Diablo 2

With the computer being flaky, I’m behind in computer games. I haven’t finished Diablo 2 yet. I’ve been trying to find some time to play a bit lately. I bumped up to level 31 and added another level to Natural Resistance. I then bowed to pressure from my kids and made a run for Diablo.

Apparently I’m not quite ready. Luckily, I have a spare axe/armor kit in my stash so I was able to loot my body, and had to get another set to loot my second body. The closest I got was getting him down to about about half.

I ‘m working towards level 32, maybe I’ll give it another go then or wait until 33.

I’ll let you know how it works out.

colors of the world

When I drew the world map for my mom, I did it as a favor. Also because it gave me an excuse to use my opaque projector. I certainly didn't expect anything for it.

It seems that it made enough of an impression that I got a nice thank you note from her boss as well as a gift card to Michael's. I was finally able to pick up a color wheel. I've been wanting one for a while but never got around to getting one. I almost bought a wooden manikan for drawing - to make an Eldar Titan out of but instead picked up a nice frame for the wife for her birthday. This way her signed Phantompalooza poster can be protected from our kids.

an empire of galactic portability

It’s always good to see a few locals make good. Our friend JP has been working on variations of his Galactic Empire game for a few years. It has come down to a tile version that he is going to be publishing as The Portable Galactic Empire.
Take a peek -

making a list, checking it twice

With the hopes of a game room looming in my future, I’m looking at getting back into Warhammer and 40K. I’ll probably also try to fill in some of my gaps from my role-playing games. Thanks to the internet and ebay, I can find out what I’m missing.
I just have to wait until after the renovations so I can unpack some of my boxes to confirm what I have. A lot of my RPG collection has been packed away from when I got married – over twelve years ago. I’m already getting lists ready for the West End Games Star Wars RPG as well as Twilight 2000 and Chill. I’ll have to see if I’m missing any of the D&D Gazeteers or Car Wars Road Atlases too when I can get into those boxes.

Magog Unleashed no more

I finally got a Magog to complete my Heroclix Unleashed set. This one was a long time coming. Unleashed was one of the last sets that I got when I was still buying cases. I didn’t get any of the Universe set and only a few of Ultimates and Mutant Mayhem. By the time Legacy came out, I was no longer buying Heroclix.

I stopped judging around that time. The addition of the cards – Feats and Battlefield Conditions didn’t really appeal to me. I felt it made the game much more complex than it needed to be. I didn’t mind the Bystanders though – they were similar to the figures from Crimson Skies. The objects were also okay.

I didn’t get back into Heroclix until I ran across Icons on sale while in the States. Since it was a smaller set, I picked up some. I then got into it again starting with Supernova and carrying through the Heralds of Galactus and Slaves of Starro events. I tend to skip buying DC in bricks though – I didn’t get many Arkham or Crisis.

Since the future of Heroclix itself is still in flux, I’m whittling away at my need list. I’ve also got a case of Horrorclix Nightmares supposedly making it’s happy way to me.
With catching up on my Heroclix figures, I’ll still have a few Horrorclix (notably the Freakshow set) and Starship Troopers figures to get, but both of those are finite lists.

Monsterpocalypse

Prior to May, I had two starters, a monster booster, and a unit booster from the Rise set. We had finally played three weekends ago. It’s a bit to wrap your head around but seems to flow pretty well once you get used to it. We didn’t get to play with all the extra abilities and such – just the basic rules for now. We really should get a few more buildings.

I got 2 Monster boosters and 3 Unit boosters of the new I Chomp NY two weekends ago at FCBD. It seems like it should be pretty good to get into.

Yesterday my Mega Sky Sentinel promo showed up at my local comic store. Now I just need to get a regular Sky Sentinel to play it with.

Books read 2009 Jan through April

Jan 09
The Maker of Dune by Frank Herbert
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling
Railway Modelling The Realistic Way by Iain Rice
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Photography Essentials by Mark Jenkinson
Walt Disney's Bambi: the Story and the Film by Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas
How to Build Realistic Model Railroad Scenery by Dave Frary
Warhammer General’s Compendium by Eric Sarlin and Jeremy Vetock
The Mad Scientist’s Handbook by Joey Green
The Mad Scientist’s Handbook 2 by Joey Green
Good Design Can Change Your Life: Beautiful Rooms, Inspiring Stories by Ty Pennington
Art Deco by Bevis Hillier

Feb
Compendium Modelling Manual: Basic Aviation Modelling edited by Jerry Scutts
Osprey Masterclass Armour Modelling by John Prigent
The Art of Being a Wolf by Anne Menatory
Gone With The Wind: The definitive illustrated history of the book, the movie, and the legend by Herb Bridges and Terryl C. Boodman
Bike, Scooter, and Chopper Projects for the Evil Genius by Brad Graham and Kathy McGowan.
40K 3rd edition
Chapter Approved 2

Mar
Military Vehicle Modelling by Phil Greenwood
The Complete Compost Gardening Guide by Barbara Pleasant & Deborah Martin
The Encyclopedia of Military Modelling edited by Vic Smeed & Alec Gee
Modelling Miniature Figures edited by Bruce Quarrie
The Art of the Model Soldier by Graham Dixey
The Best of Instructables Volume 1 by the editors of MAKE magazine and Instructables
Make: The Best of Make by the editors of Make
The Complete Guide to a Green Home by Philip Schmidt
The Numerati by Steven Baker

Apr
Teen Zone: Stylish Living for Teens by Judith Wilson
The Science of Star Wars by Jeanne Cavelos
Mythbusters – the explosive truth behind 30 of the most perplexing urban legends of all time by Keith and Kent Zimmerman with Jamie Hyneman, Adam Savage, and Peter Rees
Everything I know about business I learned at McDonald’s by Paul Facella with Adina Genn
Cthulhu Live Delta Green by Robert H McLaughlin
Mascot to the Rescue by Peter David
Archery for All by Daniel Roberts
Rick Mercer Report: the Book by Rick Mercer
Habitat for Humanity: How to Build a House by Larry Haun

Falling deeper behind in painting

In March I had bought some Treehouse Aliens Swarm figures - 2 Aliens, 3 Marines so my March total is - figures bought 5, figures painted 0.

In April I picked up a Folker EIII for Canvas Eagles and some 1/72 cowboys (30 figures in pack) for The Rules With No Name so my April total is – figures bought 31, figures painted 0.

If I don't start getting some painting done soon, I may be digging a big hole too large for me to fill. Luckily, my Heroclix/Horrorclix and Monsterpocalypse figures are prepainted.

Running total 2009 - figures bought 86, figures painted 0 - Apr

FCBD - post game

We did partake in the Free Comic Book Day on Saturday. We only went to 2 stores this year – Galaxy comics and Comics Factory IV.

We didn’t make it over to Comics America this year. Last year they were pretty sticky about only 1 comic per person so we didn’t bother.

We went to Galaxy first. They usually do 1 comic per adult and 2 comics per child so that’s much better. Plus I picked some Monsterpocalypse boosters from the new I Chomp NY set to get the Shadow Shinobi Unit.

Then we went to Comic Factory IV. Jarett’s always pretty good about FCBD comics – as long as you don’t go crazy, he’s pretty soft about limits. Plus, he usually has a bunch of stuff on sale. We picked up a bunch of mini-graphic novels and I got the Marvel Universe RPG and the Hulk/Avengers book for $2 each.

All-in-all, another sucessful year.

Hini - it's going to be a thing

There is a new flu strain out from Mexico that may prove to be the one we have been warned of lately. It's not an avian flu from Asia as was touted but rather a porcine variant from here in North America. We've been back and forth over the severity and whether is is just a normal flu variant or whether it might be a full blown movie-level pandemic.

Due to lobbying from the Pork industry, the Swine Flu potential pandemic is now being referred to by the CDC name - H1N1. It seems that by referring to it by Swine Flu it was affecting their prices of the meat.

Since it would apparently be wrong to refer to it as the Mexican Flu (even though it is being compared to the Spanish Flu following World War 1) we have to come up with a new name.

H1N1 doesn't really roll off the tongue though. I propose we refer to it as 'HINI' or HI'-nee. It also helps to cutesify it up should it prove to be as much of a deadly event as is being reported.