Pleasures of the Presidency: Final Meeting
Yes, this was the final STC meeting of my tenure as President. Francis Lalumiere spoke about designing and publishing his chess variant, Proteus. I thought this would be a fun way to end the season. After all, gameboards are no different from GUIs, rules sheets are just short instruction manuals, and playtesting is just another form of usability testing.
There was a good crowd of a dozen or so people, which is excellent for a May meeting. (the meeting last May gathered a mere four attendees…yikes!) There was good mingling and networking, and people appeared interested in the talk, which Francis delivered with aplomb and quick humour.
I laughed as the usual group of petitioners and advocates cornered Howard, the incoming president and current vice-president, and began another iteration of the same discussions that I had faced in my three years of planning programs. I just grinned as I heard the same arguments offered again, and noticed that a cycle had passed, and that it was time to make everything old new again. After all, I had my hand in that process for other events and activities.
The end of the presidency won’t really hit me until the summer banquet on June 21st, when I pass on the trinkets and baubles and trappings of the office (which means I’ve got to get cracking on some of those projects!). Then I’ll sit back, realize that, for the first time in years, I won’t have any volunteer responsibilities of a professional or hobbyist nature. Years. There have been school activites, student jobs, tournament participation/organization, and professional networking. After the STC, I won’t have to organize anything. I’ll just have my job, and my leisure time (which will admittedly fill up with projects of a domestic nature, but that’s entirely the point).
I think I’ll relax, at first.
Then, I suspect I might get a little bored [grin].
Maybe it’ll be time for that novel…
Comments are Up!
Thanks to everyone who suggested YACCS as my new commenting system. The installation was simple, and simplicity is always my preference.
The only down side is that I’ve lost all my comments from BlogBack. Drat! There were some real zingers in there!
Dina’s Dentistry
Think kind thoughts for Dina today. She’s heading off to the dentist for a tooth extraction this morning.
Get well soon, Sweetheart!
Update: The tooth is gone, the drugs are working, and she’s got a couple of DVDs to watch before she takes a nap…
Comments Are Down!
Looks like I’ve got to find a new commenting system. I’ve been evicted from Blogback for using the code after the service stopped accepting new members. Which is odd, because about six months ago (or so), the head of the service actually helped troubleshoot my comment code!
You’d think he would have mentioned something at that point. Ah, well.
To all fellow BlogBack users who signed up after me…you might be next!
Busy Weekend!
On Saturday, Dina and I finished painting the trim in the living room and clearing up the newspapers and masking tape. While she went out shopping, I replaced all the furniture, and returned the dining room to a usable state for the first time in a month. Sure, I had to repack the spare room, but it might be better for us to leave the painting of that room until last. We should really get a head start on the dining room.
In the evening, our friend Melissa came over for dinner. Dina outdid herself in preparing salads and marinating chicken. I was in charge of the charring, naturally, and that worked out fairly well. We chatted for hours over dinner, and then Dina and I watched the Buffy season finale late at night. This was a good decision.
Sunday, we went to IKEA for some furniture. We needed a nice entertainment unit for the living room, because we were tired of keeping the TV, VCR, and DVD player precariously stacked on top of the firewood box in the corner. We joined the throng at the superstore, found a nice, glass-doored unit, then we looked at armoires as a possible solution for our lack of closet space, and shopped for couches to replace the L-shaped couch in the living room (we’re selling it to Jim, who’ll need a couch for his new place). Before we made it safely out of the store, I had picked up a bedstand table for my side of the bed. When we got home, Dina and I took turns with the allen keys.
In the evening, Francois biked up to play cards. We thrashed each other at 7th Sea (though I must say that his Viking speed-boarding deck is quite alarming), played a little Netrunner, and then we traded some Burnings Sands cards, bringing me ever closer to my complete set. He also sized up the spare barbecue, which I had promised to give him last year by way of thanks for all the help he’s given me with my recent moves.
He picked the BBQ up last night. His daughters will be very happy indeed.
Buffy and Angel
Yeah, this is long…I was undisturbed for my entire lunch hour…
Buffy: Two to Go, Grave: I remember when I was addicted to Star Trek: The Next Generation. From Season Three and onwards, the producers would offer a cliffhanger as the season finale, and would conclude the storyline with the next season’s premiere. The finale cliffhangers were great stories, giving the writers and actors a chance to really develop the action because they weren’t burdened with a trick ending in the last five minutes of the show. The finale would end, and I would eagerly await the premiere, which would invariably disappoint. All the promise of the finale would be squandered in the premiere. All of it. It was a terrible experience.
Now, Buffy doesn’t do cliffhangers. Every season ends with the finale, bringing closure to the themes of the season, and leaving certain doors open for the next season. This was a smart movie during the early years of the show, when the producers never knew if the show would outlast the season, and they didn’t want to leave any major holes in the plots. However, the producers have, on occasion, created two-part season finales, which can be appreciated in terms of the season finale/season premiere pairing. The viewer only has to wait a week between those episodes, instead of an entire summer.
Well, I could have waited years between Two to Go and Grave. This is a Star Trek-level of storytelling failure.
First, the good stuff: Willow goes after the other two Geeks of the trio. Buffy, Xander, and Anya follow. It’s striking how horrified Buffy and Xander are by Willow’ murder of Warren. Willow arrives at the police station and starts breaking down the walls to get at her targets. Meanwhile, Anya tries to persuade the Captain to let the Geeks go, but, eventually, Buffy breaks the Geeks loose. As they run towards a police cruiser commandeered by Xander, Geek Andrew remarks that Willow is looking a lot like Dark Phoenix. (It’s good to see that the writers know and reference their sources.)
Willow commandeers a semi-trailer of her own to chase down the cruiser, not caring if she hurts in friends during her quest for vengeance. Everyone knows this. Fortunately, Willow can’t sustain her magical energies, and so she let the cruiser drive away.
The heroes and Geeks arrive at the Magic box, where they plan their next move. Willow goes off in search of more power. She goes to the Magic Crackhouse, and absorbs the power of Rack the Warlock, killing him the process. Dawn arrives in the Magic Crackhouse–she wanted to ask Rack for information about Buffy. Willow looks at Dawn, delivers a great speech about how whiny and useless she is, and threatens to turn Dawn back into a ball of energy. At last, I thought. A way to get Dawn out of the show, and a great way to mark Willow’s full turn to evil. Sadly, this doesn’t happen. Buffy interrupts them. Willows makes some more speeches while she teleports the three of them to the Magic Box.
Then she blasts the Geeks.
The blasts dissipate. Anya is hidden, chanting a protection spell. Curious behaviour from a vengeance demon, don’t you think?
Willow tries a different tack. She imbues herself with magical strength (and martial arts knowledge), so that she can kill the Geeks by hand. Buffy intervenes. Xander leads the Geeks and Dawn away, in search of a place to hide. What follows is the best fight scene of the season, along with more quips and one-liners.
Willow’s performance as a villain is striking. This is more than just the actress being grateful for more range. Willow revels in her power. After she’s knocked Buffy down for the fifth time or so, Willow stands up and declares that no one is powerful enough to stop her.
She’s knocked across the room by a ball of green flame. She looks up, nose bloodied, to see Giles standing in a doorway. Giles says, “I’d like to test that theory.” Close credits.
What a great cliffhanger! Dina and I were howling!
(SAG question: How did Giles get a speaking role in this episode, and still not appear in the opening guest credits? I can understand that they didn’t want to spoil the surprise, but how did they manage the issue of credit? In Angel, when they bring in Drusilla or Willow for a surprise ending, the characters don’t have any dialogue.)
The next episode starts,First, Giles overpowers Willow, which is shocking enough in itself, because he has not magical powers of his own. Willow recognizes the power as borrowed, but Giles is still able to lock her in a binding spell. Then, he goes back to the training room with Buffy, describes how he has this power and why. The explanation fits in with the show–a coven of witches were aware of Willow’s manifestation of dark power, imbued Giles with their power, and teleported him to Sunnydale to stop her–just enough so as not to bother me. It’s convenient, but no more convenient than if the knowledge had come from the Watcher’s Council. Besides, Giles is back!
Buffy also asks why no one else came back to replace her as Slayer during her death. Perhaps there’s another reason for her return?
Buffy tells Giles about all the terrible things that have happened during his absence, including her affair with Spike. Giles bursts out laughing. Gales of laughter. Gales of “Harmony has minions?” laughter. Buffy joins in. It’s refreshing to see, even as it undercuts the mood of most of the season.
Willow compells Anya to free her. She shows Buffy a fireball, and says that it will home in on the Geeks and kill them, and anyone around them, unless she can get there first. She lets the fireball go, and Buffy chases after it in order to save Xander and Dawn.
Then, Willow turns on Giles. It’s another tremendous fight, but it ends, and Willow absorbs Giles’ magic. It’s more powerful than anything she’s experienced. She feels connected to rest of the world, feels their pain, and says that she has to make it stop.
And then things go downhill.
Willow’s method of apocalypse? She unearths the Conveniently Undiscovered Apocalyptic Temple from a hilltop. She plans to channel the world’s energies through herself into a demonic statue at the Conveniently Undiscovered Apocalyptic Temple.
(If she was that powerful, why would she need this temple? Couldn’t she just set up her own spell? I’m not surprised that she wants to destroy the world, because destructive magics are always her first choice when the going gets tough: she tried to kill Veruca for sleeping with Oz, and she was nearly promoted to vengeance-demon status when she cast a wish-fulfillment spell to bring Oz back to her.)
Meanwhile, Buffy finds Xander et. al., in a cemetary, looking for a place to hide. The fireball misses, and makes a huge hole in the ground. Xander is knocked out, Dawn and Buffy fall into the hole, the Geeks drop their swords into the hole, and decide to run away to Mexico. Anya pops up, and tells everyone what Willow plans to do. Then, Willow speaks across the distance, and creates an endless army of zombies/earth elementals for Buffy to fight, so she’ll have something to do during the end of the world.
Dawn picks up a sword and pitches in to help. I remembered that Guislaine had told me that Dawn might be the next Slayer in a spin-off, and I groaned.
I groaned more when Xander showed up at the Conveniently Undiscovered Apocalyptic Temple and interrupts Willow’s spell. He tries to reach out for her (why not? This works in pop psych movies like Good Will Hunting, and almost got him killed when he tried to reach out to Faith in Season Three.) Willow laughs at his gesture. Xander gets off a zinger (something along the lines of “I could dry-wall you into the next century, but that’s not what this is about.”), but then keeps blocking the flow of energy from Willow to the C.U.A.T., and tells her that he loves her. There are fond reminiscences. Willow slashes at him. He gets up again. Eventually, she runs out of power, starts sobbing, and her hair turns red.
Meanwhile, Giles stirs back at the Magic Box. Anya has been guarding him (again, curious behaviour for a vengeance demon…), and he reveals that the coven had planned for Willow to steal the magic from him. The magic was a trap–an antidote composed of the purest, most humane magicks, that would unlock Willow’s sense of humanity and override the dark magicks she’s abused. This would also make her susceptible to Xander’s overtures. This mitigates the cornball quality of that encounter, but only slightly.
I hope that the producers reveal that the antidote has cost Willow her entire potential for magic. Where else will they go from here.
With the end of Willow’s magic comes the end to the zombie/earth elemental army. Buffy and Dawn cry and bond. It’s supposed to be heartwarming. It really is.
And that’s pretty much the end of the episode, except for the interlarded scenes with Spike. You see, Spike has sought out of an African wish-granting demon. He wants to “be the way he was before the chip” so that the “Slayer can get what she deserves”. After many combat-related trials., the demon grants Spike’s wish, and returns to him his human soul.
Uh-oh.
I guess now we’ll find out how much Buffy really loves vampires
But I’m not holding out much hope for that, or for next season.
Angel: This is another two-part finale, and another mixed bag. I had stopped watching the show ever since the appearance of the Internet Stalker Vampire Tree, the introduction of the Angel/Cordelia romantic attraction, and the Convenient Granting of Demon Status to Cordelia to preserve her against the visions. So, I missed Wesley’s betrayal and Holtz’ kidnapping of Connor into a hell dimension. I wasn’t surprised that Connor would have been taken to hell, because the different timelines are the easiest way to accelerate Connor’s growth, and it always struck me as appropriate that Holtz should raise Angel’s son, given that his family died because of Angel. For Holtz, it’s an appropriate revenge…one that smacks of justice.
Looks like I underestimated Holtz..
During his search for Connor, Angel used dark magics, including painting a pentacle star on the floor of the hotel lobby. This served as a gateway, where some demonic beasties invaded the hotel, followed by Connor. He’s an angry teen, naturally, and he’s driven to kill Angel. However, Angel is still the stronger warrior, and so he easily defeats his son, and tries to bond with him. As it happens, Holtz also escapes, and plans the rest of his revenge.
He tells Connor to go to Angel in order to betray him. However, Angel and Connor start to bond. Holtz encourages this, saying that their bond is natural and inevitable. Connor resists, then relents. Angels learns that Holtz is back, and is immediately suspicious. He asks Gunn and Fred to distract Connor while he goes to confront Holtz. Holtz old regretful man, tells Angel that Connor rightfully belongs with him, and that he’ll leave, so that Connor will stay and grow with his father. Holtz then gives Angel a letter to give to Connor.
Unfortunately, Connor overhears Gunn and Fred muttering about Angel’s meeting with Holtz, and races to return to Holtz. Here, we see Holtz’s full vengeance: he asks Julianna, the woman he had trained in combat, to kill him, leaving two puncture wounds in his neck. Connor sees Holtz, and immediately thinks of Angel. His initial feelings of reconciliation harden into resolve.
Angel has no idea what’s going to happen to him. He’s very happy. Not perfectly happy, mind you, but happier than he’s ever been.
Meanwhile, Wesley is being courted by Lilah to join Wolfram and Hart, and Grue resents Cordelia’s abiding love for Angel.
In the season finale, three interesting things happen: One, the Karaoke Demon leaves for Las Vegas. Hurry! Don’t miss your bus! Two, Wesley and Lilah end up in bed together, and Wesley is pure evil (“Don’t think about me when I’m gone,” she purrs. “I didn’t think about you when you were here,” he growls.). Three, Cordelia decides to declare her love for Angel, and arranges to meet him at a beach.
However…
Cordelia is driving along the freeway when she gets a vision. Time stops. She steps out of the car and sees how unsafe drivers are going to cause a fatal accident–hers. Skip shows up and tells Cordelia that she has been tested, and that it’s time she ascends to another plane to fight on behalf of the powers that be, but she has to leave immediately, and never tell Angel her feelings. This is another test, and she passes. Cordelia ascends to the heavens in a beam of light. There’s angelic music playing the background.
I am dumbfounded by how low this show has sunk.
Connor ambushes Angel at the beach, and knocks him out with a taser. Then Julianna arrives with a boat. Angel returns to consciousness inside a metal crate. Connor is welding the clear front shut, and pushes the crate to the bottom of the sea. Angel is visibly frightened, but still manages to forgive his son. I have no idea how he’s going to get out of the crate. Perhaps Cordelia will intervene?
I’m impressed with the depth of Holtz’ revenge, and I’m intrigued by Connor…almost enough to overlook Cordelia’s ridiculous, cliche-laden apotheosis.
Almost.
Comics!
Just Imagine Stan Lee…Catwoman: The Marvel style of comics creation, as developed by Stan Lee and his artists, is simple: The writer gives the artist an outline; the artist draws the pages; and the writer then scripts the pages. In this method, the artist has considerable free rein, but if the storytelling skills aren’t quite there, then the method falls flat. However, the artists can innovate, and surprise the writer.
I’m assuming that Stan Lee is using the Marvel style to create these books, and I have to wonder: Did he ask that Chris Bachalo put the shape-shifting mob boss in a space suit, or was that something that Chris threw in for free. And what was Stan’s reaction?
Catwoman in this universe is a supermodel who wants to be more than she is, and make her retired cop father proud (aw, poor thing). During an attempted kidnapping, both her and her cat are struck by that mysterious green energy, and merge in sin single being. The result isn’t Bast, but is still darn attractive, given the way Bachalo draws her.
Hilarity ensues. It’s nothing to write home about, but the art is striking, if a little too cluttered for action scenes (I must be getting old).
The back-up feature deals with the rise in vigilantism after the appearance of the new heroes and villains. This rise is unequivocally described as dangerous.
Only two more issues in this series to go. The trade paperback collection of the first six issues comes out in a month or so, but I really couldn’t wait that long.
Midnight, Mass. #2: Back when John Rozum worked on the beloved Xombi, for Milestone Comics, his work on the title was described as “Like Vertigo, only weird.” Even within the Vertigo imprint, that assessment still stands.
In this issue, the Kadmons describe the case where their seeming cool and bravado failed them, and lead to their need for an assistant. It starts as a simple tale about disappearances near a farmhouse. A human teenager and a teenaged monster are watching television and, frankly, not much happens in terms of action. The pleasure of this book likes in the details
Shades of Blue #7: This is a free issue from Amp Comics. They had a standing offer of a free comic for anyone who was interested. Dina found the link for me, and I sent an email.
Shades of Blue is a well-drawn black and white comic book about Heidi, a teenage girl who wakes up one morning with blue hair and electrical superpowers. However, she doesn’t appear in this issue, so I can’t review her character. However, I can review the storytelling, and it’s excellent.
The issue begins with a new student practicing her figure skating routine for her father/coach. He’s very strict and demanding, and you feel badly for the character right until you realize that her father is just in her imagination; at which point, you feel worse. The skater is trying to perfect her routine to honour her dead father, and her focus has earned her the nickname “Ice Queen,” which makes it harder for her make connections at her new school. In fact, she’s bullied for appearing to be a snob.
Then, she develops ice powers of her own…
This series has charming, well-drawn and well-voiced characters, and the neatest contest I’ve seen. Send an email to participate, and the series creator will personally ask you trivia questions about the series. Get the questions right, and you’re entered in a drawing for cash and prizes. This is a good way to build your grassroots fan base. Good luck, Heidi!
Inside Steve…Part VI
Here’s another round of Blogger Insider questions, this time from Jena at Tilted Wisdom.
1. Have you ever played the card game Nuclear War? If so, doesn’t it kick
much behind? If not, how come?
I’ve heard no end of good things about this game, and I’m very intrigued, but, no I haven’t tried my hand at it…yet. I may not be an early-adopter , but I am an avid participant, completist, and acquisitive obsessive (though not as much as some people I know).
I’ll give it a try, but if I get addicted, I’m telling Dina it’s all your fault [grin].
2. Do you go to conventions? What is your best con experience?
Despite my best friends’ efforts, and the fact that my brother now lives closer to Ohio as you can while still remaining on Canadian soil, I’ve only attended one convention: Cangames, in Ottawa. And that,only twice.
It’s a weekend-long affair done on a small scale. It was interesting, but focused more on miniatures gaming, which isn’t my main interest (HeroClix be damned!)
I have, however, organized a mini-convention. Last year, the Middle-Earth CCG World Championships were held in Montreal. People came from Japan, Holland, France, and the span of the States to play the card game they loved. The whole weekend qualifies as my best convention experience.
3. Do you think they should stop making movies from comic books?
Not so long as they keep making good ones. These are good years to be a comics fan.
4. Do you think any movie about/from a comic was done right? (which one?)
My criteria for these movies is simple: keep to the spirit of the source material. Even simpler: don’t screw up a good thing. I thought the X-Men was very well done, even though it was grossly under-budget. Spider-man is naturally one of the best movies done so far, but I also have good things to say about Ghost World and From Hell. Even Burton’s and Schumacher’s first Batman films did well (though the former was more Frank Miller, and the latter more Adam West).
That said, there’s an awful lot of dreck being considered, and developed, but adapting a comic book is no guarantor of a film’s success or failure. Everything depends on the commitment of the director/writers/actors.
5. Which Trading Spaces designer would you love to redo a room in your
house?
The best scenario would be for Vern to wow my wife with his elegant designs and muscular forearms while I held the ladder for Amy Wynn…
6. Which one would you want to stay away?
Frank! Get away from here, you folksy chintz-covered loon!
7. If you could use the force, would you use it for selfish reasons?
Is mischief necessarily selfish?
8. If you *did* play RPG?s, which would be your first choice?
I’m most likely to play HoL, or NinjaBurger.
9. Illuminati?
Illuminating. It’s all true, you know. They just don’t want you to know about it.
Besides, any card game where you can make up your own cards, and are encouraged to cheat and lie in the name of our Alien Overlords, is a good thing, isn’t it?
10. What is your favourite kind of cheese?
Asiago, but only in salads on on garlic bread….and sometimes in omelettes with capers…Mmmmmmm…..
Shadfiles…They’re Everywhere!
Oh, the joys of spring by the river…I’ve never seen such thick clouds of seasonal insects before, even when I was working in Old Montreal.
Yuck!
(Yeah, I know, not the best post, but I had to work through lunch again. The good stuff’s coming tomorrow, if I have a chance to write it tonight.)
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Quoted from a listing on eBay:
This is my entire collection of the X-Files collectible card game published by USPC Games (designed by NXT Games). This box contains about 900 cards from the premier edition, first expansion, and second edition. The entire contents of the boosters are here (including rares and ultra-rares), I haven’t cherry-picked anything. You get about 250 Premier cards, 160 cards from the 101361 expansion, and 350 cards from The Truth Is Out There second edition. You also get a spare rulebook, plus three complete starter decks from The Truth Is Out There (numbers 2, 4, and 5 showing in the bottom right corner. 2 and 5 are still sealed. 4 has been opened, but the inner seal on the cards is intact). These cards are all new, unplayed.
But wait – there’s more 
This entire box is sorted. Yes, that’s right, sorted. It’s split by set, then by card type, then alphabetical. No more rummaging through uncounted hundreds of cards, looking for just the one you want. Now you can jump right to it! [emphasis mine]
Come home, missing sibling! Come home!