We Named the Dog Indiana

Indiana Jones is back in the saddle: http://www.indianajones.com/community/news/news20070621.html

Pirates!

This seemed to be the theme for the weekend. Yesterday I DM'd our high level Realms characters against a threat most of them had encountered before--neogi! These "spider-snake" privateers once again went up against the Defenders of Cormyr and suffered defeat. The highlight for me had to be when the commander neogi led the PCs aboard the disabled craft to "get hidden treasure" to barter with for its life. Instead, the sneaky little devil activated the ship's magical self-destruct!!! Brad's monk PC throttled the beast but it was too late. Fortunately, everyone survived the detonations and they were able to return later and sift through the rubble for some great treasure. Hmm, another good part would have been when an umber hulk tried to charge through a steel door and got its ass handed to it. Okay, there were many good moments. :)

Today, after a farewell get-together for my sister and her kids, Scot and Zlaty and I went to see the latest in the Pirates of the Carribean movies. Was it any good? Eh, it wasn't terrible. The acting was good and the movie looked great. Hans Zimmer delivered a good score at the beginning for the film's Singapore opening but quickly fell back into original Pirates material for the climactic battle (at least it sounded that way in my opinion). And then there's the plot. I'm pleased that everything was wrapped up but there were too many new elements introduced in order to do so. I guess, though, when you have to clean up the wretched second film's mess, that's a tall order for any writer (much less the pair of writers given credit here). At the end, I was hoping they'd crank out another Pirates if only to see a good adventure involving the fountain of youth. To hope a movie spawns (yet another) sequel pretty much tells you that this one couldn't have been too bad at all.

Willi Weekend

This weekend saw the spring open house of Willi Singleton (see www.willisingleton.com for details). Willi is a famed potter and just all-around nice guy who fires up his handmade kiln twice a year and then has two shows at his home for local buyers. Let me tell you, it's worth the trip if you're anywhere in the Hawk Mtn. area. I usually grab something every time I go because of the appreciation value and because the stuff's so damned cool. I've got close to a dozen pieces now from little bowls to coffee mugs and now a little plate I nabbed yesterday. Linda had never been to a Willi show so I took her and my mom up there today (after being there yesterday with Katy).

Naturally, we all found something to buy (the two girls having two items apiece). When I handed over my bowl for purchase, Willi (who personally checks out everyone and gives little info tidbits about the pieces), wrapped it in paper and handed it back to me saying, "This is for you for bringing everyone up here." Wow, I was floored. It's true that I spread the word of his work and then shuttled my family members up there but never expected a reward for it. Too cool and it saved me $22.

Hoards Reviews

Not sure how I missed these, but there are 2 favorable reviews of Hoards over at gamingreport.com. The first is from Feb: http://www.gamingreport.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=2279

The second from April: http://www.gamingreport.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=2291

Don't Spoil It!

I'm an avid Stargate and the SG: Atlantis spinoff watcher. With Star Trek off the tube (as far as new episodes go), the SGs are the only really good sci-fi fun left on tv (year, BG is okay but they've got like 10 months in between seasons and now I just saw that the next one is their last). In any case, there is a difference in how I watch the Stargates from how I used to watch the last Star Trek incarnation (Enterprise)--spoilers. I used surf on over to trektoday.com regularly to see what was coming up for Enterprise. As a result, when interesting things did happen on the show, the emotional impact was lessened--I already knew that X was going to happen to Y. With the Stargates, I just watch them as they come. My non-spoiler approach led to a real response when a character on SG: Atlantis kicked the bucket. After that, I went online just to see the whys of the decision to kill off that character. What I found was a website already in place to bring the character back. WTF, I thought. Turns out, the leak for this death had been out for some time but since I didn't look for such info, I never ran across it. Turned out to be some damned fine tv watching so the moral of my tale is: Don't Spoil It; you'll gain that much greater viewing satisfaction.

In other news, we played some good Spycraft last Saturday in which the outcome is war between the US and a Pan-American Alliance primarily fueled by Venezuela. Should be much fun for the games ahead! Heather was back at the table after her successful bout against the evil bloot clots. We're all happy to have her gaming and healthy again.