Last weekend Jason called to invite me out to Collnsville’s Italian Fest. Once I arrived I spotted Joe and Bob. It was nice to see friends. We chatted about the upcoming Archon 30, old role playing game systems and new science fiction shows. I had an excellent Italian Beef + Sausage Combo sandwich from a vendor known as the Two Fat Guys. Adam spotted a mullet and snapped a picture for me.

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Hello friends. It has been a while since I have made a sizable blog entry. Back on Labor Day my mother came to visit. I have mentioned before that I lost my father earlier this year. Mom brought an old PC from my late father’s business. I plan to take the hard drives out and browse through them for anything important. She also brought some JRR Tolkien books I had bought Dad as Christmas gifts. Somehow I did not expect to see them again. You never give a gift expecting it to show up again on your kitchen table. I have an idea. Since I was a teenager the first time I read and enjoyed the Hobbit, I want to take the books to Archon and give them to a teenager there. It feels like the right thing to do.

Mom and I went to St Louis Bread Company. We tried their Crispani pizza. I had the Sausage and Apple. Mom had the Three Cheese. All in all they were pretty good. I’m grateful too that we didn’t have to sit in the waiting area of a restaurant.

Last weekend I had dinner with a friend at Plaza Frontenac. It was nice to catch up. Funny thing is I used drive by that mall every weekend for three months. I never stopped by to check out what it had to offer.

I have a personals profile on Yahoo! Personals. So far the only date I have managed was with a woman I already knew. I just do not get responses from women in which I am interested. I have responded to women in whom I am not even interested. I wanted to see if they would respond. Nothing is more like a Deathstar to my ego than to get the virtual cold shoulder. I hear folks say that they have had luck. But, sadly, my experience has been different.

Well, I got fed up with sub-par performance of my Linksys WRT54G wireless router. I bought a replacement in case I wanted to hack the ROM on my current router and bricked it by accident. Fortunately, that was not necessary. I reset it to its defaults and tweaked parameters. I changed settings one at a time and examined performance changes. I learned the following:

• Enabling burst mode is not good
• Changing the channel from 6 (the default) to 11 helped considerably
• Anytime a 802.11b device uses the router the performance of my 802.11g devices drop
• Increasing the value of beacon interval to 360 milliseconds improved performance on my laptop two rooms away

I upgraded the firmware on my Playstation Portable (PSP) to version 2.81. This allows me to download and play game demos. I downloaded the Loco Roco Demo from Sony’s site. It is a cute little game. You control a gelatinous blob by tilting the screen left and right using the shoulder buttons. Pressing both buttons at once bumps the screen causing your blob to bounce. The goal is to collect fruity looking widgets while avoiding the spiky looking whatzits. It is very entertaining but can be frustrating. The graphics are brightly colored and interesting. The soundtrack is a hauntingly sweet Japanese tune.

Black Label Society recently released their new CD entitled Shot to H-ll. Amid a collection of mellow meandering songs with aimless lyrics these songs stand out:

• Concrete Jungle – a grinding metal song. this is where BLS shines
• Blacked Out World – another heavy song. a little softer but still a decent tune with some good riffs

Saw “American History X” last night. I noticed that Ethan Suplee, the actor that plays Earl’s brother Randy in the sitcom “My Name is Earl”, played a skinhead in the movie. The dude has a huge range of acting ability.

You may have had some problems accessing gazpacho.net lately. Dreamhost, my web hosting provider, has been suffering network issues for a number of weeks now. The past couple of days they struggled with router issues that resulted in intermittent loss of access for my web friends. Just today they replaced the router and promised that things are better. Here’s hoping.

I have toyed with the idea of producing a podcast. I’m thinking about doing something funny. I am considering spoofing commercials, mocking liberal politicians and so-called public radio, doing man-on-the-street interviews with America on current events, giving treatment to ridiculous social mores and perhaps producing an episodic radio play. Are there any female friends who want to lend voice talent? gratis? I’ll buy pizza.

Archon is three weeks away, friends! As part of the Atomic Squash gaming group I plan to run a Kobolds Ate My Baby live action role-playing game (LARP) tenatively named Kobolds on a Plane!

Here is a description of the event I submitted to the gaming manager:

KOBOLDS ON A PLANE!
A Live Action Role-Playing Game for Kobolds Ate My Baby

Short Description
Rival kobolds have kidnapped you and your clan. They sold you to a strange traveling gnome who stows you onboard his airship. You escape your crates to raid the cargo hold and unleash some pathological and gastronomic mayhem. Newcomers welcome. Young children will be eaten.

Description
Rival Kobolds disguised as the famous Kobold chef Emerald and his kitchen staff visit your cave. The sneaky bastards arrange a cooking demonstration where they take your entire clan by surprise capturing you in a huge wooden cage. While dining on your clan leader in an epic-level BBQ and contemplating tasty new recipes for their Torg Foreman Grilles(tm), a strange Gnome arrives. He is Phil T. Olaf, an entertainer and entrepreneur. In exchange for two pairs of shiny boots, a bag of cheesy doodles, three Atomic Squash T-Shirts and a yummy Human baby, he acquires all of you! His plan is to transport you to a human zoo where you will be caged and put on exhibit as a rare type of prairie dog.

You are prisoners aboard Olaf’s Gnomish airship, the Pike Maiden. Most of you have managed to claw through your crates and chew your way through the dunnage. You are ravenous and angry (well, that’s normal). Find a way to escape your captivity while managing to live.

This past weekend I attended Archon 29. I had a great time. I met some neat folks from the Party Hard Corps and The Dragon’s Keep.

Zombie Squad

This year’s Archon brought a group named Zombie Squad. What a great idea! These folks combined a civic organization with their love of science fiction. I spoke to one of their members from St Louis. She said other organizations do not know what to do when they call. Imagine that phone call: Zombie Squad? You want to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina?

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Zombie Squad Truck

Dancer with Glow Lights

Another Picture of Dancer

Zombie Squad Detains Tom

Vampire LARP

As previously mentioned this year’s LARP was set in the town of Carthage in the year 300 BC. I played a senator with several goals. First of all I wanted to marry my twin daughters. They did a great. I’m happy to say both their characters met the goal by the end of Saturday night. The other goal was to take care of my assistant’s debt problem. We achieved this goal by the beginning of the second night. Overall, I had fun. I think the first year players who played my daughters and assistant had a great time, too.

Tom and Nick

Adam and Tom with a Mad Scientist

Carla told me that she played several player’s god in the game. She shared a story where a player was praying to her. She appeared, waved her hand and said, “I’m your God! I’m all sparkley!”

Tom and Carla

A character who called himself Dave the Jew messed up. I wasn’t part of his stoyline but inserted myself into it when he mistook me for another player. Last year he was a Rastaman character.

Tom with Dave the Jew

As a retiring senator I tried to get my nominee elected to take my place. I chose to support a player named Vince. Unfortunately he did not win. But he did marry one of my daughters in the game.

Vincent Lost the Election

Costumes

I met a woman named Kate. She wore a Jessica Rabbit costume. She was sweet and agreed to take a picture with me. Later she joined our Werewolves game. She has a great sense of humor and a sexy smile. I totally dig her. My biggest regret is that I didn’t ask for her phone number or email address. If anybody who know her reads this, can you help me contact her? My email address is tomc@gazpacho.net. Please help a single fella out.

UPDATE: Found her. She responded to my Live Journal

Tom with the Sexy Kate

Elvis is not dead. He is an alien or something. There was a movie about it.

Bubba Elvis

C3P0′s Female Robot Companion

Green Latern

Mickey and His Wife

Sniper Scope

I met a woman who was wearing a hologram outfit from Red Dwarf. Her name badge read: Michelle. I did not want to freak her out but I think I responded to her online personals ad last year. She replied then that she didn’t think we were a good match.

Tom and Michelle as Rimmer

Sarah was there with her boyfriend promoting his comic books. I missed her in the LARP game this year.

Tom and Sarah

Tom and Skip

Colin Thomas Presents Rasslin

My buddy Jim and I played a game of professional wrestling as a role playing game. It was great. My friend Laurie, the Vicious Vampire Vixen, took me out in the first round of the Royal Rumble. But she agreed to take a picture with me. To my suprise she gave me a playful vampire bite on the neck. What a kidder!

Tom Gets a Bite from the Vicious Vampire Vixen

Jim and Triple V

Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow

At this year’s Die Con I picked up a game named The Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow. The game requires at least eight players. Archon was a perfect place for a pickup game though. Over the course of a few hours we had a dozen or so players playing the game. New players would sit down as others left. We played well until 5 AM Sunday morning.

Pat and Tom

Skip and the New Guy

Brian and Jason

Karen and Ron

Somebody who plans to play the SLUGS Vampire LARP has a Blogspot Blog. He answers like "What is a Suffete?" (pronounced show-feet) and "Should I Grow a Beard?".

Yeah, Archon!

Archon is next week! This sci-fi/gaming convention starts Thursday the 29th and runs through October the 2nd. Just as last year it is four days of gaming, drunken geeks and entertaining costumes.

This will be my sixth year playing the the SLUGS Vampire LARP. I noticed the following description of the game on an Archon 29 gaming page:

“Set in the ancient city of Qart-Hadasht, ~350 BCE, political, religious, and moral intrigue run rife through the city. The kindred are in disarray. With a new Suffete being elected on Saturday, everyone has a role to fill. What will become of one of the largest trading centers on the Mediterranean Sea?” Player briefing will be held in Gateway Center Mississippian Room at 7pm. All players are required to attend this briefing. This is a multiple session event beginning with Sessions 4 & 5 on Friday. The game will restart in Sessions 8 concluding in Session 9 on Sunday morning. Debrief will be held on Sunday afternoon.

Archon is like a homecoming. I get to hang out with friends, many of whom I only see once a year. I’m looking forward to taking a break and letting my hair down so to speak.

This past weekend I attended Archon 28. Regular blog readers may notice that I attended a number of conventions this year. In fact this is my fourth sci-fi/gaming convention this year. In addition to Archon I attended the following: CloverCon, GenCon (entry) and DieCon (entry).

At this year’s Archon someone asked how many years I had attended the convention. So I did some checking. It wasn’t difficult since I have all of my convention badges hanging in my cubicle at work. My first Archon was Archon 20 (1996). Ray Bradbury was the featured Guest of Honor that year. Incidentally, this is the first and only convention to which I brought a date. I took two years off and did not attend again until Archon 23 (1999). I have been attending every year since then. As far as I can tell I first played the SLUGS Vampire LARP in 2000. So the short answer is: for eight years I have attended seven Archons and have played the Vampire LARP for five years (including this year).

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Archon 28 badge

Archon 27 badge

Archon 26 badge

Archon 25 badge

Archon 24 badge

Archon 23 badge

There were plastic ducks sitting everywhere. For some reason they had the word “Boot” written on the bottom. I think it had to do with the children’s programming. Of course when the ducks turned up in the hospitality room, they became festive decorations for glasses of beer.

Ducks in beer? Boot!

I played the SLUGS LARP again this year. I’ll elaborate on my role a little later. Unfortunately, one of the people playing the LARP overdosed on an undisclosed drug. Every year the game judges have to handle drunk players. But this was frightening; the affected player had to be taken away in an ambulance. At this year’s recap the judges asked that nobody use drugs and try to play the game.

Hotel staff tends to a drunk guest

This year in the LARP I played Jack Steele, the leader of the Cam. There are two factions in the Vampire game. I was leader of one faction; a lovely woman was the leader of the Sabbat, the other faction. My gang was eager to fight. When a group of Sabbat visited our base of operations and menanced us with threats, I couldn’t hold the blood-thirsty bunch back. Most disappeared right away. We managed to assemble again and invaded their HQ. It was exciting; I’ve never played such a powerful character. I think the judges wanted me to play my character more like the Terminator; I played him more like John Connor.

After the game I stayed up until 7 AM talking to the woman who played the leader of the Sabbat. We shared leadership experiences and exchanged bad jokes. Does it get any better?

Archon is like homecoming for me. I don’t see many of the people there except for once a year. It was better this year than last. I had fun in both the organized tabletops games and spontaneous pick-up games.

I was sad to see it end. But I did need to get some sleep. Cheers! See y’all at Archon next year!

UPDATE: Pan sent me a copy of a picture of myself from Archon’s Fan Photo page.

Me in a Jean Jacket. Courtesy of Archon’s Fan Photo page