Gaming, Literature, and Scotch Whisky
I think I said a while ago that it was not my intention to turn this into a blog about Scotch Whisky, but looking back at recent posts, that is what seems to have happened. So, let's take a minor detour and slowly expand the topics I cover to include my other hobbies: literature, films, and gaming (rpgs, board games, and the occasional video game).
Literature: between 2007 and 2010 I kept careful track of the books I read, and noted which were good and which weren't so good, and posted lists of them on this blog...then I stopped. Possibly because I got very busy with school work and when my MA was finished I didn't want to see another book (not sure how this explanation is compatible with my having to read game rule books, adventures, etc., in order to function in my role as GM, but who knows, maybe my brain treated them as two distinctly different things). I think there are still some posts regarding my annual reading lists that are waiting in limbo, such as my take on all things Twilight, a subject that was brought up again at the St. Clynelish's Day Celebration (although I didn't write about that discussion in my summary of the event).
As I mentioned in my last post, I am currently reading The Hunger Games. Well, not exactly, as I'm finished now, and all I can say is 'meh'. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good, either. The first book was the best of the three, and even then it was only passable. Yes, I know that it is written for young audiences, so the themes aren't overly complex (and have been done better by other people), but it is way better than Twilight (but not as good as the Harry Potter series, regardless of what some people say). My apologies to those who haven't read it yet, but what follows may contain some spoilers....
Perhaps my biggest problem with the series is the almost total lack of agency on the part of Katniss; other than volunteering as tribute to replace her sister, and despite the overtly political actions she makes in the Games in the first book, she makes virtually no decisions about her political future. Instead, she lets the Capitol and District Thirteen move her around like a pawn (and all her 'meaningful' actions are really directed by self-interest, as opposed to an interest in the welfare of the people, regardless of what the author intended). Oh, and the writing is sometimes so poor that I can't figure out what the hell is going on. I understand that the author was attempting a sort of first-person narrative, and that some things would be confusing (especially in the heat of battle), but I had a hard time visualizing many of the action sequences and understanding exactly what was happening...and part of my job involves making sense of things that are often extremely (and in many cases, deliberately) confusing, which means if I can't figure out what is going on, its likely that others are having a hard time too.
Gaming: we have a large wooden chest filled with board games and card games, and several shelves filled with rule books and supplements for various role-playing systems (all the way back to some of the original D&D box sets, plus 1st and 2nd ed A&D, d20 Modern, some D&D 3.0 and 3.5, Mekton Zeta, Cyberpunk, the old d6 Star Wars, various White Wolf settings, etc., etc.), so needless to say, we do a lot of gaming. I am currently runing two different sessions using the d20 Dynamic Gaming System designed by Third Eye Games: one set in Garth Nix's Old Kingdom, and the other set in a home-made world that started as a generic fantasy setting (created by mapping together a lot of old TSR adventures that were set in unknown, 'generic' worlds), but has since aged into a more modern, semi-futuristic world (I think the proper term is 'Urban Fantasy'). This second game, in which the players are employees of an agency which investigates and suppresses supernatural creatures and events, is heavily influenced by Charles Stross' The Laundry Files (which has been adapted into a Call of Cthulhu setting by Cubicle 7 Games). On the table-top gaming side we've got RISK (various iterations, my favourite of which being Castle RISK), The War on Terror, Zombies!, Gold Mine, Army of Frogs, Munchkin (various iterations), Arkham Horror, and many, many others.
Films: hmmm...can't say that we actually get out to watch many movies these days: the last movie we saw in theatre was Tintin (which was good!). We tend to catch most things on dvd lately, and even then we are several months behind in terms of 'new' movies. For example, we finally watched Captain America on Sunday night; we had no expectations going in and quite enjoyed it...other than that, I'm not sure what I can say about films, although we are planning to catch The Hunger Games over the Easter Weekend (when Meg's parents can babysit for us).
So, wrapping up, future posts will (hopefully) revolve about expanding on these subjects, in addition to discussing single malt whisky and food (Coming Up Next Week: Auchentoshan Three Wood and Christmas Toffee Cake!).
Literature: between 2007 and 2010 I kept careful track of the books I read, and noted which were good and which weren't so good, and posted lists of them on this blog...then I stopped. Possibly because I got very busy with school work and when my MA was finished I didn't want to see another book (not sure how this explanation is compatible with my having to read game rule books, adventures, etc., in order to function in my role as GM, but who knows, maybe my brain treated them as two distinctly different things). I think there are still some posts regarding my annual reading lists that are waiting in limbo, such as my take on all things Twilight, a subject that was brought up again at the St. Clynelish's Day Celebration (although I didn't write about that discussion in my summary of the event).
As I mentioned in my last post, I am currently reading The Hunger Games. Well, not exactly, as I'm finished now, and all I can say is 'meh'. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good, either. The first book was the best of the three, and even then it was only passable. Yes, I know that it is written for young audiences, so the themes aren't overly complex (and have been done better by other people), but it is way better than Twilight (but not as good as the Harry Potter series, regardless of what some people say). My apologies to those who haven't read it yet, but what follows may contain some spoilers....
Perhaps my biggest problem with the series is the almost total lack of agency on the part of Katniss; other than volunteering as tribute to replace her sister, and despite the overtly political actions she makes in the Games in the first book, she makes virtually no decisions about her political future. Instead, she lets the Capitol and District Thirteen move her around like a pawn (and all her 'meaningful' actions are really directed by self-interest, as opposed to an interest in the welfare of the people, regardless of what the author intended). Oh, and the writing is sometimes so poor that I can't figure out what the hell is going on. I understand that the author was attempting a sort of first-person narrative, and that some things would be confusing (especially in the heat of battle), but I had a hard time visualizing many of the action sequences and understanding exactly what was happening...and part of my job involves making sense of things that are often extremely (and in many cases, deliberately) confusing, which means if I can't figure out what is going on, its likely that others are having a hard time too.
Gaming: we have a large wooden chest filled with board games and card games, and several shelves filled with rule books and supplements for various role-playing systems (all the way back to some of the original D&D box sets, plus 1st and 2nd ed A&D, d20 Modern, some D&D 3.0 and 3.5, Mekton Zeta, Cyberpunk, the old d6 Star Wars, various White Wolf settings, etc., etc.), so needless to say, we do a lot of gaming. I am currently runing two different sessions using the d20 Dynamic Gaming System designed by Third Eye Games: one set in Garth Nix's Old Kingdom, and the other set in a home-made world that started as a generic fantasy setting (created by mapping together a lot of old TSR adventures that were set in unknown, 'generic' worlds), but has since aged into a more modern, semi-futuristic world (I think the proper term is 'Urban Fantasy'). This second game, in which the players are employees of an agency which investigates and suppresses supernatural creatures and events, is heavily influenced by Charles Stross' The Laundry Files (which has been adapted into a Call of Cthulhu setting by Cubicle 7 Games). On the table-top gaming side we've got RISK (various iterations, my favourite of which being Castle RISK), The War on Terror, Zombies!, Gold Mine, Army of Frogs, Munchkin (various iterations), Arkham Horror, and many, many others.
Films: hmmm...can't say that we actually get out to watch many movies these days: the last movie we saw in theatre was Tintin (which was good!). We tend to catch most things on dvd lately, and even then we are several months behind in terms of 'new' movies. For example, we finally watched Captain America on Sunday night; we had no expectations going in and quite enjoyed it...other than that, I'm not sure what I can say about films, although we are planning to catch The Hunger Games over the Easter Weekend (when Meg's parents can babysit for us).
So, wrapping up, future posts will (hopefully) revolve about expanding on these subjects, in addition to discussing single malt whisky and food (Coming Up Next Week: Auchentoshan Three Wood and Christmas Toffee Cake!).