Messages

136

General Chaos / Re: What are you reading?

« on: July 08, 2015, 12:44:45 AM »

It (was) the Fourth of July, so after finishing Up Up and Away I realized it's that time again; to spin the Wheel of Morality to re-read The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. It's one of my favorite books from growing up, and I still love to read it. It's a fairly light read, and now in the light of RPGs I see why I like it so much; a bunch of squabbling PCs (the crying for help mad bomber! the wise judge! the dork who is the key to it all! et al) trying to beat a game to win the prize. More seriously, it's a group of broken people who come together to a common goal surrounding a murder mystery, and a great mystery to boot. Lot's of great characterization and subplots that get fulfilled. A wonderful read even after all these years. Highly recommended.

Not sure what my next read will be; I've been meaning to dive into Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life, by Kathleen Dalton, a single volume biography of Teddy, since I bought it in New York three years ago, but it's very academic and hard to read. I've also got You by Austin Grossman, the rest of the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson (and it's been so long since I've read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo I might want to reread it), Of Dice and Men, The Ten Cent Plague... too many books, too little time. A good problem, I suppose.

137

General Chaos / Re: What are you reading?

« on: May 27, 2015, 11:47:29 PM »

I'd started Colder War, but hadn't had time to finish it. With the computers at work being down for half a day, I was looking at the forums on my phone and realized I hadn't finished it. I did. JESUS, I know Ross and Caleb are into fatalism/nihilism, but damn, that was a brutal read. But good! He knows his world building, and if you have a lot of knowledge of history you'll get a lot of references, in the midst of a dark, but satisfying story.

Speaking of history, I finished Wolf in White Van and moved to my other Christmas book, Up, Up and Away: [Insert Obnoxiously Long Subtitle Here] by Jonah Keri. It's a book about the Montreal Expos, from the beginning to the end when they were moved to D.C. It's a fascinating book, because it's not just a book chronicling the baseball team; it also delves deeply into the history of Montreal of the era, how they got the team and ultimately lost it. It's not just a history of baseball, it's a look for us 'Murricans into Canada of the time period. Worth a read, regardless of if you're a sports fan or not. Also just polished off Volume 1 of Saga by Brian K. Vaughan. Damn good fantasy/sci-fi epic.

138

Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: Best of RPPR APs Fan Creation Contest

« on: May 27, 2015, 11:37:05 PM »

Yes, Ross, such horribleness, much monstrosity 

I was glad to get an opportunity to write again. With my job being such horribleness, much monstrosity I haven't written anything in awhile. The contest was the spark I needed. And everyone elses entries were also awesome! Great job all.

139

Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: Best of RPPR APs Fan Creation Contest

« on: May 15, 2015, 12:04:40 AM »

Well, I'd best get my entry in. It's a short story for the writing & Monsters and Other Childish Things categories. I bring you:

RPPR and Other Childish Things

As a bonus, here's the character files I used to keep track of everyone (including the notes on how things would eventually play out.)

140

General Chaos / Who Are You Laughing At? Stand Up, Specials, & Sitcoms

« on: March 26, 2015, 11:10:29 PM »

As Tom brings up frequently, he's a lover of stand up comedy and comedians. So let's talk about 'em! Who do you like? Have you gotten into anyone you've heard mentioned on the podcast? Been to any shows? Anyone famous from where you live?

As for me, I've got a couple of comedians that I really enjoy. Probably my favorite is Jim Gaffigan. He mostly does observational humor. His most famous bit is about Hot Pockets, from his special "Beyond the Pale".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-i9GXbptog

The other ones I like the most work separately but also share a podcast; Brad Williams and Adam Ray, who host "About Last Night". Both use a mix of jokes about their personal lives (Brad and his unique perspective of being a dwarf, Adam and his childhood filled with divorce and being overweight), and a lot of late 80's / early 90's references. In the show they frequently have standups as guests, so they provide insight into the life of the comedian and give very interesting perspectives to us lay people.

http://aboutlastnightpodcast.com/

As for locals, I'm from Northeast Ohio, near Cleveland, so we don't have many comedians. Cleveland does have a few comedy clubs, and with the advent of casino gambling there's clubs in the casinos too. Our most notable comic is Mike Polk Jr., whom you may be familiar with as the guy who made the "Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Videos". He mostly does sketch comedy. While I don't believe he tours, he's on stage frequently in Cleveland, and has a TV show with the local Fox affiliate. My favorite is a deep cut of his, a parody of local TV attorney ads. The guy he lampoons, Tim Misny, is a real attorney in the area, but you don't need to know him to laugh at him. "All I wanna do is hurt people for you!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7GTo-lbcH4

141

General Chaos / Re: What are you reading?

« on: March 21, 2015, 11:36:58 PM »

Great! Guess it's true; the first one's always free. Thanks Ross!

142

General Chaos / Re: What are you reading?

« on: March 19, 2015, 11:30:59 PM »

Reading Wolf in White Van, by John Darnielle. Got it for Christmas, and glad to hear it got a shout out in the latest main show. It's does some very interesting things with narrative like Caleb mentions; I think there's at least five different timelines the narrator interweaves through during the course of the story, all told in a free form, stream of consciousness style. It's not an easy read, but one I've been liking.

Also working my way through the Eclipse Phase main book, slowly but surely, and Little Fears Nightmare Edition. The only bad thing about the hobby is there's so many great systems and so many books. Still got the rest of the Eclipse Phase books from the Bundle of Holding awhile back, and now I've got the Laundry RPG books as well. While piling through those, do you guys have a good starting point for Stross? Start with the Atrocity Archives, or something else?

143

Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: Best of RPPR APs Fan Creation Contest

« on: March 19, 2015, 10:45:44 PM »

Writing's my forte, so I'm thinking of a short story. I'm thinking a Delta Green Epilogue or a MaOCT story. Or both! We got all the time in the world.

BTW, if anyone really, really wants to use MMM Watcha Say, it's name is Hide and Seek, by Imogen Heap, from her album Speak for Yourself.

...it may or may not be on my iPhone.

...I may or may not have liked the Dear Sister meme and the song too much.

144

General Chaos / Re: Introduction

« on: March 19, 2015, 10:30:30 PM »

Greetings, everyone! I'm The Lost Carol, AKA Greg. I'm from [REDACTED] in Northeast Ohio. First time caller, long time listener. I looked up RPG podcasts after I got into the hobby a few years ago and RPPR immediately caught my eye because it not only talked about RPGs but played them. My first APs were Polybius (Still my fav) and the Night Clerk, which were pretty good intros to the group and to the world outside of 2.5. I've grown to love RPGs, but sadly don't play them as much as I'd like. My group only does a 2.5 D&D campaign and we're lucky to meet once a month. I hope GM and get them into EP or some of the other books I've bought like CoC, MaOCT, or Slasher Flick, or maybe find some players online after my life settles down.

RPPR Listener traits:

>Grad school
>Cats
>Beer

>Grad School
Fail. Though I am a college graduate, '10 with a BA in Mass Media Communication... not that it's done anything for me, of course.

>Cats
Fail. No pets. Though I bet Ross doesn't mind lol

>Beer
Fail. Hate alcohol, though not for lack of trying.  Guess I'll need some new traits.