DOW breaks 17000!

Well, that was fast.

Martin Luther King, Jr, paraphrasing Unitarian minister Theodore Parker, said "The arc of the Moral Universe is long, but it bends towards Justice."* The arc of Modern Wall Street is much, much shorter, but it too bends upwards towards a higher rate of return.

I mean, why the recovery, and so quickly? Greece is still as much a mess as it was back when we dipped into the 15000s a few weeks back. China's stock market is just a wobbly. Saudi Arabian investments are being reduced as they keep their oil prices low enough to close down the Dakota Oil Shale operations (successfully, as there are fleets of mobile homes now available on the cheap out there). Austerity hawks still circle despite the proven failure of that approach. Congress is just as dysfunctional, and all these lefty operations on the West Coast are raising wages and reaping low unemployment rates. Yet now we're back.

I believe, inherently, that we have trained certain markets to move inevitability, but not smoothly, upwards. The market is overheated because we are willing it to be, and the rise of various tech or housing or stock bubbles are a feature, not a bug, in the system. We talk about corrections, but until that point where we pitch ourselves into a full-bore, we-cannot-ignore-it, mile-wide-steamroller of a recession, the trend line is inevitably upwards.

My own gut check for economic health, by the way, is my commute. The worse it is, the better things are in general. And for the past week, traffic has really, really sucked, for reasons I cannot fully fathom. I think it may be tied with the shortening days, such that people who are used to rising with the first light suddenly are confronted with the fact that this first light is much later in the day. I may be tied to the return of school, which regiments when children have to get out the door, and as such puts an addition timer on the adults. But I do think that it is because we have crossed a threshold where the infrastructure itself is taxed by the increased load of the employed, who all, apparently want to get on the road at the same time I do.

But that's a just a theory. In the meantime, the DOW has restored itself, until the next correction.

More later,

* What Theodore Parker did say, nesting his semicolons neatly, was: "I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sigh; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure its bends towards justice." which is a darn sight better than the current attitude of "Past behavior does not guarantee future performance"

The Gaming News

I have been a tad busy this month, but would hate to let September slip away without some Gaming News.

Let me start with the good news: Jim Ward has gone home from the hospital and is on the mend. He really appreciated all the kind words and cards. Two months in the hospital is enough to make a man despair, and the support was greatly appreciated.

Also good news: former TSR editor Jim Lowder has been taken on as the consulting editor for Chaosium's  Fiction line. The original series of books edited by Robert Price and others were important in spreading the mythos further, and I look to see what the future holds for this.

Speaking of Cthulhu, Oscar Rios, who has put together the excellent Islands of Ignorance and Tales of the Crescent City, has launched a new kickstarter for Tales of the Caribbean, taking the mythos into the lands of rum-runners and voodoo. Oscar has delivered some excellent books so far, and I have no doubt that this will be a strong addition to his line.

Finally, Jon Peterson, has tracked down the script for the nigh-legendary D&D movie, the one that Gary Gygax was working on. Even at the time I was working at TSR, this project, announced in the pages of DRAGON magazine, was the stuff of legend. Jon walks us through the script beats.

That is it for the moment. October may be a bit bleak here as well, at least up to release day. After that, more later.

Meanwhile, 14 Years Ago

More later,

DOW breaks 16000!

Wait, isn't that going the wrong direction?

Totally true, though. After sailing past 17k, the DOW topped out around 17.5, weakened, and then proceeded to dive off a cliff. After a trading halt and a dead cat bounce, the venerable market marker is in the high 15000s.

So, what happened?

The thing is, no one is really sure. I mean, the Chinese Stock Market has had all sorts of problems, and the government has devalued to the yuan (you knew that the currency there, right?) in order to keep things going. But that has happened weeks ago, and has to be attached by the proviso that the West doesn't think the East knows what it's doing (Mr. Pot? Meet Mr. Kettle).

Or it could be the challenges poised to a dis-United Europe, with German austerity colliding with Greek poverty. But again, that's been going on for some time, and while accounting for the halting of a bull market, doesn't do much to explain the here-and-now of the slide.

Some point to oil prices, which have been low and dropping lower all the time. This appeals to the economic view of "Whatever happens, it's bad for YOU". You'd think lower prices at the pump would a good thing, but it is the result of various oil factions fighting it out with knives in a back alley. So you'll take your three-dollar gas and like it!

Another points to this sudden, massive "correction" as a response to the markets afraid that the Fed, which has kept borrowing rates phenomenally low during the Great Recession, will now get around to raising it a fraction of a point or so. And I'll be honest, that does appeal to the part of me that treats the corporate market as a small petulant child who panics when it seems like he will not get a cookie.

Or it could be none of them. It could be nothing more than a market suspended on happy thoughts and dreams of growth, but backed up with computer programs (William Gibson called them automated agents in his latest book, and nicknamed them "Aunties") sniffing around for the first signs of softening to bail out at the maximum peak.It could be a feature, not a bug.

But the thing I notice most of all, and want to pass on in these early days, is how calm and positive all this has been. After jumping at every noise and financial what-if for years, the market sage heads, confronted with a major jolt, are nodding and saying that a correction (from what error? to what truth) as been overdue, and this too will pass.

Color me suspicious. But then, I leave most of the investing to the Lovely Bride, and don't ask too many questions.

More later,

The Gaming News

GenCon, and its lingering con crud have passed (and for most people I noticed, it was a delayed con crud, moving in two days or even a week after the event), so let me catch up on stuff in gaming.

Let me start with the toughest news first. Gaming legend Jim Ward (Metamorphosis Alpha, Gamma World, my boss for many, many years at TSR) has been in the hospital for the past way too long for a diabetic ulcer on his foot. He's not doing particularly well, but is most worried about losing time on various projects he's involved in. A GoFundMe Account has been set up to help offset his medical costs. Cards and letters also appreciated, and he can be found at:
       St. Lukes

       Select

       James Ward

       Floor 4 28B

      2900 Oklahoma Ave

      Milwaukee, WI 53125

We're all pulling for you, Jim.

The big news that hit right at the end of the convention was an agreement clearing the way for a D&D Movie. The short version: Warner Brothers wants to make a D&D with Hasbro's permission, but has been blocked by Sweetpea Productions, who claims the rights (Though, like all things, it is complicated). The settlement puts Sweetpea as an exec producer (and probably more - we aren't partial to those dealings) and clears Warner to do the movie.

Now, this news, and the mention that it will be set in the Realms, has kicked off a flurry of speculation about a Drizzt movie, or an Elminster movie, or even (yes, in some parts) an Azure Bonds movie, but the best thing to look forward to is a good movie with a good story. The Marvel franchise has not slavishly wed itself to its original books, but instead did films that captured the flavor and magic of the IP without having to lockstep into previous continuity. Have fun, guys.

Speaking of Elminster, his creator, Ed Greenwood, has teamed up with Gabrielle Harbowy to edit the Women in Practical Armor short story collection. Their Kickstarter already made their numbers, but check em out anyway.

Also news out of GenCon was the change of ownership of the venerable Chaosium, home to Glorantha and the Call of Cthulhu games. This is all tied together, because the guys at Rising Moon, who delivered the glorious Guide to Glorantha coffee table tomes are now running things, and Elder Gods Greg Stafford and Sandy Petersen are retreating to the background once more. More information here.

In the wake of Gencon, this popped up on Vice of all places. It's a paen to the wonderful weirdness that is D&D. Author Zak S created the award-winning A Red and Pleasant Land, and his thoughts on the game evoke the writing style of Harlan Ellison when the man was doing essays as a regular column.

Over on the computer game side, there is this about writing for games. I have tales of my own, but you're going to have to buy me a beer. The article includes a link to this twine game (sort of a newfangled Choose-Your-Own-Adventure) called The Writer Will Do Something.

Also on the net is your chance to check out Chaldea: War Room. Chaldea was the home campaign of Peter Adkison (you know, WotC and, um, GenCon) and Peter has been polishing up his chops as a film-maker. War Room in the first of his videos.

And finally, a video that turned up a few weeks back from the Guild Wars: Nightfall game in 2006. Originally put together for the deluxe edition, I don't know if it ever shipped with the game, but instead made its way to the net years later. There are a lot of interviews with the old gang (myself included), and all I can say is ... we all look so YOUNG in it.

More later.

GenCon Notes

So. GenCon.

It has been about 10 years (give or take) since I last attended a GenCon. I went to the first couple in Indy, but then got caught up in other things, like MMOs and found myself otherwise occupied in August. This year, through a convergence of events, I found myself back. Here are some notes:

1) Yes, Indiana is still in all sorts of hot water regarding its bonehead legislation against American citizens, many of whom attend GenCon. However, Indianapolis itself is a tad bit more progressive. On the way into town, I saw a billboard welcoming gamers to GenCon, with a pride flag in front of it. A nice start.

2) And to a great degree, I found the natives to be friendly and helpful and incredibly tolerant of the huge herd of nerds (nerds with money, but still nerds) that descended on them. "Good People", as they like to say.

3) The convention was big when I last saw it, and is huge now. 61k people (counting as unique hits).

4) It is so large that it is now not only is it important to get a hotel near the convention center, but to get one near the rooms where you have events.

5) I stayed at the Fairfield, in a block of Marriott-owned properties. It was nice. Good breakfast. Though I had to go through an underground parking garage to get to a skybridge. Sounds like something an old school DM would think up.

6) Strangest hotel rooms were at the Crown Plaza, a renovated railway station, where some of the rooms are converted railroad cars. And the place is littered with white statues of passengers, newboys, and nuns. Sort of like what would happen if Pompeii had gone off during a Call of Cthulhu adventure.

7) I was there for the Writer's Symposium and would be taking some brief shifts in the Kobold Press/TPK/Legendary booth. Kobold just launched its Southlands product and the Southlands Bestiary. Both were selling very well.

8) The Writer's Symposium, put together by Marc Tassin, was pretty damned impressive. I got to sit on panels with Terri Brooks, Elizabeth Bear, and fellow TSR Veteran Jim Lowder. The conversations were interesting and diverse. Kudos to Marc, Matt, Molly, and the others who worked so hard to put everything together. This is an ongoing thing, so if you're at GenCon, go there. Seriously, well worth it.

9) In fact, GenCon is made up, now as then, in dozens of small conventions. People are there for the RPGs, or just one RPG. For the card games, or just one card game. For miniatures. For board games. For the writing. For the crafting. For the costumes. In addition, everyone spills over into everyone else's fandoms. It's pretty cool.

10) But here's an idea of the hugeness. The area for the Puffing Billy games (Train games) is larger than the Horticulture building in Lake Geneva, where the FIRST GenCon was held.

11) The dealer's area is large enough to be physically exhausting. Huge hall, filled with companies large and small.

12) One thing that was different that made me happy - the dealers were prominent about their awards. Many had their nominations and previous awards from the ENnies posted, and a lot had their statues from the Origins Awards on display. I like that a lot, and am reminded that it was the efforts of Nichole Lindroos and Charles Ryan who brought physical awards to the Origins. Good job, and yes, it has paid off.

13) My personal haul was limited by what I would pack into my carry-on. Alas, that put most board games out of reach. But I did pick up a lot of Cthulhiana that I have been unable to find locally. Several recent issues of the Unspeakable Oath, a handful of out-of-print monographs, an autographed copy of Robin Laws' Book of Ants for Trail of Cthulhu. I bought some battle mats for Sails of Glory, a great ship-to-ship combat game. And I snagged an autographed copy of A Red and Pleasant Land, purchased before it won any ENnies, so that makes me still young and hip, right?

13a) I also bought a fez. Fezzes are cool.

14) I did not pick up a copy of Cubicle 7's Curse of Nineveh, even though the London Boxed Set where it is set looks beautiful (I have a copy from the Kickstarter). Curse of Nineveh was hardback and heavy and I hope to find it from my FLGS. I also whiffed on getting a copy of Mummy, the Curse from Onyx Path, which was also hardback and heavy but would complete my WoD Mummy trifecta. And I didn't see any Tekumel/EPT material, which may just be because it was overwhelmed by everything else.

15) Palomino's is a good place for a steak. Steak 'n Shake is everything people say it is.

16) I made it to the Diana Jones and was delighted to see that Guide to Glorantha won. Skipped the ENnies although I had a minor credit in one of the winners. Made it to the Monte Cook Games party where Monte and Bruce were bedecked in their medallions and looked like a pair of French diplomats. More importantly, the MCG party shifted over to a surprise 50th birthday party for Charles Ryan. I am incredibly pleased that all those gamers managed to keep a secret.

17) Saw a lot of friends from the industry, played some demos, signed a lot of books, sat on some panels, huckstered for Kobold Press. A lot of people thanked me for Marvel, Spelljammer, Al-Qadim, FR and other stuff I've done over the years, which is encouraging me to actually get back to some RPG design. But the best event for me was getting together with some members of my old dungeon crew from Purdue University, many of whom still live in Indiana. We are all older and greyer, but it was great to see the gang from "The Swamp".

18) So it was a good trip, but it is good to be back.

More later,

Political Desk: Primary Wrap-Up

So the dust is settling, the brackets are mostly set, and we can forget about local politics for another few months and go back to complaining about the lack of rain and playing Frisbee golf. While other sites are going to engage in a lot of chin-wagging and beard-stroking in determining what it all means, here's what we have for our secret aerie on Grubb Street:

King County Director of Elections will be Julie Wise versus Zack Hudgins.  Ms. Wise got the majority of the votes, which is amusing since we were so happy to turn this into an elected office, then everyone recommends we vote for the unelected incumbent anyway.

Port Position 2 will have Courtney Gregroire crushing Goodspaceguy, who is running against her because someone has to. Seriously, with over 80% of the vote for Gregoire, nothing short of a major scandal or zombie apocalypse will change this result.

Port Position 5 is a surprise: Fred Fellemen, endorsed by the Stranger,is up against Marion Yoshino, who this blog endorsed (well, with another guy, but hey, our of 9 candidates that was pretty darn good). Both Mr. Fellemen and Ms. Yoshino are pro-environmental types, which may indicate in part the pushback from the Port's recent secret shenanigans regarding that Shell drilling rig.

Kent City Council Position 1 will have Hira Singh Bhullar against Tina Budrell. Third-place candidate's Bailey Stober's campaign was likely hurt in no small part by the announcement of a $2,000 fine from the PDC involving his LAST couple runs for office.

Public Hospital District 1 Commissioner Position 4 surprised me, in that it will be Savannah Clifford-Visker vs. Lawton Montgomery. Both candidates are of the "outsider" group, and the incumbent did not even place (though he could still be appointed to larger board that the elected board is part of). That's an interesting development.

Congratulations to the winners, solace to the losers, and the Political Desk is going to close up before the Republican Presidential candidates start talking.

More later,

Meanwhile, 70 Years Ago ...

More later,

Political Desk: The Last Minute Nudging

I've been out of town for the last week, so have not banged the drum as relentlessly as usual on the upcoming primary. Recommendations and discussions for the stuff I can vote on can be found deeper within this blog, along with a list of endorsements and recommendations from others.

Now, it is a hot summer and the presence of the primaries is far from anyone's mind, but as always, democracy is important. Indeed, in these low-level, low-voting total primaries, your vote can count just a smidge more than it will in the fall.

You have until 8 PM today (Tuesday) to dig you your ballot and vote. And if you don't want to spring for a stamp, here's a listing of drop boxes around the region.

Go vote. You know you want to.

More later,

The GenCon News

So the big news for me is that I will attending GenCon for the first time in many, many years. I understand it has grown a bit, and I'm looking forward to it. I'll be doing some panels with the Writer's Symposium this year, and helping out at the Kobold Press/Legendary Games/TPK Booth, which, from the map of the exhibit floor its so far from the entrance as to almost be the Region (Indiana joke).

Here's my current schedule (removing all notes for dinners, award shows, and personal stuff)

Thursday 4-6 PM, Booth #2639, shilling for Kobold Press, Legendary Games, and TPK Games

Friday 11 AM Book Signing – Exhibit hall (Bring your copies of old stuff - I'm not selling there).

Friday 5 PM  – Beyond Books – Other Writing Opportunities – Room 224

Friday 6 PM – Worldbuilding: Mythology – Room 224

Saturday 10 AM – Worldbuilding: Creating Magic Systems – Room 224

Saturday 11 AM – Worldbuilding: Flora, Fauna the Natural World – Room 224

Saturday 12 PM – Worldbuilding: Writing the World’s History  – Room 224

Saturday 4-6 PM Booth #2639, shilling for Kobold Press, Legendary Games, and TPK Games

Can't make it to GenCon this year? Still in Seattle? Well, I'd like to point out that fellow Alliterate Will McDermott is having a book signing at the MOX Boarding House in Bellevue to celebrate his most recent novel: Mage Wars:Nature of the Beast, based on the board game. 2-6 PM on Sunday, August 2nd.

Oh, and finally, this is not GenCon related, but I came across this video that we made about nine(ish) years ago when we were about to launch Guild Wars: Nightfall. I look at it now, and think "My, we were all so YOUNG back then."

More later.

Political Desk: Hospital Rounds

Public Hospital District Position 1 - You would think that when you get this far down the ballot you'd see a diminishing of passion. This is where we are seeing positive-messaged first-timers, good-government wonks, knowledgeable and/or retired professionals and the occasional guy who says "How hard can it be?" But here in this smallest of elections is a tempest that makes even the shenanigans of Bill Bryant's Port Commission look like student government.

At the heart of all this is Valley Medical Center, which is a well-run, well administered, highly professional hospital right at the bottom of the hill.I have no probs with day-to-day operation, and number of my specialists are there. At its very top it has been for years run by a superintendent who is in turn overseen by an elected board. And there has been fireworks since about the time I moved to the neighborhood, between a reform wing that is trying to reign in the power of the administrator (who is, admittedly, done very well for himself). and the supporters of the admin.

So, the insurgents get some traction, and the admin's favored candidates lost. About this time, Valley Medical merges with University of Washington Medical Center. As a result of  this merger, the former superintendent becomes the CEO, and the five elected members of the board are now watered down by a majority group of seven additional appointed UW Trustrees on a board of directors.The lists of the two boards are here.

And among those trustees? The supporters of the current admin who had just LOST previous elections. I swear, I saw pols from Chicago fly in just to take notes for their own ward elections.

So, we have three candidates, and one of them is supportive of the administration (having been appointed to that position to fill a vacancy), and the other two are trying to shake things up, though how up things can be shaken at this point is an open question. The elected part of the board is the part we can affect, so I'm going to push all the chips in on Savannah Clifford-Visker and Lawton Montgomery because it sounds like we're going to have the inevitable flurry of last-minute revelations about how things are being run (and as I research this, the nurses are currently working without a contract, over staffing levels).

More later,

Political Desk: Kent

Here's where we get serious. I am more than willing to be glib about other positions, from the standpoint that there are other news sources that will give countering opinions. However, when we get down to the granular nature of local city positions, it stops being a joke. For some people, this blog may be the only mention these candidates get. The Times recommendations stop at the southern border of Renton. I don't think the Stranger recognizes that the world exists south of Georgetown. The Muni league will get down to Federal Way but nary a word on Kent or Renton. And the Kent Reporter doesn't even get up to our neck of the woods near Panther Lake. So I need to be a little more responsible, quote outside sources a bit more, and a little less of a wise-ass than usual.

Just a little.

Position 1 is the only position on the Kent City council with more than two candidates, so it will be the only one to speak of here. There are three candidates for the position, - Bailey Stober, Tina Burdell, and Hira Singh Bhullar. You can find the vimeo of their statements here. A fourth candidate is on the ballot, but has dropped out.

Bailey Stober has run before, and has been recommended by this blog, particularly in the face of the disastrous previous election where Kent elected a guy who ended up serving two weeks of his term before resigning to serve 43 months in jail for stealing from his own mother. Mr. Stober comes from a strong background working with the state, and to be frank, he was robbed in the last election, and Stober's election would have saved the City Council a lot of egg-spattered faces.

But, there is another piece of the puzzle here. Mr. Stober has been plagued with PDC (Public Disclosure Commission) Violations in his last two runs. Compared to stealing from your own mother, this is small potatoes, but it is SOME potatoes, and the eye for details is something you need for running a local government. Mr. Stober comes heavily endorsed, but I have reservations

Tina Budrell is a Microsoftie who has established herself as a community activist with the North Park Neighborhood Council (which is just north of downtown Kent and the Commons). She has been extremely active in the community, and has a number of credits under her belt at the local level. The Lovely Bride got a robocall, but could not repeat anything that was said. Sigh.

Hira Singh Bhullar works for Starbucks as a software developer. Most of what I see from him is pretty much the "I appreciate the community and want to give back to it" that makes up a lot of local politics at this level. And I will be honest, that is really cool, and he has a good history of local volunteer work.. This is the place where people get their taste of retail politics and local concerns, and I appreciate his contribution. In addition, he sent me a mailer. We don't get a lot of mailers up here any more.

I appreciate both Mr. Bhullar's and Ms. Budrell's local commitment, but if backed into a corner, I will recommend Tina Budrell, if only for previous experience with local government. Now watch, the day after I post this, she'll be connected with an Emu-smuggling syndicate down in Puyallup.

More later,

Political Desk: Taking the Ports

Ah, the Port Authority, Seattle's resident hive of scum and villainy. Scandals and impropriety are rare in Seattle, where we bog down in process to the point of no return, but the Port always delivers. Whether it is denying a living wage to the workers at the Airport, encouraging coal and oil trains through the center of town, or pitting our largest domestic airline against our largest oversees carrier in an airport expansion, they will always be there to carry the freight (as it were) for industry over the rest of us.

Most recently, this manifested itself with a secretive set of meetings that allowed the port to let a Shell drilling rig moor here before heading off to despoil deepwater trenches in the search for oil that we don't need (we're exporting it these days, yaknow). The relevant bit of this is not whether a large multinational has the right to go to the ends of the earth to pour exploration dollars literally into a hole in the ground, but rather why all the negotiations happened in secret in a town than is often transparent to the point of immobility.

As a result, having "Port Commissioner" on your resume is sort of like having "President of the Local Chamber of Commerce" on your CV - it actually can count against you, and required further questions. An incumbent already has a foot in the hole.

So let's look at Position 2. The incumbent, Courtney Gregiore, has a lot going against her: She didn't blow the whistle on this chicanery. She is the daughter of a previous governor (always ticking off the politics-as-family-business box for me). And she's named Courtney, which makes me feel really, really old. Like having a minister named Scooter. On the plus side, she normally is a strong environmentalist, and is often a counterbalance to the oil and coal side of the equation.

Annnnnd... her opponents really aren't much opposition. One is a perennial candidate who was amusing when he declared that the answer to our woes is Space, but became much less so when he decided that the answer to our woes is to eliminate the minimum wage. The other, to quote the Seattle Times "is a self-described communist who said he would not support the Port's role as an engine of the capitalist system." (I think that's the Port's main job). His Voter's Guide statement speaks of the importance of electrification.

So yeah, Courtney.

Position 5, on the other hand, is an open position, since Bill Bryant is stepping down to run for governor. Bryant promises to bring the same style of backroom shenanigans to the  Governor's Mansion, so congrats on re-election to governor Inslee. But in his wake, no less than nine candidates are vying for the support. They are (deep breath):

Mark Hennon, Activist, lists himself as an author and computer consultant. His site is still under construction. This is not a good sign.
Herb Krohn, Former conductor and labor lobbyist. who the Seattle Times likes. Promises transparency. Declares himself as pro-business, pro-environment, pro-taxpayer. Pitches as a centrist.
Fred Fellemen - Enviro, whale biologist, supported by The Stranger and a LOT of local politicians. 
Marion Yoshino - Neighborhood activist, whose neighborhood includes the airport. Jobs and environment platform.
Richard Pope - Runs for everything. Does not win, but has been invaluable at digging up problems on the other candidates.
Norman Sigler - Has the best-written website of the group. Has worked for both airlines currently feuding with each other. Running as an outsider.
Daniel Reandeau - I got nothing on this guy. No web site. A linked-in search says there is a Daniel Reandeu who lives in Port Townsend. Port Townsend is a port, right?
Darrell Byran - Co-owner Victoria Clipper, which docks at our port. I've been on it. It's a pretty cool boat.
Ken Rogers -Not Kenny Rogers, sadly. Former Board of Directors, Delta Airlines

Going over the websites (where available) and their statements, I agree with Ms. Yoshino's note that the airport needs better representation among the Port Commissioners, But I also really like Mr. Sigler's website - he mixes personal notes with an ability to handle the complexities of port trade. So for the initial round, I would recommend you consider either Marion Yoshino or Norman Sigler.

Nine candidates? Well, at least I don't have to consider all the Republicans running for President. That's something.

More later,

Political Desk: The Elections Election

I honestly think we're getting dumber about our electoral process all the time. Part of this feeling is my own grognardly nature, in that I remember back to the days when you had to WALK to the Polling Place to vote. Uphill. Both ways. But part of it is when we pass a law that makes the head of the elections board an elected position itself, and then freak out that actual politicians are running for the office. I swear, the Times is getting a serious case of the vapors over it.

But here we are. What should be a regular civil service position - Director of Elections, is now an elected position, with all the sturm und dross that comes with it. Fortunately, for this election we have the recently appointed deputy director, Julie Wise, running for the position. You know, the person with 13 years of experience in the operation who would have the inside track if this still was an appointed position. Stranger likes her. Times likes her. I like her.

If you don't think you want a career electoral bureaucrat in charge of an electoral bureaucracy, let me give you an option. Zack Hudgins comes out of my district, the 11th, and has served well and admirably. The guy has solid chops. But when I look through my notes, I say nice things about the guy, then always choose the other candidate when he has one. Well, I'm not one to argue with tradition.

More later,

Political Desk: What, Me Primary?

It is not yet August, and I've just received my primary ballot. Yeah, it doesn't make much sense to me, either.

Here's what passes for the thinking on this: The candidates and parties felt that a primary in the more temperate regions of September doesn't leave enough time to spend gobs of money on swaying your vote. Nor would it be enough to make you sick of campaigning, mailers, and robo-calls. So as a result they shuffled the primary forward into the realm of summer vacations and picnics. Yeah, that's going to work out real well.

The good news, such as it is, is that the ballot is pretty light for the primary. No initiatives. No judges. No state offices. A lot of contests are one or two candidates to start with (this is a top-two primary, which means for a lot of urban contests you see two democrats punching it out in November, and in more rural precincts two republicans). Still, this is the hand we've been dealt, and is a chance to get in on the early decision making, such as it is.

I will be dispensing my traditional blather in this space. I shan't be going into the big local event, the Seattle City Council, since I don't vote on it. So there. King County has the full listing of candidates and their statements here. The Seattle Times editorial board has cut its three-martini lunch short and put its blather here (it hasn't aggregated it yet). The Stranger got off its pot-fogged butts and has their blather here. The Municipal League ratings (which don't include Kent or Renton - thanks guys) are here. And as an added bonus, here's a slate presented by a group of CEOs in hopes of motivating their tech minions into voting for candidates that won't punish large corporations by making them take out the garbage or at least clean out the cat litters every once and a while, for Pete's sake.

So stay tuned and we'll try to make this as painless as possible. Well, for me at least.

Sadly, more later.

Earthquake in Sensurround

Everyone on the West Coast has by this time read this article. It is an excellent description of the potential hazard of a major quake in the Cascadia fault, and how we are pretty unprepared for it.

Not that we aren't more prepared than we were. After the Nisqually Quake of 2001, there was a lot of improvements in building design and even such laggards as I have made sure to tie down our china cabinets and water heaters. But for something this massive would overwhelm whatever attempts people would make to protect themselves from devastation. When it happens, it will be pretty bad.

We can do more. A couple years after the quake, I was working for a company in downtown Bellevue in one of the new skyscrapers. And I was very aware of the fact that several faults crossed right underneath Bellevue. I asked what the earthquake plan was, and was told that everyone should take a shard from the server and walk down the fire escapes. No rally points, nothing beyond just getting out of the building.

The article itself does move around geographically, though, and that seems to increase the apparent damage. While Seattle itself will likely be flattened by the quake itself, it is the seaside communities that will be primarily wiped out by the resulting tidal wave. The article allows the reader to conflate the two, such that Seattle would be destroyed both by quake and tsunami.

How much Seattle gets of such a tsunami would actually depend on where the quake epicenters. Far south along the plate we have the bulk of the Olympics between us and the worst of the waves. If it breaks are the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, then we have a nice shotgun channel pointed right at Whidby Island.

The only ironic humor that I can take out of the article is the comment that "everything West of I-5 will be toast". Grubb Street if fives miles EAST of I-5, so I guess we'll be fine (oh, quit laughing. I'm clutching at all the straws I can). Yes, if the big one hits, much like the big one they have been awaiting in LA, it will be pretty harsh.

Of course, let us make lemonade out of these lemons. I recommend that all natives of Seattle spread this story. Send it to relatives and would-be job prospects. One of the great challenges to our neck of the woods is that we have become TOO Successful. Rent is skyrocketing. The roads are clogged. And every single-story building in Bellevue seems to be under siege by high-rise developers. And people STILL want to move here. We need to scare them off, and the idea that we will all die from a massive earthquake may just be the thing.

And if it doesn't scare them off, we'll tell them about the ACTIVE VOLCANO.

More later,

(More of) The Gaming News

The trouble with reporting on what's going on stuff in gaming would be easy. But nooooooooo! You just mention one bit of news and another truckload shows up, including stuff you had learned earlier but just hadn't mentioned:

ITEM: In addition to the ENnies, GenCon also is the site of the Diana Jones award, which since 2001 has presented a Lucite-encased fragment of the Indiana Jones game to the game/person/thing that best embodies the spirit of excellence in the game industry, as determined by a shadowy, neefarious, and largely unknown committee. The short list of nominations has been published, including the massive Guide to Glorantha, which, by the way, I am still reading. No, really.

ITEM: The Ed Greenwood Group was established a which back with the idea of launching new worlds and concepts in a variety to mediums. This week  they unleashed a plethora of announcements on agreements with the Gamehole Convention in Madison, Twin Fire Productions, Dungeons and Dragons Under the Influence, ACD Distribution, and the latest incarnation of Amazing Stories,  Oh, did I mention they were working on their own RPG as well? Yeah, they're a pretty active group.

ITEM: Also I got to see this week Lester Smith's new d6xd6 Expanded Edition. In addition to simple, straightforward rules for roleplaying, the book contains a slew of new worlds, including concepts by a number of the Alliterates - Rob King, Doug Niles, Steve Winter, Steve Sullivan, and Matt Forbeck. Which is what happens when you drinking on a regular basis with other game designers - they all get together and decide to put on a show!

ITEM: Lastly, there is a generational nature to gaming. Tracy Hickman's son, Curtis has been working as the Chief Creative Officer on a new product called The Void, which is two parts Dream Park, two parts Matrix, two parts Lazertag and all wrapped up in virtual reality. Find out more about it here (oh, and Curtis has an interview on Australian TV here, and I am amazed he has a beard now).

More later,

The Gaming News

So I have been a wee bit busy this month, but I want to catch up a few things.

Lion's Arch gets a wedding area, then the Supreme Court rules on marriage.
 Coincidence?

First off, the NTRPG was real treat. A small convention with a very low Fan/Pro ratio (like ten of the former to one of the latter), it was a combination of an Old School Game Designer Reunion and a Small Relaxing Con. I ran events for the first time in many, many years, and people seemed to like it. Strongly recommended.

Also, I've been reducing my social media postings (but that's another blog for later), but my Facebook page blew up over an article on io9 over the original Marvel Super Heroes RPG that Steve Winter and I put together (cough, cough) thirty some years ago. Almost all the comments were supportive and it is very, very rewarding to see that the game has continued to be a fan favorite for low these many years.

And speaking of increased web presence, I was particularly pleased to see that Dave Gross's latest book, Lord of Runes, got a mention on Geeksmash as a recommended June reading. Given that shared world novels are often considered the children of a lesser god compared to more mainstream offerings, I'm delighted to see Dave's name invoked in the same article with Robert Charles Wilson and Vernor Vinge.

In other news involving fellow creatives, Nichole Lindroos, Chris Pramas and the gang at Green Ronin are re-launching Blue Rose with a Kickstarter. Blue Rose was a non-traditional traditional fantasy that puts more emphasis on epic romance than epic monster bashing. Yes, it is knocking down stretch goals like ten-pins, but still has a while to run. As a fan of multiple flavors of fantasy, I liked the original, and expect to like the new version, powered by the Dragon Age system.

And one more thing. The short list for the ENnie awards is out, and I'm glad to see a number of things that I have purchased and enjoyed being on that list, in particular the Hoard of the Dragon Queen adventure and the Guide to Glorantha megabooks. Check out the full list of nominees here.

And yes, I will be at GenCon this year. More about that later.

Texas Rising

This coming weekend,4-7 June, I will be attending the North Texas RPG Con at the DFW Airport Marriot in Fort Worth. It looks like a fun weekend of gaming, topped off with an all-star list of veteran game designers (about a half-dozen of them from Seattle, so it will be a weird flight). Yep, I know about the weather conditions there, but we're only just south of the airport, and there are no major rivers between the terminal and us.

See some of you there. More later,

Your Moment of Zen

Weird how suddenly you think about a song from years and years ago.

More later,