Go Play NW 2008, May 31 - June 1

Go Play NW 2008 pre-registration is almost done!

Go Play NW 2008 is our home-grown role-playing game convention. This year it's going to be held at the Watertown Hotel in Seattle's University District, May 31 - June 1. You can find out more and register at the Wiki.

Last year we used an ad-hoc game sign up system where people simply showed up, offered games, found players, and played. This year we're going to try having a bit more structure, with a mix of pre-scehduled games you can sign up for and ad-hoc gaming on site.

Bing Bang Boing

When I was a kid, my brother and I would scour garage sales for awesome-crappy games to play. One of th games we found was probably an add on for this early 70's "expandable action game", Bing Bang Boing:

Link courtesy of Boing Boing

My family in LEGO

This is the family in LEGO:


My wife made this picture using the Mini-Mizer and Microsoft Publisher. I overheard my daughter say, "Can I have a lightsaber in my hand?"

My wife replied, "No, I want you to wait until you're a little older. Lightsabers are dangerous." So, my daughter is holding green chalk in one hand and a volleyball in the other.

The Three Waves of William Gibson

I finished Spook Country, but I never did a follow up post. A friend of mine said she thinks that William Gibson only has two books to write. That kind of stuck in my head. It might be true. Yet there is something to be learned in the three waves of William Gibson.

First I confess that this wonderful theory is partially cribbed from a friend who excells in the creation of startling literary theories.

There are three waves of William Gibson. In the first wave, he wrote of a dystopian fantastical future where losers alienated from the world and themselves by technology find a way to fight back and come to terms with what they've become. It's set solidly in the 1960's sci-fi aesthetic where technology is potentially monstrous and certainly not to be trusted.

In the second wave, technology is fun and inspires something akin to awe. We call this the "Microsoft wave". It's where we forget that technology can't be trusted.

In the third wave, we return to the dystopian world, but we retain our sense of awe at technology. The world is our present day.

Now that I've written it out, I'm not as satisfied by this theory as I was.

So in conclusion, Spook Country is very good; quite possibly Gibson's best yet. It approaches not only technology, but our current social political situation with a mix of suspicion and awe at this amazing thing that apparently we've made, but do not fully understand.

Independent Insurgency Podcast

I get wicked kudos on the Independent Insurgency podcast from Vincent Baker. When I finally meet Vincnet Baker in person, I'm going to make it my mission to tie him down and force him to take at least some of the credit for the game that he designed and published. :)

Spooks, William Gibson

Today I am reading William Gibson's Spook Country. I'm on page 45. There's a powerful and frightening idea on this page.

Aljandro looked over his knees. "Carlito said there is war in America."
"A war?"
"A civil war."
"There is no war in America."
"When grandfather helped found the DGI, in Havana, were the Americans at war with the Russians?"
"That was the 'cold war'."
Alejandro nodded, his hands coming up to grip his knees. "A cold civil war."

I am full of anticipation and a little fear to see this idea develop on the page.

Federalist 51 to the Rescue

Yesterday I wondered where Al was going. The answer is, delightfully, Federalist paper 51. To quote Al:

The "auxiliary precautions" he [Madison] had in mind were the checks and balances that our Founders use in their design of the Constitution in order to prevent the unhealthy concentration of too much power in the hands of a few--and thereby to force those in authority to justify their views to one another by applying the rule of reason. When those in power are forced into a process of deliberation, then and only then will reason play its necessary central role. The separation of powers and the system of checks and balances are therefore essential to create the virtual space within which reason operates in American democracy.

I'm not one of those guys who can quote the Federalists chapter and verse, but I do remember this much from my College political science courses: it is not reason, faith, or even institutions which capture the unique character of the American founding, but deliberation. For me, this is where Gore wins the prize. The Assault on Reason is at time a polemic against President Bush, but contains, nonetheless, plenty of intelligent analysis and insight.

For this, I'll call Al a hero.