Monday, January 31, 2011
How Does the Pizza Figure In??
Monday, January 10, 2011
Foam Rubber Vertebra
*"Shutter Island"- Loved the cinematography and the settings. Thought the story was really good until the very end. Not that it was bad, I was just hoping for something a bit spookier.
*Meanwhile, back at Pegasus Bridge this past Sunday, the Allies carried the day 2-0.
*The Giftmas decorations are finally all back in the hobbit hole. With all of that stuff put away, I realize how desperately the carpet needs to be cleaned.
*"The Ice Limit"- OK, it was a Preston/Child book so I read it. This one didn't really grab me though. Not bad, just not as good as I was hoping for it to be.
*Having a hard time trying to find a good weekend to make our way down to Springfield. The Boss seems to think we can do it in two days, but that just seems like it would be really tiring. So, the debate continues. In the meantime, it will be yet another month before I have an opportunity to meet up with any of the Red Palms folks again.
*There can be a great many downsides to manscaping, not the least of which is annoyingly sharp stubble in sensitive places.
*"Kick-Ass"- A decent popcorn film. Nothing really different or striking. The characters of the two best friends of the lead guy were quite enjoyable, though.
*We all had a good time at the Swordsmen! on Saturday. Even managed to find a Mexican restaurant that Bart and Steph gave a passing grade. Plus, I had no idea that Beck's made tallboy cans.
*Still trying to figure out what to do about production of my game. A run of 50 copies comes in at a higher cost, but I'm pretty sure I can move all of them in a reasonable amount of time. If I were to have 100 made, even though the cost is lower, I'm pretty sure that I'd end up with a lot of leftovers. And, since there's some graphics work yet to be done, I think I'll have to eat all of that cost myself in order to keep the price down. And then there's the issue of needing to make 400 playing pieces. This is proving to be quite a task. At least I will have learned some things should I manage to complete the other game I'm working on in time for Ohana.
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Thursday, January 6, 2011
Avocado Earrings
*The last thing I need to do is get involved in yet another new hobby. So, tempting as it sounds, I am going to leave the home brewing to others and just enjoy being able to sample their efforts.
*I simply have to agree. Being over 400 right before bed is not a good thing. Unfortunately, I have no idea what to do about it.
*I can't believe that someone busted one of my vintage rattan chairs and didn't say anything. Now I need to go out to Menard's and get the post kits to fix the frame, and then check the springs to see if they're broken beyond repair. Not real happy about the whole situation. But, if nothing else, it will be a good lesson in antique restoration.
*Got up earlier than I usually do on Tuesday morning and headed out to Niles to meet with Jack from Chicago Game and Card Co. The drive on 90 wasn't too bad and took us less time than we expected, which was a good start. Unfortunately, between us arriving early and Jack running late with another client, we wound up parked in a chilly waiting room with a stack of printing/advertising trade magazines. When Jack did get there, we got down to business pretty quickly. I showed him the game, gave him the files from LePrint, and then we talked some options. One of the major expenses would be making the 2 custom cutting dies to stamp out all the island pieces. The rest (not counting in the playing pieces), should be fairly routine. He said he'd get back to me in a day or two with an estimate. Wednesday came, and I opened my e-mails to find a note from Jack. For a run of 50 copies, the price was going to be around $90 per copy. Better than LePrint could have done, but only by $10 or so. Now, If I wanted to jump up to 250 copies, the price would be roughly cut in half. I don't think there would be any way on Earth for me to move 250 copies, and ain't no one in their right mind gonna pay $90 per copy. So, if the custom dies were at the heart of the problem, they needed to be removed from the equation. I sent a note back saying that the island boards could be printed on whatever size piece of square/rectangular chipboard would work, if that would help cut the cost. The Tourist island would need to have it's graphics merged in the computer and then be printed on a bifold board. So now I'm just waiting to hear back, and hoping that I can knock that price down to a point where people would be willing to pay it.
*The Christmas decorations are still up, and the dogs need a bath. Gee, I wonder what I'll be doing this weekend...
*A blast from the past has wandered back onto the periphery of my general situation. Fewer zippers so far, but quite refreshing none the less.
*Off to Pheasant Run this Saturday with Bart and Steph to see the Swordsmen! Been a couple of years since I've seen them, but it was a pretty good show then, and I'm hoping everyone enjoys it this time around. Will definitely have to make sure I have my flask handy for this trip into burbland, though.
*To get me to talk in my sleep, all you need to do is fill me full of gin and pizza rolls and then let me stay up till 3AM watching Shutter Island and Ghost Ship. Why has no one thought of that before?
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Sunday, January 2, 2011
Antelope Elopement Atonement
*I may have been fairly correct in stating that it would seem to be really difficult to lose a game of Forbidden Island. I should add the clarification that that statement was made based on starting on the 'novice' level. I doubt this would be the case on the 'epic' level.
*OK, I am still having right around zero luck in getting the printer/game developer guy the types of files he needs in order to give me an estimate on doing a production run of Fezquest. So, I may end up physically going to Niles on Tuesday so I can meet with this guy face to face. Maybe then he can get the scans he needs, I can tell him about the edits I want, and I can get this thing moving more towards actually getting into the hands of people so they can play it. If not, then I'll have to start looking around for someone else.
*It had never crossed my mind that I should look on E-Bay for bamboo flats and canes. But now that I know those types of things are on there, when I get to that point of the downstairs remodel (yeah, right), I will have to compare those prices against others that offer the same thing.
*Another month, another fun event. Survivor's Day was a pretty good time. Had a lot of the usual faces and a couple of new ones to boot. Had some call-offs and some no shows, but that's to be expected. The obvious downside to having a party on NYD is that a lot of people have done a good amount of drinking on NYE, so things weren't quite as lively as they could have been. I was really glad that Steve could make it up for the event this time around. I have also decided that there was too much rum in the Miami Snowmen, so I need to tweak that recipe. I think I actually have some mai tai mix left, and I don't even think that I made one for myself last night. The area between the bar and the green chair continues to be a dead space, which I'm hoping that the new bar design (should it ever come to pass), will help eliminate. It also looks like it's time to dig into the stored boxes and rotate the items on display out in the main room. And while you're at it, Fear my spaghetti arm!!
*No, I do not want any more cookies. If you try to give me a plate of homemade fudge, I may well punch you right in the nose. The next person to offer me any type of consumable with a >80% sugar content will get a boot to the ass. Repeatedly. My pancreas is frickin exhausted. No. More. Sweets. Got that? As it is, I doubt I'll be able to eat anything sweet until well into March of next year, and quite possibly later than that. Not to mention that I will have to spend considerable time and resources trying to unload the sugary treats I have already been given by others. Got curry? Hand it over. Salsa? Likewise. Chili? I'll take that too. But, if it's something dipped in chocolate that you're trying to pawn off on me, you just might end up finding it crammed in your ear.
*After a recent vet visit, all three of the Thundering Herd have been given clean bills of health and ideal body scores. I, however almost needed CPR after finding out how much it cost me to get that report from the vet. On the up side, we did discover that getting the beasts in and out of the Element is easier than any other car that we've had so far. Little bastards may just actually get to go more places with us in that case.
*Did I make any resolutions for the new year? No, not really. Never really found them to be anything that really sticks. I mean, if you already have the discipline to stick to a resolution, odds are that you don't really need to make any resolutions in the first place. I'm just going to make sure that I keep doing the things I know I need to be doing. Which, is kinda funny, considering I haven't worked out in a few days, and I'm pretty sure that I didn't take my meds today. But I need to start working out, since I've had a yen to watch The Matrix for like the forty bazillionth time. Plus, all that beer is starting to make it's presence known in ways I am not fond of.
*Almost all the snow that had been deposited around the area disappeared after we had a rather unseasonal stretch of days above freezing, a couple of which approached the 50 degree mark. I think I can also say that this has been the foggiest December that I can ever remember. Luckily, or not, all the mud generated by the sudden thaw froze solid when a 20+ degree temperature drop hit the area overnight. So, it's back to winter for the next five months or so. Did I forget to say wheeee?
*Managed to complete 4 new pieces this week, which was really nice. Not that any of those pieces were anything that I needed to get done, but it was good to just let instinct run and do whatever I wanted to. Didn't really like having to do all the blending when I was using the colored pencils, and the resulting shiny finish isn't quite what I was looking for. Liked doing the pastel piece, but it does make a lot of dust, and that piece will have to be sealed before it can be handled. What's next? I just may do another pastel. Got some black paper I've been waiting to do something with, and this may be a good media to use on it. Want to drag out the tempra again, too. I doubt either of those will be something that goes out for any of the charity auctions I know I'll be getting calls for soon, which means that I need to get to carving.
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