The 75 Ways To Avoid Becoming A Zombie

…if, ya know, you don’t want to be one

The Big GenCon Wrap Up

So, GenCon was fun. Seeing my friends is what the whole going to GenCon thing is about for me and I certainly got to see them. Some more than others, true, but still there was the visiting and the going out to eat and the playing of games and the goofing off. It was all good.

But, as I mentioned earlier, there was a pretty pronounced feeling of disconnection from the actual con itself. It was kinda like I had broken my GenCon going stride…which I had. Let’s see how that happened…

2002: I go to the last GenCon in Milwaukee and, as in the previous decades worth of GenCons, I had a blast.
2003: No GenCon trip due to no money
2004: I go to GenCon, but due to a leg infection I miss 99% of the con. Also, Indianapolis, with it’s foul smelling air and swampy tasting water, fails to impress me.
2005: No GenCon trip because I’m still feeling crappy about the previous trip, Indy and the gaming scene in general. Also, we are flat broke.
2006: No GenCon trip, despite having the money, because I had sworn not to go until 2007

So, as you can see, I basically missed 5 years of GenCon. thus was my stride broken. But wait, there’s more. Part of the disconnect had to do with the con itself.

See, GenCon has gotten humongous. Enormously, giganticly, con that ate Indy humongous. It has filled the convention center (which is pretty friggin’ huge) and spilled out into about 6 hotels. Hell, it’s Indy’s third largest convention…and Indy hosts a bunch of conventions.

And there’s the deal. In 5 years, GenCon has morphed into a con I didn’t really recognize. True, alot of the con (card games, wargames, computer games, RPGA, LARPs) has never held much appeal to me, but now there’s more of everything and it’s all bigger then ever. Shit, it took 2 days for me to really see all of the Dealer’s Room.

Plus there is the fact that I’m scarcely a year out of nearly 5 years of gaming malaise and still not easily excited by most RPG products.

And going there without Grace…and not having my pal Spike there for the first time ever…and staying alone in a hotel for the first time at a con…all added to things.

Anyway, it all just sort of blindsided me this time around. In some ways, it was like losing my big con virginity all over again.

So, you ask after reading this whinefest, will it be better next year? Well, I doubt it, because barring a lottery win, I doubt I’ll be going next year. 2009 should be a go, but in 2008 I’ll most likely be reading your con reports about it.

And that was my GenCon 2007.

Next con: DunDraCon in February, where I’ll run my 19th annual TOON game.

 

NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: So yeah, a big lack of money, plus other things, added up to me not hitting GenCon until 2019, and even then, it was mostly on somebody else’s nickle. Pretty much everything I said above, plus allergies and a fucked up tooth extraction, made 2019 my second suckiest GenCon. On the other hand, I still oves me some DunDraCon.

Aaaaaah….Wham Bam Thank Ya, Ma’am!

…yep, too tired to be original. Thank you, Mr. Bowie.

Been home for about 7 hours now…was very happy to see My Sweet Angel and The Girls…took forever to read blogs and emails…very tired now…bigass GenCon recap and shit tomorrow…bed now.

 

NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: I miss Davide Bowie, Daisy Ann and Winker.

On The Subject Of Golden Haired Faeries

…and their wild ways

GenCon 2007: Another One Bites The Dust

Went to a couple of writers seminars.

Bought the new version of Og, which rocks.

Bought some dice for My Sweet Little Thirteen Lined Ground Squirrel Of Cuteness.

Cruised most of the con area within the convention center (which is by no means all of the con area, since shit goes on in several hotels, too) and took some pix.

Said goodbye to several of my gaming buds…until next year or DunDraCon, whichever comes first.

Ran a game of Og tonight, to much acclaim and laughter. Not quite as frenetic as other Og games I’ve been part of, but a loopy fun game nonetheless.

Finally saw the end (and special features) of Call of Cthulu, due to my best pal Avis buying the DVD, which we watched on her laptop.

My flight out tomorrow is not until nearly noon. I’ll be back in Casa del Basset Hound by 5:00 pm. Possibly more bloggage then, but more likely on Tuesday morning.

NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Not a bad con, really, but what with my headspace at the time and impending 9 month unemployment less than a year away, I wouldn’t return to GenCon for 12 more years.

Kill All Of The Evil Penguins

…and just slap around the good ones

GenCon Reportage

Ate again at Buca de Beppo and emerged fully stuffed

Attempted (joined by my pal Avis Crane) to watch the most excellent silent film Call of Cthulhu, but the dvd player being used by the con staff crapped out 3/4 of the way thru the movie.

Cruised the dealer’s room yet again and met Gabriel Gentile and my old pal Tony Lee, who gave me a bit o’ the old swaggeroo to review.

Am convinced that not having really attended GenCon since 2002, I am suffering a bit of a disconnect. It’s like having your stride broken repeatedly on a long hike. More on this later.

The ever gamemasterly Peter Hildreth ran a Man From U.N.C.L.E. adventure using the Savage Worlds rules. It was great fun and pretty hilarious. Tomorrow night, I’ll be running another adventure for the gang. Expect a report on Monday or Tuesday.

D&D4E is coming next year. Whoop-dee-fucking-doo.

More bloggage at some point.

NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Yeah, D&D 4e was pretty much a big fat shit sandwich for most folks.

The Fantastic Adventure Of Doctor Tempest Versus The Dragon Sorceror

…from the August, 1897 issue

Quick GenCon Stuff

Flight to Indy went ok, tho lack of sleep kicked my ass.

Checked into Sheraton hotel, rested, then visited with friends.

Went into Dealer’s Room today, came out $200.00 poorer, but bearing cool goodies.

Said Dealer’s Room is roughly the size of Ecuador. Feet and legs nearly worn out by closing time.

Saw many old gaming pals while in the above humongous Dealer’s Room.

Played in a Savage World’s game here in my friend’s room. Action packed and mucho fun.

Tomorrow: visit the zoo, take in more of the con (including seminars), run one of my patented cool freeform games, maybe drink beer, definitely eat a good meal.

I miss Grace and The Girls, but they are doing fine at home, so I’m not worrying.

More convention updatage possible tomorrow.

NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: This was not a sucky GenCon, but there was that feeling of disconnect that would loom Vastly larger in 2019.

All Hail The Queen Of Aslin Way!

…and the greatest dog mom in the galaxy

HAPPY 49th BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET ANGEL, GRACE!
The girls and I love you, cutie.

A quick review of the Sci Fi Channel’s new Flash Gordon series
It sucks! It sucks like a $2.00 whore during Fleet Week. Black holes at the center of galaxies suck less than this steaming pile of updated re-imagined poorly acted cheapass shit. If you look up shit in dictionary, you see images from this series. They cancelled “The Dresden Files”, but spent money to make this unholy mess. Even for Sci Fi Channel, this is insane.

Doc buys cell phone, world to end soon
Yeah, I went to Best Buy and picked up a $19.99 pay as you go Cingular cell phone and an extra $25.00 card for more minutes. After GenCon, I am sure it will gather dust on a shelf.

And now, I’m out to the garden. More blog-O-rama later.

NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Well, I was wrong as fuck about a cell phone gathering dust, wasn’t I?

Fuckfuckfuckfuck!!!!!

I spoke too soon about a leg infection not being connected to my aching muscles. Turns out that a couple of hours later, Grace noticed redness on my leg. SHIT! Well, once before we caught the infection early on and kicked it’s ass without resorting to antibiotics. Hopefully, the current regimine of propping the leg up high while taking lots of vitamins/garlic/echinacea/etc will help my body fight this off. We’ll know by tomorrow night. If I’m not better, it’ll be a trip to Urgent Care for me.

NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: I’m recovering right now from a leg infection that put me in the hospital for 3 days. This one back in 2004, however, was the second one in less that 6 months. That has not happened again, and in fact, I have gone as much as 3 years between cellulitis attacks.