I see a little Silhouette

There's another RPG game I've been in that I haven't mentioned. Until now.

From Heroic Cthulhu to Lost to... Silhouette.

This is set in the 'Verse. You know, Firefly and Serenity. We used the Serenity RPG to set up the 'Verse details, but One Roll Engine for the mechanics, hacked a bit to make rules that Logan liked.

I am Caleb Moses, an engineer, on the ship Silhouette. We wander around, take trade from one place to another. Hear voices from future passengers. You know, the usual.

The files are all on the blog, filed through iTunes with the RSS feed, but if you want the feed to get all the episodes (not the last group) use this feed.

(There are only a few more sessions left before Logan heads off overseas. After that... who knows...)

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Of Steam, Steel and Murder

It's been a while since we played, and it shows in the level of silliness we have. Nick in particular gets broken many, many times. All fun!

As for what we do, we plot about Tesla's body, about the upcoming election, and then get called in as it seems someone wants the candidates to back off. The arc for one character kicks back into action, and Gavin gets to be the Marmoset Avenger!

Hear game 30 from Rapidshare or Hotfile.

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Have You...?

Turned Japanese? (I just thought this was a funny song back then!)

Believed it or not?

Blessed the rains down in Africa?

, Gold, Always believed in your soul?

Driven you home tonight?

Taken these broken wings and learnt to fly again?

Danced on the ceiling?

Been Gotta'd by the Rhythm?

Doctor'd the Tardis? (Hey, you should be shocked there's no Madonna in this list!)

Sown the seeds, the birds and the bees? (BTW, this song comes to mind whenever I think of The Seeds of Doom.)

No? Then you never lived through the '80s...

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Water Way to Sleep

So here's a topic that doesn't get brought up that often (that I'm aware of): do you sleep with a glass of water nearby? I do. Most nights, just the occasional sip is all I need. Sometimes a fair bit. Once or twice, I've needed a refill.

However, on the rare occasion I don't have a glass of water nearby, I wake up parched and desperately in need of a drink. Fine, it might be selective memory, but it's definitely a rare night I don't have water nearby, and I can certainly recall that I woke up thirsty those times... (although I won't go so far as to saying the glass of water hydrates the air, which is why I don't wake up parched other nights, 'cos that's silly... and not true).

I can't say I'm aware of any surveys out there asking people this question, yet it says a lot of our habits and our biology that night hydration is necessary. Or is it? I know of a few people who have mentioned it, but is it just us odd dry people? Do you sleep near cool refreshing H₂0?


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The Wiz Wizard

The Wizard's take on the Christchurch quake... including advice about not listening to Ken Ring.

(I would embed the video here, but the Herald obviously doesn't want people to
spread their word...)

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Watch the Death 1

Due to game scheduling changing, Tuesdays now alternate D&D and Deathwatch. I am Donatus, a Techmarine from the Blood Angels chapter.

Me and my battle-brothers are called into service to investigate the planet of Arum (or however its spelt), and travel aboard a Rogue Trader ship with Captain Diaz Lam. We are going there... basically to show off how impressive we are, but also to investigate a possible alien presence, strange murders, and potential Decavane Crystals.

However, before all that, we need to get there. On the ship there are some odd people, but my attention is drawn to the servitors, which are acting oddly. We get one story of a servitor being reported, and the seer it was reported to attacked the person who reported it, although they think the person killed the seer as opposed to dying in self-defense. Certainly something to be examined.

Before that, we have dinner, and settle in for the night... and get attacked by servitors. I lash out, completely fail and die get knocked unconscious.

Attention needs to be payed to certain events...

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Note By Note

Until I can get Pianomania, I'll check out other piano related documentaries... of which, I found one: Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037. (You can buy the DVD from here.)

This movie is about, if you can believe it, the making of a Steinway piano. Number L1037 if you can stretch your imagination that far. At least, a brief 90 minute version thereof. We meet the various people behind this hand-crafting process, and also talk to some famous pianists about how they choose their pianos (hand-crafting giving each piano its own 'personality').

Quite an interesting documentary that shows off the loving care that goes into this process. And that, if you are truly a pianist of note, you'll spend a lot of time not being able to tinkle just any ol' ivories. Not that these pianos are just littering the place. L1037 takes a year to produce, so I'm not sure just how many pianos Steinway manage to make. Obviously enough to keep in business, and Steinway is definitely a known brand of piano, so I'm sure they'll be going for a while yet...

This is more of a character piece than a character study. Although we follow the piano through its creation, it doesn't really play much of a part. Instead, we have a variety of people who mold it that we meet, and many of them are indeed 'characters' in the more notable sense. And of multiple skills. Many of them can (and indeed have to, for their jobs) play the piano, but there are also a lot of people who, as long as they are willing to pay due care, are just as essential to the piano-creation process.

The DVD has extras in the form of some extended and deleted scenes, and most of the extras time is with interviews with, most, pianists, and also some key Steinway people. Some definitely interesting stories there, and in many ways could have separate documentaries of their own.

Not as enthralling as some documentaries I'm waiting for, a good watch nonetheless.

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