Personal

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A thing of power

Published May 21, 2012

D20 in the sun

Taken this weekend in mid-roleplaying session. I wasn’t even using the die, it just looked good in the light.

Very happy with how this turned out considering it was off my cameraphone.

Posted in Gamey, Personal, Roleplaying | Tagged ,

Comic-Con 2010 talks to Comic-Con 2003

Published July 25, 2010

I’m in San Diego airport, a little too early for my (mercifully brief) flight back to San Francisco, and I should be writing. I have things to write. But my brain feels half-functional. And this blog needs a post, occasionally.

Comic-Con 2010. Woah.

I last hit Comic-Con in 2003, and every time this week that I said “I was last here seven years ago” I felt like it was a huge gulf. Not much has actually changed about Comic-Con in that time, to be honest; it’s still huge, and the same sort of stuff is still being shown. On the other hand, an awful lot has changed about me in seven years. I started to wonder what 2003 me would think of 2010 me. Y’know, if they could have a conversation. Considering the amount of sci-fi entertainment media on display at Comic-Con, and the amount of geeks willing crazy stuff into existence during the show, it doesn’t seem impossible.

What’s up, 2010?

Nothin’. Sitting in the airport, drinkin’ a… actually I’m not drinking. Just finished the Con. Heading home to San Francisco. I live there now. Well, near there anyway.

Wow! Really? That’s great. How was the Con? Cool, right?… Continue reading →

Posted in Nerd Alert, Personal

Scoring 2009

Published December 21, 2009

 

I guess one of the advantages of not going out on New Year’s Eve is that you get a chance to write that year-specific blog post… and no, it’s not 2010 yet, at least not by my watch!

Back in January I threw out a few predictions for the year. I’m sure if I could open a hole in time, stick my head through and say to my almost-a-year-younger self “By the time you look back at this post, you’ll be living in the US, in a job you don’t even know exists yet – oh and most of your predictions will be wrong…” Well I’d probably be half-surprised.

Let’s score me then – feel free to refresh your memory with the original post, although the important stuff is here anyway.

Continue reading →

Posted in MMO-related, Personal

A million, billion, Gazillion (ahem) possibilities

Published October 16, 2009

Today was my last official day working for Trion World Network. On Monday, I start a new job as Community Director for Gazillion Entertainment.

Yes, that Gazillion Entertainment; the company I called ‘the new 800lb gorilla‘ when they de-cloaked back in March, and who are working on a variety of MMOGs, including two based on Marvel Comics.

Not so surprised now, are ya?

Yes, I’ll admit that when Gazillion’s acquisition of the Marvel licence was announced, my interest was very definitely piqued, if that wasn’t obvious. What really got me intrigued was that they had acquired NetDevil, a development team who I’ve been a fan of since we worked together on Auto Assault. I made some enquiries, heard some pleasing noises, and six months later… here we are. Continue reading →

Posted in Jobsworth, MMO-related, Personal

Tagline is back, baby.

Published September 7, 2009

On the off-chance that people who check in here don’t stalk me on Twitter or similar, I wanted to mention that Tagline, the on-again, off-again movie podcast that I do with my brother Alistair, is back ‘on the air’.

We’ve recorded two episodes recently (#28 and #29) which are both online now, and actually just did show #30 this evening, which will be online later this week.

In case you’ve never heard it, it’s 30-minutes or so (when we run to time) about movies, which we both know far too much about. That is, when we don’t forget names of movies, actors, actresses, directors, plots… ahem. We try to be funny. Perhaps that was an example of humour?

Anyway, take a listen if you like. I’m also still guesting on John’s Limited Edition podcast, which has a new format now, so feel free to check that out too. Oh and feel free to let me know your thoughts on either.

Posted in Personal | Tagged ,

Up early again

Published August 6, 2009

But then I probably haven’t changed the date and time in this thing, so it’ll look like I was writing this in the middle of the work day. Hmm.

Yesterday being awake early apparently spurred me to play Boy Philosopher, for some reason. As you can tell, a life-changing event like emigration can turn the most reasonable of men (yes, me) into some sort of navel-gazing fluffhunter. However, today, let me give you the right answer for the rorschach test; you know, the one you spout at parties.

We’re both fine, and settling in, just about. Continue reading →

Posted in Personal | Tagged , ,

Up early again

Published August 6, 2009

But then I probably haven’t changed the date and time in this thing, so it’ll look like I was writing this in the middle of the work day. Hmm.

Yesterday being awake early apparently spurred me to play Boy Philosopher, for some reason. As you can tell, a life-changing event like emigration can turn the most reasonable of men (yes, me) into some sort of navel-gazing fluffhunter. However, today, let me give you the right answer for the rorschach test; you know, the one you spout at parties.

We’re both fine, and settling in, just about.

Ahem…

Well yes I could go into a lot more detail than that, but there’s a limit to what I’ll say on an open page. I will say that we’ve almost done everything we knew we were going to need to do before we left, and now we’re down to discovering things that are all-new. By that I mean we’ve moved into our apartment, we’ve bought a new TV (woo!), we’ve set up a bank account (and one with a credit union), we’ve gotten registered with all the right people, and I’ve even been paid a few times (as it’s happening ‘semi-monthly’, ie twice a month). We have a couch, a cat, a dining table, a couple of chairs, and a whole new series of incoming bills. Continue reading →

Posted in Personal | Tagged , ,

One month in

Published August 5, 2009

I figured I owe you this, whoever ‘you’ might be, even if you’re just a section of my subconscious or a figment of my imagination. And I’ve been trying to concoct what I want to say in my head for a while, but, honestly… it’s been hard to decide.

There’s a lot to say, and simultaneously, not very much at all.

In case you’re wondering, I can say with some certainty that moving countries (even to a country where they generally speak English) is a bit of a bitch. Mostly just because of the ties that bind. The emotional ones, the physical ones, and not-so-physical, but still very real bureaucratic and political ties that prevent us from wandering this Earth like free people, man, free to do what we wanna do, even if that’s just sitting around playing our guitars and singing – kum-ba-ya, my Lord… ahem. Continue reading →

Posted in Personal | Tagged , ,

One month in

Published August 5, 2009

I figured I owe you this, whoever ‘you’ might be, even if you’re just a section of my subconscious or a figment of my imagination. And I’ve been trying to concoct what I want to say in my head for a while, but, honestly… it’s been hard to decide.

There’s a lot to say, and simultaneously, not very much at all.

In case you’re wondering, I can say with some certainty that moving countries (even to a country where they generally speak English) is a bit of a bitch. Mostly just because of the ties that bind. The emotional ones, the physical ones, and not-so-physical, but still very real bureaucratic and political ties that prevent us from wandering this Earth like free people, man, free to do what we wanna do, even if that’s just sitting around playing our guitars and singing – kum-ba-ya, my Lord… ahem.

That, if I so choose, would be the ‘lot to say’. I could tell you of the swift break I experienced with friends and family, the lack of real feeling because I didn’t know how to feel, which gradually day by day is turning into a void in my heart which… I guess I’ll just have to tread carefully around. But I won’t. Continue reading →

Posted in Personal | Tagged , ,

The last eight months… and the next few

Published June 25, 2009

I’ve been pretty quiet over the last eight months, particularly when compared to most of last year. I had two good reasons.

One, I secured a job with Trion World Network, which was still in ‘stealth mode’ when I got the job, meaning I couldn’t talk about… well anything, really. Not the company, not the job, not the game(s)… so I just kept my big mouth shut.

Two, I was going through the time-consuming, tedious and nerve-wracking process of getting my US immigration visa. This would have been a tough enough process at any time, but considering it was connected directly to me taking up the job, I felt in some way I should just keep quiet. Didn’t want to jinx things. I only broke silence when the internal mental pressure began to get so much that even endless games of Civilization IV weren’t enough to keep The Voices in check, and I had to vent somewhere.

Well, now I’ve officially got The Job, and I sure as hell have The Visa. So I can talk. A bit.Trion’s an exciting company to be part of. With three games in active production (Heroes of Telara; the MMORTS project… Continue reading →

Posted in Jobsworth, Personal | Tagged , , ,
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