Taking the Initiatives

Though I regularly skew into the political, I don't particularly think of this as a political blog. Most of the ones I know, regardless of their place on the left/right, blue/red, up/down scales, just require too much care and feeding. You have to be upset about something ALL the TIME. It's a hungry beast to feed - we've seen it happen on talk radio and 24/7 punditry, where the players are reduced to drug addiction and sexual perversion. We can keep it from happening here.

But we do have an election coming up, and, like many in Washington State, I got an absentee ballot (I'm a big proponent of going to the polls, but I know I'm one of a dying breed in that regard). I won't be here on election day, for reasons that I will eventually make clear.

So I grit my teeth and with grim determination steer this fragile craft into the storm-tossed waves that are local politics.

The big heat, of course, is on the Initiatives. Originally an attempt to put "the people" more in charge of the system by allowing them to influence law directly, it has, as with all things that touch the grimy surface that is politics, become overrun with special interests, pet causes, and pundits intent on "delivering a message".

A lot of that message consists of "Who do you hate?" Here's the short form:

I-330 - We hate Lawyers!
I-336 - We hate Insurance Companies!
I-900 - We hate the Government!
I-901 - We hate Smokers!
I-912 - We hate Ourselves!

A little more detail, please? Sure, step into the funhouse. . . .

I-330 and I-336 are twisted, cojoined, mutant siblings, both intend on addressing high malpractice insurance costs. I-330 wants to do it with caps on damage awards, and is supported by insurance companies (who have been using some of their doctors as sock puppets) I-336 wants to put more scrutiny on insurance rate increases, create supplemental malpractice insurance, and put a few more teeth into the idea of bouncing bad doctor. This one is being heavily financed by the lawyers, as the pro-I-330 ads keep drilling home (It's GOT to be bad - Lawyers want it! Booo, Hiss!).

Actually, the pair of initiatives are massive tomes of fine print, even by initiative standards. I-330 runs 7.5 pages and reads like its been written by your insurance company. I-336 runs 12 pages in the Voter's booklet and reads like its been written by your lawyer. These are presented to a voting public that has trouble understanding its home heating bills, and you're expecting rational thought. Yeah, that's going to work. Isn't this why we have elected officials?

Here's the part neither side tells you - It's not an either/or. You can support both of these ideas (and I'm partial towards the ideas of I-336, though I'd rather see it as a law as opposed to a initiative). Or you can vote them both down. I'm really for the later. NO on both of this beastly pair.

I-900, on the other hand, is a pretty neatly written initiative, and I've been looking for the trap door in it, and I can't find it. It calls for the setup of a performance audits in state government (actually, we have them, but this calls for stronger ones, with some teeth). Its pretty clear. It tells how much money we should spend on it, and where the money comes from. The guys putting this one together have a track record (much of it bad) on populist initiatives, but I can't find the flaw in this one - it just reeks of good government. I'm saying YES on this one.

I-901 sends all smokers to Yakima. OK, no it doesn't, but it does prohibit smoking in buildings and vehicles open to the public and places of employment, including areas within 25 feet of doorways and ventilation. As someone who smoked the occasional cigar in the nineties (but, to use the common excuse, I didn't inhale), I'm pretty tolerant of smokers, as long as I'm upwind of them, and for the most part the smokers I've encountered have been pretty considerate (Have I ever mentioned that the Dog & Pony, our usual Alliterate hangout, is non-smoking?). While the opposition to this initiative has been pretty bizaare (the anti- I-901 yard signs announce that this would mean New Taxes, which I can't see - it makes me wonder if the signs were left over from a previous campaign), I think its that type of overdoing it that Initiatives are notable for. I say vote NO (and watch, I'll be caught in the elevator with a heavy smoker tomorrow).

And finally there is I-912. Sigh. I-912 has a history that sounds like a Marvel Comic Book, and deserves its own writeup. For the moment, let's just say NO and I'll go into the tale of woe and intrigue with its own separate posting.

More later,

Local Menaces

So the past week's Seattle Weekly talks about the potential lahars coming off Mt. Rainier. These massive mudslides could shrug off the shoulder of the mountain and come barrelling down the valleys, including that of the Green River, burying everything in its path. A similar article in the Seattle Times when we first moved out here was one of the leading reasons the Lovely Bride decided we needed to get a house up on a hill.

We could move to a safer locality, of course, but even my home town of Pittsburgh has its endemic problems.

More later,

Additional Linkage

I was originally going to name this post "housekeeping", but that carries with it at least the tacit promise that I've thrown something out. Instead, I've expanded the listing to the right of this Journal, adding more friends that I check, as well as some sites that I'm aways looking at (and to be frank, you should be too).

I should go through the steely implement of editorial death and get rid of those links that update once per lunar rotation (Colin and Phil are both guilty), or who have gone mostly private (Dave). But I'm not at that stage yet, and so I'm keeping everyone. Your first warning that they're off the list is when they're off the list.

First off, I've updated the Alliterates section. The big news is the creation of Popcorn Press, a small e-book operation put together by Lester, Sully, and Rob. I've read Rob's "Humors" and think it is both scary and hilarious. I have also added the two most recent additions to the West Coast Alliterates - Lorelei Shannon and Scott Hungerford. Go check 'em out.

I've also put a few additional links to the Cool Journals list - James Wyatt is one of the WotC-era "young turk" D&D designers who has done incredible things with the game, including most recently the Eberron Game setting. Go check him out. In addition, my old comic book artist from the days of the Forgotten Realms book, Rags Morales, now has a blog. Rags has gone on to bigger and better, and shows off a lot of his work. Check it out.

I'm also adding Making Light. This is an exception in that, unlike everyone else on the list, I don't know these people personally ("These people" being Theresa and Patrick Hayden, aided by Jim Macdonald). However, I like what they say about writing, and I keep tuning in. You should, too.

I'm also adding a new area for comics I keep checking daily, so I can pull them from a particular page.PVP is a daily dose of geek humor focusing around the employees of a gaming magazine, but taking loops out into personal lives, MMORGs, and D&D. Penny Arcade is thrice-weekly, color, much edgier, and often incomprehensible without a native guide (the link I provided goes to a text page that in turn links up with the cartoon. Warning - these guys cannot get out of the strip without using the word "penis". No, I correct that - they often cannot get out of the FIRST PANEL without using the word "penis". PVP and PA are kinda-sorta rivals, kinda-sorta allies, two sides of the same gaming coin.

For the pure D&D Geek, go with Order of the Stick, which is a D&D strip in which a party of D&D characters (who look like Playmobil "Little People") know the D&D rules and act accordingly. Three times a week and color, they have deep archives to plunge through. If you're playing 3.5 (and even if you're not), you should check this out.

Finally there is Girl Genius, from Phil and Kaja Foglio, which has some of the most luscious, luxurious, downright animated art in an online comic book. Phil's been at his craft for nigh-on aeons, and it shows in his work. They've gotten the early stuff online too, so you can follow the adventure from the start.

OK, that's it. I'm doing this because things are going to get strange here fast, and I've been meaning to update the links for a while. No, I'm not saying what's going on. Yet.

More later,

Galactus Loves Gumbo!

Yes, it has been nearly a week since the last update, and I have stuff to tell you about. But I've been very busy, and I'll tell you why in the next couple days.

In the mean time, I need to tell you that Wizkids is auctioning off a Heroclix Galactus figure, signed by myself and Jon (Nothing Good) Leitheusser, with the entire proceeds going to hurricane relief from Katrina and Rita. Auction runs until October 26. If you wanted one of these babies, here's an autographed one.

More later,

Play: Hey Joad

The Grapes of Wrath: By John Steinbeck, Adapted by Frank Balati, Directed by Lina Hartzell, Intiman Theatre.

The Lovely Bride wanted to see this one, so we headed out yesterday for the Intiman, located a scant fifty feet from the Rep. The Initiman has more of a theater-in-the-round setting with a projected stage, and has a lot of that intimacy (yeah, I see the pun) between actors and audience.

The play itself I don't have to explain, since you read the book in high school. What, you didn't? Well, at least you saw the movie with Henry Fonda. No? Not even on cable? Well, at least you know about the Okies, the Dust Bowl, and Route 66 before it became "The Midlife Crisis Highway". What's that?

Sigh.

OK, here's the short form. Back in the early thirties a good chunk of the Great Plains dried up and blew away. Farm families couldn't raise anything on their dust-choked land and the banks foreclosed. A lot of them, being told about new opportunities in California, headed west on the Mother Road, Rte. 66. A lot of them were from Oklahoma, hence the name Okies.

The Joad family was one of those families. Tom Joad, newly released from prison, finds his family about to pull up stakes and head west. He and a former preacher Jim Casey go with them. The large family sheds both members and beliefs as they head westward, dealing with death, desertion, and diappointment. And when they get to California, they find that there is no work there, either, because everyone has moved west and the landowners can choose the hungriest for the least amount of pay.

The story is about promise, of dreams dashed and reborn, and the unkillable nature of human hope. The entire first act is about the heading west - burying the old and embracing the new, despite numerous warnings that things are not as rosey as promised. The second act is the crushing reality and growth of a new hope, of organization and gathering together. And though that is crippled as well, still there remains hope, where there remains life.

The play is presented by an ensemble, with most of the huge cast taking numerous parts. Erick Kastel creates a flinty, wind-blasted Tom Joad, returning to a world changed beyond his remembrance. Todd Jefferson Moore breaths life into Jim Casy, the former preacher who finds the need to still help others. The rest of the cast is excellent as well, and while some of the lines are familiar (Hank Fonda's "I'll be there" speech in the movie) they given new life in their presentation.

One challenge to the play is that the original Grapes of Wrath was a book, and a fair-sized one at that, and shrinking it down into two hours and change of acting is a task. This adaption was made in 1988 by Frank Galati, and took the 1990 Tony for Best Play. Yep, a lot of parts of truncated (the salting of the pig, the time spent in the Weedpatch camp), but in general Galati has cored down to the nub of Steinbeck's writing And when he used Steinbeck's language (through narrators), you get the feeling of power of the original work.

The other challenge is that the original Grapes of Wrath was also as big as all outdoors. It is a book about the open country, whether it was the blasted lands of Oklahoma or the road west or the migrant orchards of California. Very little of the action takes place in enclosed spaces, and though the staging struggles with conveying that openess with sparse, wide staging, it is still clear that it is something outdoors moved inside, and constrained by limitations of the media. This also goes for the fact that despite the huge cast and number of changing rolls, the book deals with a multitude on the road, of an entire nation pulling up stakes and moving elsewhere.

And hanging over the proceedings are the spectres of Katrina and Rita (and Wilma - we've finally reached the end of the huricaine alphabet - if there is another storm, we go back to the "A's). The play takes on an added importance as the travails of the Joad clan are mirrored in the uprooted peoples of the Gulf Coast, of struggling to stay human as a world turns against them. There is one sequence where a pair of gas station attendants are talking down on the Okies passing through - saying that the travelers are foolish, they're stupid, they're subhuman, they're gorillas. If it were happening today, the gas jockeys would be pundits on the 24-hour talk channels. No, the situation hasn't changed all that much.

We just don't have a Steinbeck to spare at the moment.

More later,

He Who Steals My Trash, Steals Garbage

Someone stole my trash. Actually, someone stole my trash can, and the trash that was in it.

I'm serious. I put out the trash yesterday for pickup and today it's gone, can and all. And it wasn't the garbage men who took it - they were outside when the Lovely Bride came out (the recyling bin was also overturned, but still there).

And I'll be frank, it's weirding me out just a little. I mean, who would take it? Identity thieves? (And LEAVE the recycling, which would be mostly PAPER right beside it?) The Government? (Why not take the garbage and leave the can to avoid suspicion?) Fanciers of stylish metal garbage cans? (Then why not wait for the garbage guys to pass by and THEN take it?). Pranksters? A private investigator for a major corporation looking to hire me? Investigators for a telemarketer I yelled at? Martians?

Yeah, nothing really makes a whole bunch of sense, and it leaves me with this weird, unsettled feeling.

The Thieves/Investigators/Government Agents/Martians got away with a steel garbage can, mostly loaded down with kitchen waste and cat poop. We empty the litters into a bag in a laundry pail, and from there into the garbage can. I can't think of anything of value we have thrown away recently, or any information that would be valuable enough to justify the late-night theft of my garbage (and yeah, we also shred all personal documents before tossing them in the recycling, too).

It's weird, I tell you. Very, very weird. And of course, I would want the can back. Minus, of course, the cat poop. You can keep that. No, it's no trouble at all.

More later,

Dyvil Take The Hindmost!

OK, here's the last reminder - We're giving away Dyvil; First Edition for the low, low price of FREE! In fact, I'm kicking into the Red Cross a buck for every copy that you take (According to Steve, we're over $200, so I'm going to have to write another check). Yes, it's been a month, and a big chunk of the Gulf Coast is STILL not there and a big chunk of its population is STILL in need of support, so this is your chance to get a simple RPG AND know that somewhere, someone is doing something for the good of humanity.

So write to Steve Miller at nuelow@earthlink.net and put "Dyvil: First Edition" in the header (Sorry to those readers in Israel and Japan, but Steve reads neither Hebrew or Kanji, but he got the gist of your messages because you used the words in the title bar - Thank you!)

The offer ends tomorrow night (the 15th) at Midnight, Seattle Time. After that, we do the Dyvil: First Edition Deluxe Version (Now with a price tag!) This is your chance - don't be kicking yourself when this sweeps the Origins Awards with its hip sensibilities and indy cred!

More later,

What I Do For A Living

So, this morning, 1 AM (local time)/10 AM (in Germany), at the Essen toy fair, Pokemon-USA announced that it was releasing a new Pokemon Trading Figure Game in Europe and Australia (Not America, yet). At that time, we also announced the web site for the game, at Pokemon-Figures.com

Did I create this game? No, it was the work of Pokemon TCG creators. Did I do the graphics? Nay, they were the work of Rick, our graphics designer. Did I do the writing? No, that was done through the Marketing Department and edited ably by Mike. Well, how about uploading the entire beast? No, that was done by Eric, our Web Tech Guru.

So what the heck did I do? Monitoring everything that happened, tracking down resources, making corrections, keeping people updated, talking to people, and keeping folk from jumping out of windows as we kept adding features. You know, that management thing.

And I feel pretty accomplished by it all.

More later,

Leave Your Meme at the Sound of the Tone.

So there's a meme spreading through the blogosphere like bird flu. It is called "Needs". You put your name and and the word needs in the Google search engine ("Jeff needs") and then write down the first fifteen things it comes up with.

Instead, I decided to got with "Jeff Knows". Then I rearranged them into found verse:

Jeff Knows about tapping.
Jeff Knows what to do.
Jeff Knows it isn't for a visit.
Jeff Knows All.

Jeff Knows her.
Jeff Knows Everyone.
Jeff Knows Chris's death still haunts him.
Jeff Knows that we are trying to develop Joey.

Jeff Knows this:
Jeff Knows that.
Jeff Knows he is innocent.
Jeff Knows he is in a trap.

Jeff Knows government is a public business, and the public has a right to know.
Jeff Knows and understands the issues.
Jeff Knows something else that is cool, too.
Jeff Knows All.

I'm thinking it would be something Tom Petty could wrap his throaty voice around.

More later,

Play: Terms of En-Deer-Ment

The King Stag by Shelly Berc & Andrei Belgrader, from the Original Play by Carlo Gozzi, Directed by Andrei Belgrader, Seattle Repetory Theatre, September 24-October 22, 2005

Weird season at the Rep so far - the first production was a puppet show, which puts a distance between actor and viewer, while the second is commedia dell'arte, another old form - one which brings audience and actors together closer, but which comes with its own requirements and limitations.

And it's an odd venue for what should be a sprawling, engaging form of humor - the Bagley Wright theater is a volumous space, and despite putting audience members on stage and sending cast members into the audience, it is a tough distance to bridge. Add to that that it has a cold opening (a man-servant pulls the huge parrot cage of his transformed magical master, and then "wams up" the audience), makes it a tough climb upward. And add to that the fact the play itself is a 21st century adaption of an 18th century play of a 16th century artform. And lets not start on the plethora of Italian names. The play already has a number of hurdles to vault.

And the play itself is an odd duck, such that you're not sure what parts belong to which era. There is broad humor, and some of the language is questionable for younger viewers, while the action takes place in wide strokes that is more direct and kid-oriented. The villain is abusive in ways that are uncomfortable, and his stutter, while important part of the plot, encourages guilty laughter from the audience (though never sympathy).

The plot is this - The evil chancellor sets up for the good king to marry the chancellor's daughter, who in turn loves another. The King is wise and good, in part due to two magical gifts given him by the wizard (now turned into a parrot). One gift is a lie detector, the other a spell that lets the user's spirit posess the body of a dead creature. Using the first, the King knows that the Chancellor's daughter is in love with another, and that the daughter of another advisor is his true love. The Chancellor uses the second gift to trap the King's spirit in a deer, and then take up residence in the King's body, claiming the other advisor's daughter, who realizes that not all is right. The plot resolves with a complete magus ex machina ending in which the true lovers are reunited, evil is punished, and the audience is sent out with something weirdly appropriate by Neil Diamond.

The posession is handled very nimbly with masks. When I saw the masks, I winced in that this was one more element between the actor and the viewer, but like the stuttering villain, it proves to be needed, and pulls off very neatly the switching identities. Much of the rest of the stagecraft is spinning building elements, overdone in places, and the costuming is two parts Dr. Seuss, and two parts raided from the alien species on the original Star Trek series.

With so many challenges, the play rests heavily on its actors, and after a slow start, they perform incredibly well. As the evil, stuttering, abusive chancellor, R. Hamilton Wright commands the stage and makes the play his character's story, relishing in his evil and eventually taking the fall for it. Micheal Urie and Sarah Rudinoff also get high marks for their work. Urie is both the manservant/clown charged with flirting with the audience at the start, as well as the advisor (beneath another mask) whose daughter marries the king. Rudinoff takes a secondary role (as another of the candidates for marriage), and delivers a Bette-Midleresque performance.

So, does the play succeed? The first act is overly long, leading up to the posession, while the second, resolving the situation, feels truncated, too short for the questions and opportunities that come out of the first act. The actors are up to the task of the script, but the script feels like an odd hybrid of different centuries, a theatrical chimera. The house was light (another problem with the huge theater), so go for the actors and don't sweat too much about the plot.

More later,

True Confession

I like to present myself as a cool, calm, polite individual, moderate and thoughtful in all things. But such is not always the situation, I'm afraid.

Case in point, this evening. I'm working on a short story I promised a friend and a telemarketer calls. Nothing out of the ordinary. She slurs the name of the company she's representing. She gets my name wrong (as I noted below, I use that as a way of getting up the defenses in time). She says that someone at the household has answered a phone questionaire. I tell her that this is highly unlikely (The Lovely Bride is even more unwilling to deal with telemarketers than I am). She tells me that this is what their records indicate, and I must be wrong. I tell her in a forceful voice to put us their do-not-call list.

She pleads that she did not understand because I was shouting.

I explain that what she heard was not shouting.

Then I demonstrate for her what shouting was, and hung up in a righteous fury.

And I immediately think, "Where the heck did THAT come from?" I tried to remember the last time I was that loud and unpleasant on the phone (I think it was another telemarketer, many years ago, who called looking for donations for a no-name Veterans group, and when I demurred, snarled "Whaddaya got against Veterans?"). I felt a little sheepish - I had been raised to treat people politely, regardless of how boneheaded they were.

And then she called back.

I know what you're thinking - a chance of redemption, of making nice. Of at least finding out how she was so badly trained.

Such was not to be. As soon as she identified herself, she was greeted with requests of "Do not call back" and "Put us on your do not call list" in ever-increasing volume, until she finally said, "Yes, sir, I will, if only you'd. . ." The rest of her words were cut off as I said "Thank you" cheerfully and hung up on her.

And so I still felt guilty, and after staring at the story for ten more minutes, feeling bad about myself, I abandoned my work and fired up World of Warcraft. And though I proceeded to cast Power Word: Fortitudes and Heal spells on needy travelers, it did little to abate my guilt.

Yet I will provide the following free advice for the poor slugs who have to call people like me to sell filtration systems, screen doors, and gutters:

1) Get my name right on the first bounce.
2) Don't disagree with me or disrepect me.
and 3) Never, EVER wear a headset.

More later,

Dyvil (Is that still around?)

The Dyvil requests topped out just shy of 200, so I wrote a check for $200 to the Red Cross (well, the Lovely Bride phoned in the donation, but you get the gist). I’m really impressed with the response, and thank everyone who wrote in for a copy. We’ve got ten days to go (The offer ends on October 15), and if things kick up again, I will be glad to write another check. Well, have the Lovely Bride make another phone call. (For some reason I’m not to be trusted with pens. You know how banks chain their pens up? I’m the reason for that. Yeah, me.).

For those that tuned in late and don’t follow links to the original article, here’s the deal. – Write to Steve Miller at nuelow@earthlink.net, and he will send you a copy of Dyvil: First Edition (The words "First Edition" is a threat, not a promise). Then I kick in a buck to the Red Cross for Hurricane Relief. That simple. You get at 30-Minute RPG (meaning it took thirty minutes to write, not thirty minutes to play), and I give money. What do you have to lose?

Now, if you prefer more of a “real” gaming/fiction/art product (by, you know, people who thought about it), I will direct you to the Beyond the Storm Project that Jason Mical and other noble worthies have been putting together. This is a REAL purchase, $10.00 pdf (Print on Demand coming), with the proceeds going to Katrina relief.

More later,

Cooper's Sparkling Ale

So this weekend, Stan returned from San Diego to the wilds of Puget Sound for the weekend. There were dinners and discussions and cool stuff about the Serenity movie. In honor of his return, I hosted a irregular meeting of the Alliterates, our irregular writing group.

It was pretty nice - Steve, Wolf, and Jess showed up, brats were boiled, hamburgers broiled, and we engaged in gossip and witty banter that would put the Algonquin Roundtable to shame. However, the Patented Alliterate Zone of Silence prevents me from sharing any of this. Instead, I will merely speak well of Wolf, better know as the Monkey King and his choice of beers.

I was cooking the meal, and asked the others to bring drinkables. Wolf asked me what beer I would prefer, and I retorted immediately "Cooper's Sparkling Ale". Now, this is my standard response, since Cooper's is one of the rarer beers I know of, and I never expect anyone to have it.

Its a rare beer because it's an Australian beer - more importantly, a South Australian beer that I discovered when the Lovely Bride and I were in Adelaide, South Australia, on an Earthwatch mission, many (many) years ago. Many things still stick in my memory of that trip, but one was the hot, dry heat of Kangaroo island, and the other was the fact that we broke for tea in the middle of the afternoon. And by "tea" I mean that beer was served. And the beer was Cooper's Sparkling Ale, the local brew, which was always served with the remark "It's better than Foster's".

I would call Cooper's a blonde beer, similar to Red Hook, with a nice sweet taste and not too much in the hops. So for years afterwards I have kept an eye out for the beer. And in places that brag "560 Beers on tap" I would order it, and always be disappointed.

Well, Wolf found it. He found it at Larry's Market (no, I'm not saying which one). It's not on display, but is kept in the back for special requests. Yep, it's a secret beer. And I insisted on sharing it with the others when he brought it in.

How was it? I think it is best drunk in the arid warmth of a South Australian January, with wallabies bouncing around, and it had almost a slight gritty aftertaste, perhaps the result of settling. But it was the brew that I remember, and I appreciate it.

And I squirreled away the last bottle for after work today.

More later,

Doorbelling

So one of the many advantages that I have in life is that I go professionally and personally by my middle name (Jeff). The reason for this is I share my first name with my father, and growing up it avoided confusion as to which one of us was in trouble with my mother (note that when we were in real trouble, she would use the full names anyway). But the result of this was that when someone calls to sell me gutters or insurance or asks me for help with a political campaign, I already have my shields up when they ask for me by my first name.

Not so in this case. The caller from the Sierra Club (who will remain nameless) recognized my last name, and the first question on the phone was "Is this Jeff?". So I was blindsided and easily manipulated into volunteering to help the Sierra Club do some door-to-doot Get Out The Vote (GOTV) work this weekend. Just so you know, the Lovely Bride already edits the local Sierra Club newsletter calender, and today was down at Soos Creek, helping with some new plantings.

So I, Jorgen (who was our team leader) and a woman named Eleanor were covering the Hilltop neighborhood of south Bellevue. Our task was to contact possible voters (culled from the election rolls) with the message to vote this November 8th, and to think about the environment when making their choices. We were handing out fliers comparing the records and statements of the two candidates from King County Executive - Ron Sims and Dave Irons. Ron Sims has been a supporter for open spaces, clean air and water, and hybrid busses. Irons? Not so much. We are not allowed to campaign for one candidate, thought the fact of it was that if you're interested in the Environment (and its a safe bet to say that if you're canvassing for the Sierra Club, you are), its likely that you're probably leaning towards Ron in the first place.

In general, it was pretty nice. It was a pleasant neighborhood of nice homes with largish yards, and the trees have had a chance to grow up around the houses. I didn't run into anyone who was hostile, though more than a few were abrupt or impatient (as I would be if I was hauled off the sofa for a political message). I found that I was reading my subjects and changing my patter, shortening it up if they were in the "Get on with it" mode, and smiling and thanking them if they said they weren't interested. I've had to deal with enough idiot cold-callers over the years to know that when someone says no, its 95% likely that they mean "please go away", and the cause is better served by being "that nice young man" than being "that jerk who argued his points".

I had only one talker, and very nice man who had alder tree blown down in his back yard in the rains yesterday, and would rather talk to an activist (or even, I suspect, have major dental surgery) go back to the woodchipper he had rented. And one house had a very detailed and amusing "no solicitor" sign that I thought was amusing, however, it was mounted so I had to get up to the porch itself to read it, which sort of defeated the purpose of the sign.

So my feet hurt, but I've done a good thing for the day. Now I have to catch up on the other things that I put aside to do this.

Sigh.

More later,

Back to Iraq

So this past week one of Kate’s regular fellow-gamers shipped out, heading for Baghdad. Actually, he’s heading for West Texas first, apparently because after being in Texas for a while, Iraq starts looking good. His area of expertise is setting up health and sanitation systems, something that’s in desperate need both in Iraq and in the states bordering the Gulf. This is his second trip –he did his bit in Gulf War I a few years back. For the past couple years, he’s been in this on-again off-again status about deployment, but the boot finally dropped.

My thoughts are with him, and also on the conflict he’s going into. And it does make me think of another war in Southeastern Asia. No, not Vietnam. I'm thinking of the Philippines. 

The Philippine-American war is truly a forgotten war, as it is known as that only in the Phillipines. When its called anything in the States its called the Philippine Insurrection, and treated as a footnote to the Spanish-American War, even though the Philippine conflict lasted longer and produced more casualties on all sides. Yeah, that’s one similarity to the present state of affairs. One of many.

The Philippine-American War took place during that wonderful euphemism of history that we called “The Age of Imperialism” in our history books, an uptick of military activity between the Civil War and WWI. Its like we caught a case of Imperialism like one gets a mild dose of the clap, but a shot of patriotism cleared it right up. Actually, it represents the time when we stopped just invading neighboring countries (Canada, Mexico, most of Central America) and started taking our tour world-wide.

OK, here’s the short form – you remember the Spanish-American War? The Maine and San Juan Hill and the Roughriders? No? OK, that’s a discussion for another war. Let’s just say that in the course of that war we invaded the Philippines, another Spanish holding, and with the help of the locals, routed the Spanish there as well. The locals were under the impression that we would kick out the ruling elites, then leave (promises were apparently made). Instead we set up bases for the long haul, and the liberators became occupiers. 

Any of this sound familiar?

The Philippine-American War had a relatively short pure-military phase and a much longer guerilla phase. It was declared unilaterally over by the American side, though the locals continued the fight. A lot of progressives argued against involvement in the Philippines, including major writers of the period (such as Mark Twain). The war resulted in the Americans putting up permanent bases. And over a period of decades the Americans kept handing offices and responsibilities back to the Philippine people, while restricting the true power to the parts that were still American-controlled or American-influenced

Atrocities by the Americans were common – there was such a market in “trophy skulls” (heads of defeated rebels) that graveyards in San Francisco were raided to keep up with the demand. If there was an Internet in those days they would have traded them for porn.

Eventually, the plan was to hand over power to the Philippine people (actually, the ruling elites, but still locals) by the mid-forties. The Japanese (also in a period called “Imperial”) upset that timetable and Americans left (temporarily). They returned and retook the islands with the help of the (you got it) local rebels, who were then sold out AGAIN to put power back in the hands of the ruling families. Even today, there are parts of the Philippines that one does not go to, for fear of guerilla activity (though most of the cities are under control, and the nation has a relative democracy in place, punctuated by corruption and strongmen like Marcos).

Now the point of all this, is that, from a US government point of view, it all worked out. The US has ended up with an ally in the Western Pacific that we have relatively tight control over, that allows us heavy use of our military power (The Philippines were a major jumping-off point for troops heading for Viet Nam). There continue to be flare-ups in hostilities, and the ruling elites have moved into the leadership positions established by the Americans. And the same thing could happen in Iraq.

The trouble is, it may take a century to get there, as well.

More later,

Movie: Woo!

Serenity - Directed by Joss Whedon, Starring Nathan Fillon, Gina Torres, Summer Glau, Written By Joss Whedon

Woo.

Just that. Woo.

So I got to an advanced screening last night (the film opens on Friday). They've been doing this for months now, advanced screenings to build buzz for the movie, and I got in because someone (like Stan) mentioned that there were free passes available through Townhall.com for the press, and bloggers were counted as press. So I abused my position and the Lovely Bride and I attended a showing last night up in the U district sponsored by the University Film Club. I think we were the oldest people in the place (unless there were some OTHER well-preserved vampires), and the most of them were big fans of Firefly, the TV show that this movie grew out of. Many of them were wearing orange knitted hats, a reference to the series that I will not explain here. So we had a friendly audience that laughed and gasped and cheered along with us. And . . .

Woo. I mean it. My tongue dried out from hanging my mouth open so much. This is a really good film.

OK, so Firefly was a space western put together by Joss "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Whedon. A motley crew of rebels, outlaws, and fugitives do small jobs in a broken down spaceship, armed with six-guns and old west attitude. When a young doctor and his spooky sister come on board, things get interesting. And that's all I'm going to tell you about the plot.

But, you know, Woo.

I'm trying to think of another SF film where the script, dialogue, acting, and special effects all came together so amazingly. Usually you have to excuse one piece or another because of its genre roots, but its all here. The script is tight. The dialog sparkles. The acting and direction are subtle and engaging. The characters are horribly and wonderfully human. And the battle sequences are everything that mix-master quick cuts of the recent Star Wars films were not. They were poetic.

Go see this movie. That's all I'm going to say - go see this movie.

Woo.

More later (woo!)

Local Politics: Potpourri

Bits and pieces from the front.

The 1st distict King County Council has see-sawed back and forth between Edmonds and Ferguson, but at the most recent count has Ferguson up by about 1000 votes. This is enough to negate the need for a mandatory recount, which disappoints their GOP rivals, who love to put about that close election must therefore be a botched election (unless a Republican wins - then it is something called a "mandate").

However, we do have a very tight race that may necessitate are recount for second place in the Sherrif's race, which is also disappointing to conservatives because all those involved are cops. Rahr holds her commanding lead, but Fuda and Schmdt continue to vie for each other with a fractions of a percentage point difference.

Meanwhile, the State GOP has repealed the 11th Commandment. That is, the requirement that one not speak ill of other Republicans (yes, they really had a party rule on that). The rule has been used in the past to bludgeon recalcitrant candidates into line, more often by the Business-conservative GOP against the Social-conservative GOP. Odd that this happens after the primaries and all. The party officials hope to have new guidelines in place to encourage party harmony without making people laugh at them.

On a national level, former FEMA director Mike Brown has a new gig as (wait for it) a consultant to FEMA! Yep, we're definitely running government like a big corporation. Mr. Brown was on the Hill, blaming every non-federal individual around him for the disasters, including a head-nod to local political blog Horse's Ass, which had earlier outed his past experience, or lack of thereof. You know, its not fair in the competition for Best Local Blog if you're going to do real reporting!

More later,

Play: Pulling Strings

Cathay: 3 Tales of China Conceived, written & directed by Ping Chong, Made in collaboration with Shaanxi Folk Art Theater, Seattle REP, September 10-October 9, 2005

The Lovely Bride and I have season tickets with the REP, which I like because its pins us down to going at a certain time to a certain place for a certain show. It can be particularly rewarding if the show is one that I might not choose to see on my lonesome. I mean, I can't really imagine waking up one Saturday morning and saying "Yaknow, I'm really in the mood for a good puppet show".

And that's what we have here, for the lead-off for the 2005 season as well as its new artistic director. A puppet show - well presented, ingenious, but ultimately as hollow as a marionette's head.

Cathay: 3 Tales of China consists of three smaller plays, given linkage by a pair of highly animated statues, who serve as smart-alecky Statler and Waldorf for the proceedings (and are the most human of the figures presented). The first tale is in the Tang dynasty of an eternal love overturned by duty to state, where the empress must die for the empire to live. The second tale jumps dramatically to WWII where the Japanese invaders destroy the life of a young boy. And the third takes place in a hotel in modern cosmopolitan China, with sort of a Grand Hotel vibe to it.

All of this is presented on a grand stage of sliding panels that move smoothly from one sequence to the next, and mixes all manner of puppetry. And from a technical end, it's brilliant, and got me thinking about how this form of entertainment can pull off stuff that normal theater cannot. The puppetry and staging allows quick cuts, long establishing shots, creates greater depth trough using different size puppets of the same characters, and effective camera work impossible with normal stagecraft. One scene, shown from a viewpoint of the ceiling above, top down, was particularly impressive.

The problem here, is that I found myself trying to solve the production challenges presented by the presentation as opposed to tuning into the play itself. How did they pull that off? Am I listening to a tape or a live speaker? Am I watching life shadow-puppetry or a pre-created projection? And that's the prob - I should not have the time to key in on such things. Beneath the shiny surface, the structure does not hold together, and the plot does not engage or really resolve. Both the first story and the second are resolved in the third, but don't seem to connect to each other at all. What is the underlying theme - that people suffer but the state endures? That China is always going to have its barbarians - be they mongols or rappers?

In many ways it reminded me of SF movies at the dawn of Industrial Light and Magic, where they suddenly had the power to create impressive-looking displays, but taking years for the scriptwriting to catch up (yes, some will argue that it is still an ongoing process). I cannot doubt the skill of the puppeteers - it is portrayed in every nuance. But puppetry is a cool presentation format. Not cool as in neat, but rather as in distant and removed. So without a strong base beneath it, it ultimately disappoints.

I know I saw a show. The question is whether I saw theater.

More later,

Frippery

Of course, after saying that I'm so busy, I immediately fall into someone else's meme: NikChick put this up on her board.

1. Reply with your name and I will write something random about you
2. I will then tell you what song/movie reminds me of you.
3. I will pick a flavor of jello to wrestle with you in.
4. I will say something that only makes sense to you and me.
5. I will tell you my first memory of you (or at least a prominent one).
6. I will tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I'll then ask you something that I've always wondered about you.
8. If I do this for you, you must post this on your LJ.

So I sent her my name and got back the following:

Random: Tai chi master!
Song: Istanbul Not Constantinople - They Might Be Giants
Flavor: blueberry
Say Something: "I heard this rumor layoff were happening..."
First Memory: Doing a product trade with you back in the days of Al Qadim
Animal: Cheshire cat!
Always wondered: If you had to make a total career switch that didn't involve writing or game design, what would you do?

The answer to the question is that I would run a TV newsroom, with an acerbic head writer, a lunkhead of an announcer, and an assistant producer who could turn the world on with her smile. Or I'd just be a grumpy engineer.

So I meant what I said and I said what I meant - I'm posting this on my journal. However, I still don't enable comments, but if you are a journal-keeper that I know, send me you name and I will do the same for you, and post the most amusing later.

Oh, and by the way, have I mentioned Dyvil recently?

More later,

Local Politics: Fallout

I have things to say, but no time to say them. My weekend has gone from "a good time to catch up on things" to another weekend of rushes, frustrated desires, and previous commitments. I have yet to even pass fully into Friday night and I’m already feeling the stress. But I want to do a summary of the Primary Results and throw a closed parenthesis on this part of the election process.

First off, Reagan Dunn took out Steve Hammond handily in the 9th, leaving the rural areas with no strong representation on the King County Council. Way to go! We’ve made King County government more efficient by disenfranchising a good chunk of King County! While I’m no fan of Hammond’s politics, he conceded like a gentleman and offered both his support and his advice to winner Dunn. Dunn now is favored against Shirley Gaunt-Smith, the Dem, but I don’t think it was the “dunn-deal” it would have been with Hammond.

Way over in the 1st Democratic primary, we have another nail-biter, where the margin of victory is very tight. Ferguson, who performed a strong ground game (I was moving a friend near Green Lake on Saturday and we were hit up by canvassers) took a lead, but Edmonds got strong in the mail-in votes, and while Ferguson widened the lead, it’s pretty evenly spread. No shenanigans have been alleged (in fact the Secretary of State pointed out it was a quiet election untainted by scandal, much to the frustration of his fellow Republicans).

The other close race is for who gets to run against Sue Rahr for Sheriff. Rahr took the lead spot easily, but Fuda and Schmidt are both real tight in the race for second place. I’m surprised, since I thought Fuda would do better. The Lovely Bride went for Rahr based on her political endorsements, I went for Fuda on the recommendation of his fellow officers.

Over for the King County Executive, it’s going to be Dem Ron Simms against GOP Dave Irons, as expected. The State GOP was kind of hoping for some election-related scandal to beat up Simms with in the general, but in the absence of that, they’re trying to spin that Simms victory as soft (he only got 69% of the vote in a light field). Of course, Greg Nichols race for Mayor got 56% in a race against relative unknowns, and Sue Rahr got 64%, yet no one is trying to push the idea of either one being vulnerable (indeed, the “no one can stop Nichols” vibe remains strong).

Speaking of Irons, this morning’s Seattle Times has a story that shows he’s embracing the same tactics that endeared Dino Rossi to me - approaching the issues by surrounding them on all sides. He’s apparently told one group that he is dead-set against Southwest moving from SeaTac to Boeing Field, while telling supporters of the move that he’s open to negotiations on it. And that tactic will work out fine, as long as each group doesn’t find out about the other (uh-oh).

Port Authority looks like its going to be Creighton versus Molloy, Berkowitz versus Hara, and Jolley versus Davis. The interesting one is Creighton, who I thought of as just another candidate, only to discover after the fact that he has thrown a lot of money into the campaign, won by a huge margin, and is part of the Dino Rossi/GOP/Pro-Development team. Pity you can’t tell that from just a name on the ballot. Remember that the position is non-partisan. The candidates? Not so much.

That’s the short update for the primary. Now we grind to November. I’ve already gotten a mailing for Julia Patterson (Democrat incumbent for the 5th District). Getting out there early and often apparently paid off for Dunn, and should work for Patterson as well.

Next up, we whine about initiatives!

More later,

Things To Do Today

1. Vote
2. Promote Dyvil: First Edition
3. Engage in the Memes Du Jour

You scored as Aramis. You are Aramis, the Musketeer priest. Two natures war within you: one full of high-minded ideals and the other a sensualist. Your love life is an art form, and you are a Romantic who places great importance on the perfect date. Sometimes you manipulate people and events a little too much, but your heart is good nevertheless. Aramis 70% D'Artagnan 70% Richelieu 65% Porthos 55% Edmund Dantes 50% Athos 40% Mercedes 40% Rochefort 30% Which Dumas character are you? created with QuizFarm.com

OK, I'm done. More later,

Avast, Me Hearties!

It be "Talk Like A Pirate Day", me boyos! So join me in hon'rin' the Brotherhood o' the Coast, or I'll have ye keelhauled! Ya kin get yer Pirate Name generated here - Dirty Elizabeth (better known as Scarlettina, which be a better pirate name in itself) gave me tha' link!

I be Cutthroat Badfish, but that's CAPTAIN Badfish to yah, yah landlubbers!

Yarg, yarg, yarg, ho!

Local Politics: The Jeff Recommends

No Dyvil this time. I know, you want to hear about how I'm pushing this insane idea to raise money for the Red Cross AND give you a short, fun RPG, but I'm sorry, we're into Politics at the moment.

Of course, the Politics is not that exciting at the moment. We're at a primary where most of the choices have already been made in the political posts, and the non-political positions are all top-two, which means we will likely seem the same guys in a few months from now. So there's not a lot going on.

For the Fifth District King County Commissioners, its going to be Julia Patterson versus Orin Wells. For King County Executive, its going to be Ron Sims versus David Irons. For Mayor of Seattle its going to be Greg Nickels against an empty chair. Yep, the state GOP couldn't even find a sacrificial candidate for the mayor's race. Given that Nickels has suddenly withdrawn his support for the Monorail and asked for a FIFTH public vote on the matter (managing in the process to irritate BOTH Monorail supporters and detractors at the same time), they could be bashing their GOP-foreheads against their GOP-monitors.

For Port Authority, I'm going with Shelly in Seattle's recommendations: Molloy for position 1, Coates for position 3, and Jolley for position 4, but reserve the right to revisit the matter when the dust settles.

For Sherrif, I go with Fuda by a half-point over Rahr, with the same claim to revisit later. Susan Rahr has the support of every big group involved in the Sherrif's office except one - the officers themselves, who are going for Fuda. Mind you, Fuda has the "diploma-problem" that seems to be plaguing a lot of elected and appointed officials all of a sudden, so I'm very lukewarm about this.

That about wraps it up for the votes that I have any real say in. I'm not in the 1st District for King County Commissioner (Ferguson vs. Edmonds, a nasty fight), but I lean towards Ferguson. I'd rather see a more independent voice in this area. I shan't cry in my beer if Edmonds takes it - Whoever wins the Democratic vote in the 1st will likely take the general.

The opposite is true in my old digs in the 9th, which is the Hammond-Dunn matchoff - the GOP winner is likely to take the field. And, progressive that I am, I should therefore recommend the weaker of the two candidates. So I will call it for Dunn. I think with Hammond as candidate, there is a 90% chance that the GOP will take the district. With Dunn, it drops to 75%. This is for two reasons. First, I think that supporters of Hammond, particularly in the rural areas, would rather sit out the election than go to Dunn, while Dunn supporters would settle for Hammond (this is particularly bad news for Irons, who needs those rural votes to make a credible run against Simms - a Dunn victory may make that unlikely (oddly enough, this is the conclusion of Right of Seattle a local conservative blog, and apparently the only other one covering this fight). Second, I think the odds of Dunn saying or doing something teeth-grindingly foolish in the next two months is much higher than Hammond, giving the Dems a shot at the region.

And despite the paper's claim that there is no difference between these two pro-business, conservative candidates, I have to disagree. They both favor development, but Bellevue-based Dunn is with the developers, while rural-supported Hammond is with those who lands are being developed. Dunn comes off as being in the offices, while Hammond has been on the frontline of the development curve.

So those are my calls for the Primary - It is a pretty thin field, all in all, but as it's been said: If God wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates.

More later,

The Brief (?) Update

So my weekends are starting to involve more work than my weekdays, or rather just as much, smooshed into a two-day frame. So this is brief and entirely Dvyil-oriented. (You know the drill - the write-up is here)

The news continues to spread: We got a mention from Mo of Space and Death, which in turn spread to Gamer Chicks, Chicks with Dice, and Toronto Gamers (Good Evening, Toronto! Are you Ready to Rock?!). We also got a mention on the Rpg Showcase podcast out of Wyoming. And Steve Miller started a thread on Monte Cook's board.

The hobby game industry continues to respond to the devastation of Katrina. Jason Mical has contributed both his work and his marketing skills to the charity Beyond the Storm project. And game industry founder Dave Arneson has put together a charity raffle for Hurricane relief at his local store and is willing to make himself available to help other efforts.

Yes, I know, the primary is coming up Tuesday, but I'm a little busy this week for well-researched, thoughtful endorsements. I'll make recommendation if I can, but I will point out that others, such as Shelly in Seattle, are already on the beat for their districts. Shelly also has some good general advice on endorsements in general as well.

More later,

Local Politics: The Ground Game

Note: So after spending an evening coming up with every Dyvil pun I could think of (The Dyvil Inside, Dyvil in a Blue Dress, The Dyvil Went Down to Georgia), I decided to spare readers the onslaught (The Dyvil You Say?). Instead, if you’re interested in Dyvil: First Edition and seeing me give money to the Red Cross, go here.

We have crested triple digits already in four days. Hey, I’m impressed. In the meantime, let’s talk about Yard Signs!

At this stage of the campaign yard signs are rarely found on the yards. Instead they blossom, like strange multicolored weeds, in empty lots, and along highway railings and in the no-mans-land of public roadsides. They congregate at corners, each one pushing their own candidate in a flurry of strong primary colors. Red and blue are common, but greens and aquas and maroons have also shown up.

There seem to be two varieties of this politcal weed, evolving from different types of materials in to the same evolutionary niche. The two separate species are paper on a stick and plastic on wires. In this region, the old-fashioned paper on a stick version seems to still secure, as strong breezes (and passersby) tend to shred the plastic too easily. Of the current crop at the South End, only Ron Sims has gone the wire route. Everyone else is. . . um . . . wireless.

Of the stick variety, most of the signs tend to be one color – that is, one color on a white background. Some campaigns (Sims (yellow and black), Wells (red and blue), and Fuda (yellow and green) go for a two-color approach, which shows both deeper pockets but with it a tendency to spend money of frivolities. The Reagan Dunn campaign has rolled out a four-color version - the red and blue on white of an earlier edition of the signs plus a new yellow and black starburst asking you to “retain” Reagan Dunn. Nicely attractive, and creating two levels of collectability. Needless to say, these new editions have only showed up in the northern parts of the district (where Dunn could still be considered an incumbent).

There’s an advantage in the one-color approach, however, in that you can get more signs for the campaign dollar. In addition, if you’re an incumbent, you can use the same bloody designs (and sometimes the same bloody signs) you used last time. That’s the case with Julia Patterson of my new district, the 5th. She has carpet-bombed the area that has recently been ceded to her. It’s an awareness campaign, and it's worked – even though she doesn’t have any opposition for the primary, she’s well-established for the general.

The problem, of course, with placing your signs on public property is that they can disappear as easily as they appear. People may think twice before pulling a sign off your yard (well, some people don’t, but they are usually the dead-of-night-hope-the-owners-aren’t-watching-and have-a shotgun crowd), but anything in the public areas is sort of a jump ball. On my commute, I’ve regularly seen signs appear and then disappear the next day. I’d like to think that people have just taken the signs home to plant, but I haven’t seen a lot of evidence of that, yet.

Taking political wisdom from signage is similar to figuring out who is running China from the wall posters, and about as accurate. What do I take away from my daily commutes? White with Red or Blue remains the most popular approach, with Red, White and Blue works for those that can afford it. The Patterson campaign is going to the matresses early and hard - I expect to hear a lot more from her in the future. The Dunn campaign is spending like this is the general campaign (and for all intents, it probably is - the 9th is traditionally GOP, and the parts that were changing were tossed over to the 5th). Hammond remains strong in the South and East, and his signs are usually paired with Irons for King County Executive. The off-shades for the sherrif's campaigns of both Rahr and Fuda tend to look good by themselves, but get shouted out by the strong contrasts of everybody else.

But in general? Its a quiet campaign, even for the huge about of litter along the highway barriers.

More later,

Dyvil in the Details

Are we going to be subjected to a plethora of "Dyvil" puns for the next month? It's very possible. What is going to happen is that I'm going to continue to link to the original announcement so people who come to the site can get the nitty-gritty without the reviews, reflections, and rants getting in the way.

The news is still spreading - RPG Blog gave us a shout-out, and Jon of Nothing Good Can Come of This . . . put in a plug. We also got a couple mentions in the message section of RPG.net, which also has a thread on other contributions from the hobby game industry. We're already at the stage where more people have asked for the game than I thought actually ever read this site.

Briefly, I in turn want to do a shout-out to our local paper, the Seattle Times. The organized media takes a hammering for not being as light and nimble as the web, but they have the chops to inform and instruct. In particular, they did a mighty fine job on personal disaster preparation this past weekend, and if you're in our neighborhood (and even if you're not), you should pay attention.

They also asked the question that was on my mind: We just saw the re-assignment, followed by the resignation, of the Director of FEMA, who had a spotty resume and deeply political ties. The Times went looking to see if anyone matching this description was operating locally, and found one, in the form of our own local FEMA honcho. Though according to the rival P-I, he's not a bad sort at all, and he has been studying.

I feel so much safer. You, on the other hand, may want to find out who's in your chain of command.

Oh, and on the Dyvil puns - it could be worse, I could be playing Hanson in this space until you pay me to stop.

MMMbop!

More later.

And So It Begins . . .

So yesterday, about 10:30 AM, I posted that we were giving away the Dyvil: First Edition RPG (see the post directly below) for Hurricane Relief. Go read the post, the but upshot of it all is I'm kicking in a buck to the Red Cross for every copy we give away for the next month. Steve's original posting on the matter can be found here.

At the same I posted, I wrote to my fellow Alliterates and told them of my scheme, and asked them to pass on the word. Matt Forbeck, Jason Mical, and Don Perrin, all of whom have ready access to personal sites or journals, put up short notes linking back to me. The news has also been picked up in turn by GamingReport.com, and added to their growing list of gaming professionals and companies, large to small, that are pitching in to help.

And if you want to link up and spread the word, please be my guest. You can hot link to the article by itself by clicking the little pound-marker at the lower left of the entry, so you don't have to put up with whatever-the-heck-it-is I'm ranting about at the moment.

Early responses have been surprisingly positive, and I am delighted to report that all the requests have gone to Steve and none of them to me. Woo-Hoo! The system works!

More later,

Money Where My Mouth Is

If you contact Steve Miller at nuelow@earthlink.net and put "Dyvil Roleplaying Game" in the title line, he will send you a copy of the game, and I will donate a buck for Hurricane relief. No, you're not asked to buy anything - this is one of those pledge drives things where I'm doing all the heavy lifting. You get a real short, playable RPG in pdf format and I get to see my finances drop a small notch.

Here's what happened: Steve Miller has created Steve Miller's 30-Minute RPG Challenge (also called SM-30). You write an RPG in 30 minutes. You edit it in another 30 minutes. He prints it up as a pdf file and then (usually) sells it and splits the take with you. He issued the challenge to me several months back, and I told him if I came up with a mechanic and a world concept, I'd consider it. I came up with mechanic based on all the six-siders I have around the house. And I thought up a world. So I wrote it down. Then I edited it (Well, wrote up a FAQ). And I gave it to him.

And then Katrina hit.

We first talked about doing this as a promotional thing (buy this pdf for two bucks and we'll give a dollar to the Red Cross), but I really want to get the money moving, so I'm taking this on myself. And, to be honest, this is exactly what it sounds like - an RPG written in 30 minutes. We're talking eight pages, tops, counting the donated cover art by Bradley K. McDevitt, I think giving it away for the first month makes perfect sense anyway, so I'm going to sweeten the pot - grab my RPG and I will go into the hole financially on your behalf.

In Dyvil: First Edition the war between Good and Evil is over. Good won. God rules. Unfortunately, you represent the forces of evil. Now deal with it. It's an interesting concept (Sort of a "World of Shiny-ness"), and one that actually has some potential beyond a mere 30 minutes. But I was putting it together quickly and playing it for the occasional laugh, so you get eight pages.

OK, here's the fine print - I'm springing for the first 500 copies sent out (the goal is make Jeff poorer, not make Jeff broke). Steve keeps track of discrete hits, so you can't just order a bunch of them. Its only for the next month - the offer is over on the 15th of October, 2005, and we probably will sell it (the exact same thing) thereafter. So here's your chance - you get a cheap (free) RPG and help out a decent cause. And if you're interested in Steve Miller's 30-Minute RPG or actually PLAY Dyvil and like it - go tell Steve about it.

More later,

Local Politics - Voter's Guide

But First: Mystical Forest links to leadership. Paul Kemp talks about the President's authority to act (quick version: He has it). Poppy Z. Brite has 14 of her cats rescued. Gaming cartoonist John Kovalic does a political cartoon comes up with a new product tie-in. And Lady Gumdrop's brother-in-law ships out for the Gulf. Our gulf.

But hey, let's look at the Voter's Guide for King County's primary. Here's the on-line link so you can play along

Let me pick on the cover a moment (not on the online version, thank gods), which continues the weird cartoony vibe of earlier elections, with the cartoon female pen ("Penny") darkening the holes of the pudgy, male ballot (Billy? Bally? Gimpy?). The Lovely Bride says I shouldn't fixate, but it has a weird, almost carnal feeling to it. I just keep staring at it and wondering what the next level of their relationship is and feeling shamed about it.

Add to the fact that Penny is voting for one of three office-holders (which is two more than in the majority of races inside - a cartoon pen gets more choices than we do). The candidates, in all their copyright-violating splendor are: E.T, Bambi, and Pinocchio. Now I think Bambi is the Democrat, catching that "deer in the headlights" feel. E.T. is an independent who doesn't realize he can't run because he's (wait for it) an illegal alien (thank you - I'll be here all week). And Pinocchio is the Republican. He was a Democrat, but he started carrying a pencil sharpener with him when he switched parties.

Inside, there is a "Life of your Ballot" flowchart that just begs for satire from both sides ("Step Five: Be sure to explain to the nice lawyers that you aren't dead!"). And when we get to the candidates - well, there it goes downhill a bit.

I really miss the 9th, since that's the only county race in South King that has any real passion in it. Goldy over at Horses Ass already lit into Reagan Dunn's twisted language (look for the 1 September entry) that makes it sound like Dunn was admiring terrorists and promising to bring those hard-working terrorist values to the Council. No, he doesn't mean it that way, but the Dunn campaign needs an copy editor, in case anyone out there is interested in a gig.

Hammond's statement is interesting in that he can portray himself both as the incumbent (yes, both men were originally selected for the posts they now occupy, but Hammond at least was re-elected once) and an outsider (even though he won the caucus vote). Hammond also makes a grim point - even if elected, he would be the only rural member on the council. The redistricting has pretty must pulled the teeth of the rural voters, which is a shame.

It's also a shame I don't get the mailers for Dunn and Hammond to get an idea on the ground campaign, but I have to press on into the 5th, which is much less interesting. Julia Patterson runs a pretty straight positive campaign bio ("I'm a native! I'm experienced! Like the way things are going? Good! I'm doing my job!") while Orin Wells is just a bit - odd. Here's the paragraph that raised my eyebrows:

"In 1773 the "Boston Tea Pary" was staged to protest special tax advantages the British Parliament had given to the East Indian Company, a special interest group. When representitives start passing legislation based more on pressure from special interest groups and their own policial futures than input from the citizens, it is time to make a change."

First off, its the East Indies Company. And calling them a "special interest group" is sort of like calling Microsoft or Boeing a special interest group. Which is true, but they're not normally thought of as such in the conservative playbook. Maybe Wells and Dunn are both secretly "smash the state" radicals? More likely, Mr. Wells needs an editor as well - I think the GOP can swing a group rate (author holds imaginary cell phone to his ear and silently mouths "call me!").

There is a lot on the Port Commissioners, which is a non-partisan post, so you have to read their writeups to figure out if they're really GOP or Democrat under their non-partisan labels. Those that talk about growth and opportunity tend to get developer money and are really GOP, while those that speak of jobs and the environment are part of the Blue-Green alliance and are Democrats. I believe its a "top two" runoff, so I'll worry when I get closer to the final date. You guys can read up on these on your own.

The sheriff's race consists of three cops - ET, Bambi, and ... no, no, I have that wrong. Current Sherriff Sue Rahr was Reichert's assistant and hand-picked replacement, and in many ways this election is a referendum on Reichert's last term as sheriff. Her main opponent is Sgt. Jim Fuda, who I know from the fact that he has the biggest bloody signs I have yet seen in a campaign (I mean, they show up on Google Earth maps), and Lt. Schmidt, who I will confess to knowing nothing. Its another of those "top two" races that the political parties hate when its applied to them, so we'll see two of these names again for the general.

The Kent Mayoral looks interesting, but to be honest our neighborhood around Panther Lake hasn't been swallowed up by the township yet, so like in the 9th, I am missing the ground campain. In general, it feels like a very typical and mostly lackluster primary, but of course, I'm planning on voting, if only to get an idea of the lay of the land for the November ballot. And regardless of where you are, I recommend you do the same. Because somebody has to win these things.

More later,

Big Muddy

According to Looka, the legendary Commander's Palace restaurant has been destroyed. Or it hasn't.

According to China Meiville, Six contractors were shot on a bridge in New Orleans. Or they weren't shot. Or they weren't contractors.

According to the Boing Boing, either the evacuated citizens in the Astrodome are doing well. Or they aren't doing very well at all.

FEMA is either doing a heckuva job or creating a helluva ballsup.

A murk is descending on the American South, a thick miasma of claims and counterclaims. Personal horror stories and political spin are colliding like warm air masses, creating thunderheads of indignation and frustration. A new storm is coming.

FEMA lies at the heart of the storm. There are a whole bunch of stories of volunteers and aid being turned away and resources being ignored. Foreign aid sits on the tarmacs of their home countries. We're even sending people to the wrong cities. FEMA's brass waited until after the storm hit to propose sending help, knowing it would take an addition couple days before to get the show on the road.

We haven't seen so much upper-echelon bungling since M*A*S*H went off the air.

Make your rep worse? Sure. How about leaning on Reuters to censor its reporting on the storm's deathtoll. How about trying to turn a bunch of firemen into public relations operatives, and then get snippy with them when they would rather be fighting fires. And check the last paragraph for the wincing punchline.

I don't think that we understand how huge all this is. This is bigger than just getting people out of the Superdome. We have a huge populace that drove out of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and are living in motels and with relatives and in government camps, if they're lucky. While a lot of the media attention is on New Orleans, places like Biloxi are getting kicked in the shorts by mismanagement.

Yet through it all, one voice of truth and reason shines through. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Onion.

More later (local politics for sure).

Good Ink

ICV2.com has picked up the news of the new Irrevents stories on its legendology site, and mentions yours truly by name (which is always nice). Chapter 2 is now up.

More later,

FEMA dreams

I remain deeply engaged in what is going on in the Big Easy for purely personal, and I must confess, slightly selfish, reasons. I have an active volcano in my rear-view mirror as I make my way up I-405. Deep beneath my office building, a number of faultlines cross and re-cross. The Strait of Juan de Fuca is shaped perfectly for shotgunning a tsunami into Puget Sound. So one of the reasons I don't mock those who live in hurricane- or tornado-infested areas is that I have a rather large sword suspended above my own head.

That influences what I am particularly concerned about as well as my level of concern. I am not as worried from a local or state level because the mayor of New Orleans is not the mayor I have to worry about in this situation, and the governor of Louisiana is not in my chain-of-command. I do worry about the actions of FEMA because it IS in the chain if something bad happens out here, and my presidential administration is, well, sometimes you just have to go with the president you got.

So now I am curious about Seattle's Emergency Plans. On a personal level, we stock extra water and supplies and have some basic evac plans, including a rally point outside the city limits where the Lovely Bride and I will meet up in case we have to get out of town separately. Via Making Light, Jim Macdonald talks about "go bags", which are a darn fine idea. When we first moved out here, some of my fellow designers had houses in the "15 minute zone" of Mt. St. Helens. That means that when you hear the siren, you have 15 minutes to get OUT of the 15 minute zone. Both the Lovely Bride and I grew up as fire safety was coming into common knowledge (safer near the floor, touch doors before opening, know how to get out of the house safely). And this is the same thing, on a much bigger level. As I know more about Seattle's plans, I'll pass them along. And for your part, you might want to check out with your locality as well.

Speaking of plans, China Mieville remains one of the hardest-working bloggers in the business right now, cranking and linking at high velocity. So much so that one of his most damning posts may get lost in the shuffle - the idea that New Orleans' plan (approved top to bottom by folk who are supposed to protect them - and us) was to have no plan when came to the poor and carless. This one is seriously twisted, and again, I recommend you to check out with your local authorities because, you know, your car may be in the shop when Godzilla wades ashore.

I mentioned Mieville as being unabashedly socialist, so here's an good one from the more conservative end of the spectrum, brought in from Mark Evanier's excellent site (which usually talks about old TV shows, comic books, and Garfield cartoons). Brendan Loy is a second year law student and weatherblogger who found himself covering Katrina from tropical depression to destructive force (start here and move up). Loy's cut is to the conservative side (Venezuela's Chavez is a dictator and a corrupt thug, while Pat Robertson is merely a marginal figure on the right, listened to by few - on the other hand, he pinned back the Washington State GOP's ears over their behavior during the election case). Watching the progress of the storm from depression to storm to Florida to Gulf to Louisiana to Alabama, he provides a good realtime account. Again, it told me something I did not know - that Katrina as a Category 5 lost some of itse energy when it clipped Louisiana, and was a Category 3 when it punched into Alabama and Mississipi. It is cold comfort to Biloxi - like being hit head-on by a slightly-smaller truck, and a reminder of how deadly these storms are.

I bag on Anne Rice like some people talk about Al Gore - a reflex reaction based more on public image more than any crime, real, imagined, or literary, they may have committed. Yet Ms. Rice turns in some of her best writing here. You go, girl, um, ma'am. Also, Poppy Z. Brite checks back in from the limbo that has consumed her life. She's OK, and so is her spouse, but the rest remains a huge unknown.

Cartoonist John Kovalic notes that Lou Zochi is OK, and if you ask who Lou Zochi is, he is to gaming what Fats Domino is to rock 'n roll. John also yanks an article from the New York Times with the headline "White House Enacts a Plan to Ease Political Damage". As god is my witness, I thought this was an Onion headline, and had to go to source to make sure it was real (Like so many things that have stopped me dead in my tracks, it is - its a free subscription to find out). Its good to know that administration has its priorities straight.

And in other Gaming News, John Wick is donating his month's take from his small pdf operation, Wicked Dead to the Red Cross. I think that's a great idea.

I know a lot of people are hitting overload here (and I know I am after tapping in all these links), and the more I look the more I appreciate those folk who are providing OTHER distractions and news of their lives. I'm talking about things like this, also from Jim MacDonald on Making Light, which only a writer or editor could laugh at. This crazy Internet has created its own set of de facto reporters out of whole cloth, who because of their immediacy are in turn influencing the mainstream coverage. I'm not going to link to it here, because one thing the media loves to examine and discuss is itself, and as you may have noticed, there are more important things going on. I'm going to go back local news for a few days, unless something else goes casters up.

As for you and yours, think about a go bag.

More later,

[[Editor's note - Nope, you're not dreaming - I changed the text. An alert reader pointed out I goofed on Fats Domino - his chosen genre is rock 'n roll, not jazz. Naturally I was swept up in New Orleans stereotypes. The Mgt regrets the error.]]

Ongoing

It still feels like a Shadowrun adventure, and not one of the cool ones with dragons and elves.

I've been tuning in way too much to the stories coming out of the Gulf, and trying to find the answer to the basic question - why would anyone stay? The answers seem to be as diverse as the people - poverty, responsibility, family, posessions, jobs, lack of jobs, pets, hurricane fatigue (four previous evacuations in the past two years), a faith in god or a lack of faith in government all seem to be turning up as well. And yeah, a few lunkheads and damned fools that would just sit still regardless.

But the thing it is, they were right, at least as far as the hurricane itself. I'm speaking heresy here, but most of the city weathered the hurricane itself OK. Day after Katrina hit, the media was leading with a "dodged the bullet" angle as the storm jinked at the last moment and slammed into parts of the country with less-well-known scenic attractions. And indeed, had the levee not given way, the story of the next day would have highlighted the brave souls toughing it out in the dome, but otherwise be a pretty standard story.

But the levee did give way, and all hell broke loose.

China Mieville (a review of Perdido Street Station is here), of all people, has been picking all this up on his journal, tracking how New Orleans' disaster planning was outsourced to an operation called IEM last year. News that they were awarded the contract (by FEMA), mysteriously disappeared from the company's website, then reappeared later, after its absence was noted. China's blog also covers the arrival of private security forces in town, another cyberpunky twist. Check him out, but be warned - I'm a liberal, he's a socialist, and he is a lot less forgiving.

Speaking of FEMA, the media is finally looking at its director's resume, a tale which has a Pacific Northwest origin. A local political blog, Horse's Ass (which, ahem, beat out this noble site for "best local blog" (not that I'm bitter)), had one of its regulars detail said director's last gig as a commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Association. As an idea of how well he did, well, there is no International Arabian Horse Association anymore. The weird thing is that this write-up (one of tens of thousands on the net every day) got picked up and carried and spread further and, lo and behold the story has hit the mainstream media with some serious questions being asked.

To the Interdictor, Looka and Making Light sites, add Boing Boing a techie site that normally concerns itself with filesharing, copyrights, and computer housing mods. It is carrying reports including this one from the Astrodome.

This stresses something very important here. As the immediate danger subsides and cleanup begins, we have a huge number of refugees scattered across the south. If you haven't checked out the Red Cross and other charities, go do so. Its going to be a long couple months ahead for everyone involved, and the Red Cross seems to have its act together better than the local, state, or federal authorities.

Speaking of the feds, the administration seems to have moved from "no one to blame" through "blame the victims" and have now settled on "blame the local authorities" (trust me, guys, there is more than enough blame to pass around here - you're all just going to have to wait your turn). My concern of the previous post has proved grounded - forces were put into place to help at the request of the local and state governments, but were not given permission to move out. It quickly gets murky as to why. I have this really sick sort of feeling that things were held up because someone didn't attach a cover sheet to the TPS report before sending it out.

OK, I'm all linked out. More later,

Double-Crossed

Just so you know, the Red Cross is not being allowed into New Orleans.

I saw this on one of the progressive boards before I retired last night, and hoped that it was untrue, given the horrible state in that city and the fact that people were dying in the Superdome, a supposed rally point, because of lack of supplies. Yet with this morning, I found the Red Cross had posted this FAQ, facing up to the matter. They are not being allowed into the city, as that might encourage people not to evacuate.

Its the old saying - give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Make him wait five days for a fish, and maybe he won't need that fish after all. And you save yourself a fish.

So, does this mean we shouldn't be helping because we have yet again screwed up? No. According to the Red Cross, an area of 90,000 square miles in the American Gulf is currently a disaster area. That is an area larger than that of Minnesota. As large as Pennsylvania and Ohio combined. There is a lot of misery to go around, and hopefully we can get our freaking act together before the rescue attempt kills more people than the storm itself.

And now another story is showing up on the progressive and lefty blogs off BBC Radio. Northern Command military forces were in position to help before Katrina made landfall, but could not move in until they got an OK from the White House.

Man, I hope this one is untrue.

More later,

Devastation

And when I awoke this morning New Orleans was on fire.

It just keeps getting worse. You think that it we'll touch bottom soon, push off from a firm footing deep beneath the surface, and glide back upwards to fresh air. But the bottom is made of tar and mud and old tree roots and you just keep sinking.

The engineering part of me is howling in incoherent rage. How could we let this happen? How could we cut funding to the levees? How could we let the horrors in the Superdome happen? How could we botch an evacuation so badly? When did "Run Away" become our Plan A for emergency response? If we supposedly can secure Falujah, why can't we secure the French Quarter?

The writer side of me bleeds for those affected, but has no wisdom to share. I've never been to New Orleans - it always gave me the same vibe as Vegas - a snappy, touristy heart surrounded by miles of struggling people to support it. The opulent floats of Mardi Gras have given way over the years to frat-boy binging, bare breasts, and beads. The gothiness of Anne Rice and Vampire: The Masquerade did nothing to lure me. It is only with Poppy Z. Brite's work that I finally felt myself warming to the city (the review is here. If you want to read the book, now's the time to buy it - Ms. Brite is on the lam from the hurricane, and we don't know if she still has a house anymore.

So I give you the stories of others. Shelly talks about the levees near her home of Quincy, Illinois. Mystical Forest, Bruce Cordell and Making Lighthave been picking up on the political side from other sources. Chuck Taggart is a DJ with KCSN in LA, but has his roots and heart in Louisiana, and has been keeping close tabs. A techie named Interdictor has become the eyes and ears of the web in New Orleans, broadcasting pictures from his building. He's a bit "Joe Jarhead" in a lot of his jargon, but after only two days of what his team has been through, I'd be more of a howling mess than a howling commando. Go read.

And, yes, the situation in New Orleans is dire, but there's a stretch of land for Lousiana to Florida that just isn't there anymore. Biloxi and Gulfport and half a hundred small towns, the buckle of the Bible Belt, have been blasted, often into nothing. You see and hear about New Orleans because that is where the cameras are. Go here, WLBT out of Jackson, Mississipi, for video skycopter footage of the destruction. It is horrible and sweeping and terrible and it just doesn't ever stop.

I got that last link off a Pokemon board, as the members of that community are pulling people together, checking on finding out where folk are, co-ordinating mutual support and relief efforts. All we do is these little things, knowing they cannot be enough in and of themselves, but praying that together they can staunch the rising tide of misery.

The Alliterates have restored their donation page, aimed now closer to home, and I strongly encourage others to join me in supporting the Red Cross and other legitimate entities.

The Engineer within me howls at the raw stupidity of the past week. The Writer has to press forward for both.

More later,

More PC

I must be getting old, because when I hear someone say:

"Its too early to assign any responsibility for this tragedy."
All I hear is:

"Boy, did we really screw up this time."
But then I'm just getting old.

More later,