What I've been up to and an idea I had


So I've been up to lots of work. We hit our content complete deadline and have kept on chugging. The game is steadily improving and we're getting lots of little tweaks in now that help immensely. If anyone wants to give it a whirl with the understanding it is indeed an alpha test with no tutorial currently let me know.

Freelance writing has taken off like a shot lately. I've been doing some work for One Bad Egg, set up by Fred Hicks (of Spirit of the Century fame) and my old comrade Justin Jacobson (who runs Blue Devil Games). So far it's been lots of 4E flavor text, but it's been fun. I also did a 4E race writeup for Louis Porter Jr., but it didn't go as smoothly. On top of that I've got the big Shadows of Azathoth project for Paradigm Concepts due in a few months, and that should be way fun. It's still at the intimidating phase, but I'm making planning headway even if my wordcount isn't great.

Due to folks from the day job finding me in various places in the internet (not that I try to hide much) I've been keeping the personal chatter on here pretty low. To keep distant folks apprised I've been seeing a girl up here named Lindsay for about a year (I didn't mention it for awhile because the last woman I dated, the wonderful and intelligent chinook_wind, shares the same name and I thought it might come across as creepy) and it seems to be going well. As mentioned previously we're looking to fineagle a way to move in together despite our pets not getting along. Two weeks ago I went out to California to meet her family for her parents 40th anniversary party, and that was fun. It was odd though, as we were staying with her sister and didn't have a car of our own, so it was like living on the goodwill of her family. It just wasn't comfortable for me, and the vacation was about 3 days too long to boot. Fun overall, but if I were to do it again I would do things differently.

I came back from California to find we had skipped early fall and gone straight to late fall. The temperature change seems to have affected my mood something fierce as I have been pretty negative lately. Any display of passion or excitement for something gets sort of a "How can you get so excited about that?" from me, no matter the inspiration of the passion. Election, video games, whatever. Trying to get out of this as quickly as possible, but as aetatis has pointed out I do this pretty much every year and it lasts for a month or two.

Should be at KG next weekend. I'm going to have to spend a good part of the time on the laptop working, but should get some playtime in.





So I tend to associate songs with people, either because the song reminds me of them thematically or I experienced something of importance with that person while the song was playing. By and large their positive or at least interesting associations, and the one time I mentioned one last week to mistervimes he seemed flattered. So figured I would do a list on here. Not everyone on my friends list has a song, but I figure it's enough to make it interesting.

Basically I figure I'll list the LJ name, the song title and artist, relevant lyrics, and why.

aetatis
When I was a Boy - Dar Williams

I won't forget when Peter Pan
Came to my house, took my hand
I said I was a boy, I'm glad he didn't check
I learned to fly, I learned to fight
I lived a whole life in one night
We saved each other's lives out on the pirate's deck

And I remember that night
When I'm leaving a late night with some friends
And I hear somebody tell me it's not safe
Someone should help me
I need to find a nice man to walk me home

When I was a boy, I scared the pants off of my mom
Climbed what I could climb upon
And I don't know how I survived
I guess I knew the tricks that all boys knew
And you can walk me home, but I was a boy, too

This song really just embodies what I imagine aetatis was like as a kid; all adventure and stuff in the face of a society that expects a pretty pretty princess. Also she introduced me to Dar Williams in the first place and I will always remember hearing this song for the first time on our drive from Atlanta to NYC somewhere around Maryland.

arcstone
Devil's Airship by Pinataland
I'm leaving tonight, and you're coming with me
Electric arc lamp, lighter than air
I'm feeling fine, on this devil's airship
We'll buzz this town, see what makes them tick

This song is by a band that uses fragments of audio recordings from the early 20th century as inspiration, and this one specifically is about the UFO/Airship scare of 1902. It's got sort of a melancholy steampunk vibe, which just reminded me of arcstone.

shieldhaven
What do you do with a BA in English? from Avenue Q
What do you do with a B.A. in English,
What is my life going to be?
Four years of college and plenty of knowledge,
Have earned me this useless degree.

I can't pay the bills yet,
'Cause I have no skills yet,
The world is a big scary place.

But somehow I can't shake,
The feeling I might make,
A difference,
To the human race.

The answer to the eternal question, what do you do with a BA a in English has been answered for shieldhaven: you work for me.

goblinkatie
I Want to be Evil by Chiwetel Ejiofor (played the Operative in Serenity)
I wanna be evil, and trump an ace,
Just to see my partner's face.
I wanna be nasty, I wanna be cruel
I wanna be daring, I wanna shoot pool

And in the theatre
I want to change my seat
Just so I can step on
Everybody's feet

I wanna be evil, I wanna hurt flies
I wanna sing songs like the guy who cries
I wanna be horrid, I wanna drink booze
And whatever I've got I'm eager to lose

I wanna be evil, little evil me
Just as mean and evil as I can be

Originally this was peformed by Eartha Kitt, but the version I am familiar with is from the movie Kinky Boots, where Ejiofor plays a drag queen who helps a shoe factory survive by making shoes for drag queens. Really it reminds me of goblinkatie for nothing to do with the movie, but the utter and complete glee she takes in playing villains at larps.

birdofparadox
Flinty Kind of Woman by Dar Williams
It's a small town life and I like it
'Cause the bad don't get in your way
There's an angry God gonna strike it
Yeah, that's what we pay him for, that's why we pray
Well I guess the angry God he was a-fishing
When Molly called me up with the news
Within the space of a week
Yeah, a pervert or a sex freak
Let the kids take a peek
That's more than a little cheek
No pun intended

Ay-yi-yipee-yipee-yi-yi-ay
Going east of Mississippi got a flinty kind of woman
And you don't act smart and you don't touch my children
If the young man wants to see the sun go down

Well there was no time fooling with the trifles
So there was no use in telling the men
They would just go running for their rifles
And then once you got him couldn't get him again
So Peg got a bolt of fishing tackle
And Marge got her gardening clips
And Sally LaBiche put her hound on a leash
And the timer on the quiche, she's kind of nouveau riche
But we like her

Ay-yi-yipee-yipee-yi-yi-ay
Going east of Mississippi got a flinty kind of woman
And you don't act fresh and you don't touch my children
If the young man wants to see the sun go down

It was the kids who spotted him a running
As we drove through the harbor fog
And that's when we got our engines gunning
'Cause we knew he was headed for the cranberry bog
We got our hip-high rubber boots strapped on
And Molly got the big flashlights out
And by the "Welcome to New England" sign
Got him with the fishing line
In the dark smell of brine
Betty said "This one is mine."
She is ruthless

Ay-yi-yipee-yipee-yi-yi-ay
Going east of Mississippi got a flinty kind of woman
And you just say no and you don't touch my children
If the young man wants to see the sun go down

Well we didn't have to drag him and a-jail him
'Cause you don't have to take it so far
When your roots go back to Old Salem
And you've got a local chapter of the DAR
Now I don't go tooting on my lobsters
'Cause your pride doesn't go with your plaid
But it's a victory won and it couldn't be done
By the hippy-dippy flaky-shaky fun-in-the-sun
Braless wonders

Ay-yi-yipee-yipee-yi-yi-ay
Going east of Mississippi got a flinty kind of woman
And you know your place and you don't touch my children
If the young man wants to see the sun go down
If the young man wants to see the sun go down

I could totally see birdofparadox leading an angry mob. And it mentions Mississippi, which is where she lives.

rainsdance
As Cool as I Am by Dar Williams

So now were at a club, you watch the woman dancing, she is drunk,
She is smiling and shes falling in a slow, descending funk,
And the whole bar is loud and proud and everybodys trying, yeah.
You play the artist, saying, is it how she moves, or how she looks?
I say, its loneliness suspended to our own like grappling hooks,
And as long as shes got noise, shes fine.
But I could teach her how I learned to dance when the musics ended,

Originally this reminded me of Rain because it mentioned dancing, but recently it may have become more appropriate as Rain seems to be having a lot more fun now that her music had ended.

suibhne
And so I'm standing there and I do not move
In spite of her momentous groove
And for a moment I can barely see
A glimpse of how good it could be
And then I must admit that I want to try
To look felicia in the eye
And when the music starts to play
To smile at her and say

Come on and dance with me felicia
And show me how to do that step I never thought I could
You always move so gracefully
And I was never any good
But maybe if you'll dance with me
I'd feel as nimble as a cheetah felicia
The momentary soaring of an eagle would be me
Come on felicia set me free
And when you start to close your eyes
You know you move so beautifully
I want to dance with you come on and dance with me felicia

Suibhne is an incredibly dancer. As someone who has absolutely no talent (possibly negative talent, I think I make other people worse by being in the room) in that direction, I am constantly amazed by it.

tha_monster
1,000 Miles by the Proclaimers

When I wake up yeah I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you
When I go out yeah I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you

If I get drunk yes I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you
And if I haver yeah I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's havering to you

But I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walked 1000 miles
To fall down at your door

This is totally due to the time he sang it at SI. That was awesome. I'm a Little Teapot is a close second.

lilisonna, lightbearer, and outlawcoon
Hungry Like the Wolf as recorded by Reel Big Fish
In touch with the ground
Im on the hunt Im after you
Scent and a sound, Im lost and Im found
And Im hungry like the wolf
Strut on a line, its discord and rhyme
I howl and I whine Im after you
Mouth is alive all running inside
And Im hungry like the wolf

This is totally because of their KG characters.

chinook_wind
I'm Shipping Off to Boston by the Dropkick Murphys

This is the first song by the Dropkick Murphys she played for me on the way to see a movie or some such and I was blown away. Pretty much anything by the Dropkick Murphys reminds me of her.

mystech
The Bandit's Song
Oh I am a Rover, I roam the land over,
and I'll never settle until I get caught.
From village to township my sword hangs at my hip, an'
you'll never catch me I'll always be sought.

We hold the highways and we hold the hills
steal your silver make off with your tills
call down your kinsmen - we quicken our pace
Drive hard for the forest we live for the chase!

A knave so beguiling that while your still smiling
before you know it I've got all your gold.
And I am so dashing I'll escape the thrashing
so damnably vexing I'll live till I'm old.

We have the forest and we have the moors,
rustle your cattle and take what is yours.
Call the High Sheriff we couldn't care less!
Torture us gladly we'll never confess!

Partly due to an early KG character concept, partly because I think he's the one who introduced me to the song, and partly because it just seems to to fit him.

colinmcl
Pluto by 2 Skinnee J's

With depravity,
I break lots of gravity
Blast past the atmosphere
to the last frontier
I go boldly through space and time
The sky's the limit,
but they're limiting the sky
I break orbit by habit,
I ignite satellites and leave rings round the planets
A flying ace like that beagle,
nevertheless this alien remains illegal
Cause their discovery dont cover me
the immigrants been left in the cold
to grow old
and disintegrate
Discriminate
against the distant and disclaimers,
Cause small minds can't see past Uranus
When I shun their race
cause that's just a phase
and my odyssey runs in 2001 ways
And I can see clearly now like Hubbell
shoved off the shuttle,
here's my rebuttal
It's a planet.

He introduced me to 2 SKinnee J's back at Photobooks, which was my first exposure to nerdcore.

milikihaha
Batman by Bob Schneider

I am batman but you can call me Bob
And when I see the boy wonder I say yo rob
I used to wear a cape and do the leotard bit
But now I wear all serious because I don’t give a shit
I used to bust my butt all day fighting crime
But now I rock the house when I say my rhyme
I turn the whole damn house into a crazy mob
Because I’m batman but you can call me Bob

If milikihaha were Batman, he would so be this Batman.

technoir
Comfort Eagle by Cake

He is handling the money
He's serving the food
He knows about your party
He is calling you "DUDE!"

Now do you believe
In the one big sign
The doublewide shine
On the bootheels of your prime

Doesn't matter if you're skinny
Doesn't matter if you're fat
You can dress up like a sultan
In your onion head hat

We are building a religion
We are making a brand
We're the only ones to turn to
When your castles turn to sand

This harkens back to SI where technoir played the Sultan of the Genies for me. Also a lot of Johnny Cash reminds me of him.

rdansky
Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash (it's remake, not sure who did the original)

You wired me awake
And hit me with a hand of broken nails
You tied my lead and pulled my chain
To watch my blood begin to boil

But I'm gonna break
I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run (*2)

Too cold to start a fire
I'm burning diesel, burning dinosaur bones
I'll take the river down to still water
And ride a pack of dogs

I'm gonna break
I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run (*2)

rdansky first introduced me to Johnny Cash with this song and opened a whole other world of music to me.

loresinger
Flash by Queen

Flash a-ah
Savior of the Universe
Flash
He save everyone of us
Flash
He's a miracle
Flash
King of the impossible

Well, she talks about Ming a lot. Obviously the Tenpenny Traveler stuff too, but that's too easy.


And the one that started it:
mistervimes
Don't Mess with Me by Temposhark

How it all began
If truth to be told
Had a master plan
Now I rule the world

Took 'em by surprise
Worked my way up hill
They looked into my eyes
I became invincible

No one can stop me for only I am in control
If you want me you'd better contact my people

mistervimes is fairly supervillain-esque, and he references being invincible a lot.

I figure that's good for now. I can always post more if I think of them.