Odds and Ends

Things have been quiet lately. I haven't seen any more movies worth commenting on, or television shows. I don't care much that The Reagans was taken off the air, but Saving Jessica Lynch and The Elizabeth Smart Story, both of which probably contain more factual errors and distortions than the other, have not. That's conservatives for you: running a war propaganda movie that the person involved said has been overblown, manipulated, and used is perfectly acceptable because its misinformation suits their political goals, but pulling another movie because of one quote is totally unacceptable, because that quote does not suit their political goals.

In other words, it's the same old story, and as long as people continue to buy what this administration feeds them, it's going to continue. Fnord.

Speaking of fnord, I picked up the Y2K expansion for Steve Jackson's excellent Deluxe Illuminati game. This has been out of print for about three years, and I found a copy in my comic shop, which either means Steve re-released it (likely) or I lucked out (less likely). Now all I need is the other expansion, Brainwashed, and I'm good to go.

I've been listening to Lewis Black's The White Album a lot recently. Lewis is best known for his "Back in Black" rants on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, but I discovered he's a hell of a stand-up comic, and does the whole angry rant thing better than Dennis Miller. I'm going to ask for his other two albums, The End of the Universe and Rules of Enragement for Christmas. The out-take CD from White, Revolver, may be far harder to track down - it's probably going to have to be Ebay or a solicited trade. So if you know where to buy rare, ranting, liberal comedy CDs, email me.

On a more domestic front, I think I found the TV I wanted, thanks to Sean C. It's a 42" Sony CRT LCD Projection (I think I got all that correct!) Now all I need is a Home Theater PC (HTPC to those in the know) to go with it. I'd also like to finish getting DVDs to round out my collection. Deep Discount DVD is going to assist with this endeavor. Amazon.com lists Jeremiah Season 1, a show that no one seems to care about but me, for $67 and some change, plus shipping. DDD lists is for $52.30 with free shipping. It's a no-brainer. I did a test order from them (after Larry recommended them to me) and everything came as described, except one thing that was on backorder. So I'll bite. I need those seasons of Futurama!

About the only other major event happening is my Skull & Bones campaign due to kick off next Tuesday. I'm very happy with how it's shaping up on my end, but I'm still a little apprehensive - it's been a while since I ran an adventure without the benefit of a module, and I don't want to fly by the seat of my pants on this. Then again, I don't want to pre-plan too much either. It's a fine line. I picked up the last supplies I needed last night when Elizabeth and I went to the WizKids store with Jon - a few more d20s and a wet-erase mat - so I think it's gonna go OK. Hopefully the players won't leave in disgust on the first night.

I've got a lot to do today. We're working on sorting and filing and getting rid of stuff in the office / computer room, which is the last area of the house that needs to be squared away. I want to finish it so I can relax and feel like we're really moved in. The speed with which we're paying off debts is amazing - I don't know what we're going to do when we have money. Oh, wait, yes I do - a car, a TV, and then a house.

Gosh, I've been domesticated.