Let's start with a disclaimer: This blog post, like my last two, is based on personal reminiscences. I'm telling my little stories while my aging and cracking memories still have enough integrity that I can pretend there's an element of truth to them. Here I'm going to focus on my participation in the New-York-City-area table-top role-playing fan…
About a week ago, someone e-mailed me with a question related to my old writing in the pages of the APAs. I'll get into that query (and answer the question "What the heck is an APA?") in the follow-up post to this one. Let's first look at the chain of thought the query inspired. I have three…
Dear Bill of March 2020, It's Bill of October 2023. How are you? Don't bother to answer. I remember. I've been meaning to write to you for some time about what's in store for you. I won't talk about the big historical events; Julie Nolke has that topic covered. Instead, I'm going to tell you about the…
At the end of my review of Lord of the Rings: Gollum, I wrote: ...my next video-game review will about a game based on a widely-known IP, with antique graphics, and even more glitches than Gollum. I loved every minute of it. Given my fondness for Telltale-style games, and my oft-unrequited love of Star Trek, it probably…
tlhIngan Hol vIHaDtaH qaStaHvIS wa'SaD jaj = I have studied the Klingon language for one thousand days. I don't have much to add to my earlier essays on my study of Klingon (links at the end of this post). I do have both good news and bad news, depending on whether you feel that studying Klingon is…
Two rants in a row. Fortunately, the next few blogs posts I've planned are more positive. My reaction to Lord of the Rings: Gollum is so negative that I'm not going to include a spoiler warning. That's because I badly want to spoil the game for you, so that you feel no need to purchase it. Please…
I want to vent some frustration about a TV series. Make no mistake: This is a meaningless fanboy rant. However, it's a rant that comes from love. Star Trek has been a part of my life for decades. I'm old enough to have seen episodes of the original series (TOS) when they first aired. The ideas and…
This is another of my game reviews written long after a review would be relevant. Dredge is a fishing game. Like most such games, your main sequence of actions is to go out onto the water, reel in some fish, return to port to sell them, make improvements to your boat so you can fish better. Repeat…
Back in 2012, I wrote about the gravestones of two dogs buried on the estate of where I work, Nevis Laboratories. What little I know about them are in that post. I took those photos in 2012. In 2015, I wrote a follow-up post about how it's become harder to keep a clear path to those graves.…
For my gamer friends: While falling down an internet rabbit hole, I found this article on a history of wargaming. I recommend reading it, if only to learn about the rise-and-fall of an important segment of gaming. The article was written by Greg Costikyan in 1996. I knew Greg briefly in the late 70s or early 80s.…