A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay This was a re-read for me, as it just became available on Kindle. It in fact wrapped up my complete re-read of Kay's fiction, which I mostly handled in 2018. Grant by Ron Chernow After reading the award-winning (and musical-inspiring) Hamilton by Chernow, I was moved to pick this [...]
Cursed Items in D&D: Why I don’t like them; how I intend to use them differently
A time-honored mechanic in Dungeons & Dragons is the cursed item: A ring, or armor, or what-have-you, that -- when a player character wears or uses the item -- activates a bane. Usually, the item cannot be removed once the curse is revealed; usually, the curse cannot be determined before use even via things like [...]
Flags of Freedom
A US flag with 35 stars in the field, created after West Virginia was added to the Union. So there's a controversy with Nike again, because Nike pulled a line of shoes showing the so-called Betsy Ross flag. (You've seen it -- it's the one with a circle of 13 stars.) It's not entirely clear [...]
On racism and candy
I originally wrote this in 2015 on Facebook, in response to a meme that ticked me off. (Since the original meme link has decayed, I'm appending a screenshot.) In light of Senate Majority Leader McConnell's self-serving and tone-deaf comments on reparations, I thought it still a propos. At the least it serve as conclusive proof [...]
Jauf, human fighter
Just Another Uninteresting Fighter I'm steadily making spare characters for D&D 5e, partly to help me gain insight into game mechanics while I work on my Musketeers-inspired campaign, but mostly because it's a fun exercise. I don't usually do fighters so I thought it was time to give it a try. I'l say this: D&D [...]
Marvek, halfling warlock
This is Marvek, my second D&D character. (It's for a one-shot, so don't worry -- Jeribon is still alive and well.) Warlocks are a new class -- new to me, at least, as they weren't in AD&D. They're an odd type of spellcaster, who has few slots but recharges quickly. I have a custom character [...]
It must be tough being a film critic
and always having to say something supposedly original and hopefully contrary. The thesis of this article in Deadspin is that Avengers Endgame suffers because it dives headfirst into the mythology and doesn't pause or slow down for any non-fans watching. I'm just gonna say it: That's just dumb. (No spoilers for Endgame -- it's safe [...]
Jeribon
Update 2019 May 8: Here's Jeribon's 3rd-level character sheet. I'm getting back into D&D, hopefully, and I'm starting with Jeribon, a gnomish rogue. In the best traditions of the Internet, I've just stolen this image (from http://wow.blizzgame.ru/gallery/hazlow-mudshuggle-by-matt-cavotta/ ) until I can figure out one for myself. Backstory Jeribon was a young gnome at the time [...]
The Orville v. Discovery: Small reference Pools
I was watching a YouTube video comparing The Orville to Star Trek: Discovery. As it went on, it became almost surreal. At first, it was fine. The YouTuber likes The Orville over ST:D, because it feels more like "classic Trek" -- which is a reasonable opinion, and one I more or less agree with. But [...]
Movies 2019
Aquaman (12/27/2018)Bumblebee (1/3/2019)Teen Titans Go! To The Movies (2/16/2019, Google Play)Captain America: The First Avenger (3/15/2019, rewatch, amazon rental)Captain America: The Winter Soldier (3/16/2019, rewatch, amazon rental)Captain America: Civil War (3/17/2019, rewatch, amazon)Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse (3/20/2019, amazon rental)Captain Marvel (3/21/2019, AMC Southroads)Little (4/22/2019, B&B Starworld)Avengers Endgame (4/29/3019, B&B Starworld)SHAZAM! (5/17/2019, B&B Starworld)Men in Black [...]