Star Wars Hype Fatigue Almost Over

...I am simultaneously delighted and relieved that Star Wars:The Force Awakens is almost here. It means that I finally get to see it (tickets for the whole family already reserved) but even better it means that the long, gruesome, never-ending hype cycle will have to move on soon. I hope. Please. PLEASE END THE HYPE CYCLE!!!!!!!

Seriously....I know Star Wars has always been a major driver for toys and collectibles, and other businesses love to integrate Star Wars into their marketing, but it really feels to me like this particular movie has been hyped far beyond reason. Never have I felt so keen to see a movie and simultaneously so put off by the excess advertising. It's...weird. Maybe I'm turning a new corner in life and can resume being interested chiefly in the obscure and esoteric again. Maybe...I can be...a hipster (possibly again! I may have been identifiable as such during my years in Seattle. Heh)

Yes....I can see it now...

"Oh, I love Fallout. No, the original Fallout, not that contemporary pablum. I have an early dev copy when it was still a GURPS-powered engine. You've probably never heard of it."

"Star Wars original, pre-Lucas castration efforts is all good and well, but if you want to talk about real science fiction then I think we need to delve deeper and look at genuine works such as A Boy and His Dog, or perhaps Logan's Run. No, not Zardoz...that's far too conventional for my tastes. Films that retain the purity of a pre-Lucas era in science fiction films. You've probably never seen any of them."

"Oh goodness no OD&D is far too modern conceptually. I only run games now from the original typewritten photocopied manuscripts that date to 1973 or earlier. To really appreciate gaming we need to delve all the way back to Wells' pure vision of the hobby and move from there. I'm sure you've probably never played these games before as they were intended."



Hmmmm....I'd save a lot of money (but then probably not as I'd have to start drinking exotic microbrews again, buying overpriced hemp products and shop once more exclusively at organic farmer's markets.)

The Casting Call of Cthulhu

The Female Body Armor Problem Explained

Straight from College Humor:


"Ow, right in the shiny parts!!!"

Oh that was a good laugh

I have a really tough sense of humor, so I'm really impressed when something triggers it in a "laughing like a madman in the office" kinda way. XKCD did that today. The cartoon itself is fine, but it was the subtext (mouse over on the cartoon to read it in the popup box) that did it for me. Funniest damned thing I've read this year....

I once ran a GURPS modern game where the player characters were convinced they had discovered a bizarre alien plot, but it wasn't until they broke into a wealthy suspect's house and observed a baker's dozen of chihuahuas out by the pack pool line up, stand erect and start to river dance that they began to suspect something was amiss....