - I picked up the Filth Summoner Wars faction, which I think is undead/zombies?

Maybe I will marry them.

| Diablo, three minute impressions

Lovin' it! But, all I did was launch it this morning and verify it runs ok on my circa-08 laptop, which it does!

I did notice one thing which, Aeryk, the news I have to say is going to 100% blow your mind and turn your doubts into pure love. Are you ready? There are zombies in this game! :)

A couple people have already friended me in game through FB (not even sure how that happened).

Definitely excited to jump on tonight. I think I might make a Witch Doctor. I haven't played through any previous Diablo as a spell caster, and I like the idea of throwing jars of spiders at people.

Thanks for the tips man! The book I have focuses heavily on nutrition and making sure you're getting the most bang for your buck nutrient wise, so I think I'm mostly ok, at least for the 6 weeks of the main program. I take flak seeds every day as well as beans/legumes, so think I have most things covered. They do mention how to handle what I might still be missing through other means, so I'm hopefully covering my bases pretty well. It's only really "vegan" in that it says that you can get more out of your calories from greens than meat, but allows for lean meats occasionally like certain fish or eggs. My biggest struggle is that it gets boring, but that's on me to figure out how to spruce things up. I'm tryin!

Jon/Denis/Eric: Hows Diablo?

Elrocko:

That Zombie Run looks like crazy fun! Hah! My poor knees though. :( I really should get them roto-rootered here some day. I know it will improve my quality of life a bunch.

Rood:

Grats on the diet. One small word of caution bro (just some stuff to be cautious of and be aware of), a lot of vegan diets are lacking in several key areas that can cause serious health issues. For example, there are amino acids only found in animal fat (or by capsule) that your body doesn't like going long stretches of time without. Vegan diets typically have trouble with B12 and Calcium intake as well.

You can probably do ok on a Vegan diet for a prolonged amount of time, but don't kill yourself trying to get healthy. :)

Flax / Hemp seeds are a good source of omega fatty acids. Legumes are good protein sources. You can supplement for amino acids, B12 and vitamin D & Calcium (although Calcium is probably the easiest thing of the bunch to find in the veggies). Some folks metabolize supplements better than others compared to natural sources, but you may wanna look into an amino / B12 supplement.

Just looking out for you mang.

Silvia and I are down for the Zombie Run if you guys really come down for it! We'll all have to dress up. Sounds fun :)

I have Nightfall iOS but goddamn it has the worst tutorial. I've heard if you know the actual game, it's fun. I'll make an effort to understand it. OMG Eric, play Ascension with us! I'll set the turn time limit to like 30 days for you!

Jael: After we ever complete an entire game of Twilight Struggle, let's play some other stuff! I'm always down for M44 or any of those C&C games.

| Run for your lives!

So there is this race called Run For Your Lives that is basically a 5k, with a live-action zombie theme and I want to do it. (here's a good overview video!)

You know those mud run 5k's?  This is like those, but with dressed up zombies that try and eat you (take flags off of your flag belt) during the race!  Everyone is assigned a flag belt and if you have any remaining at the end, you live! Otherwise you become a zombie, either way it looks like you have an fun time and I think we should do it!  Apparently, there are forks in the road and depending on how you choose, your 5k could become a 10k.... :)

Yes, it sucks because it's in Temecula which is near San Diego, and in the summer T'Mec is about 10% hotter than SD at any given time, but the race is in October so it should be cool enough.  My thought is the NorCal-ers carpool down on Friday (taking the day off work), sleep in LA, drive to Temecula Sat morning for the race, get eaten by zombies, have some beers, drive back to LA and sleep, then drive back north on Sunday?

The race is about 70% full, and zombie registration is already closed.  $77 for thrilling fun!

I'm currently using Zombies, run! to train, and if you have an iPhone you should too because it makes the drudgery of running (for those of us not classically trained in running) fairly fun and engrossing.

Also, I recently discovered Nightfall after purchasing it for a neighbors birthday.  I had it on iOS and regretted that purchase too until I got my hands on the actual cards and stumbled through a game - it is really, really fun!  Its a deckbuilding game with a good twist of combat and card chaining that I have not seen in a cardbuilder before - if you have the patience to learn the game on the iOS (which I really didn't have), go get it.  I will TOTALLY play an online game with you, because I TOTALLY excel at remembering and finding time to play all the online iOS games that I start...  but it really is a good game, maybe I'll bring the neighbors copy (which is living at my house right now.  The game, not the neighbor...) up to Kublanacht next week for some fun!