- Your
Guide to Wunderland
- [Games]
[E-Books] [WTS]
[Gift Shop]
-
- News Archives
 
I'm in the front passenger seat of the Bullocks'
car. "He was working the deli line at the Brick," says
Gina, from the back. "And he was so sick. He was standing
there like this." I can't see her, but I imagine her making
a nauseated face.
manifold (man'-if-fold) adj.
1. having many and various forms, features, parts, etc...
2. of many sorts; many and varied; multifarious 3. being such
in many and various ways or for many reasons 4. comprising, consisting
of, or operating several units or parts of one kind - said of
certain devices.
- Monty Python And The Holy Grail %}
There's a reason why
this is the most quoted film
since Steamboat Willie.
 Hair
The film version of the classic broadway musical is entertaining
in its way, but it's totally unlike the original broadway musical.
I wish they'd remake this film, with a return to the original
script (if you could call it that). On the other hand, I hope
if they ever make a movie out of "Cats" that they do
what they did with this film adaptation, which is to add an actual
plot.
 
Scouting For All
|
|
|
|
 |
We're at WorldCon! |
|
|
I've been to a lot of science-fiction conventions in the last
twenty years, but only once before have I been to the biggest
one of all, WorldCon (the sci-fi con for the entire world), which
is held in a different city every year. This year, the 59th WorldCon
is being held in nearby Philadelphia, so of course we had to
attend. Moreover, for this big event, we decided to do something
we've never done at a sci-fi con before: we've got a table in
the dealer's room!
We got our start doing Icehouse tourneys at a sci-fi conventions
long ago, but when we got serious about our game business, we
focused our limited marketing resources on the major gaming conventions
(in particular Origins) rather than on the less relevant sci-fi
circuit. Even so, we've continued to promote our games at the
local sci-fi cons, but only with party-style events like the
Pop-Tart Cafe. This time, we're getting an actual huckster's
table, plus we'll be doing continuous demos in the open gaming
area all weekend long. We'll even be running a few tournaments,
all with the help of a wonderful bunch of Mad Lab Rabbits. It
begins this morning, and runs for five days!
Anyway, we've still got a lot to do to get ready for the opening
of the exhibit hall... they kicked us out earlier than we were
expecting during setup on Wednesday night, so we've got to get
down there early this morning to finish getting set up. Come
back next week and I'll let you know how it all worked out!
|
|
One new thing we have to help attract attention to our games
is the long-awaited giant cardboard Icehouse pieces mentioned
in last week's What's
On The Stove? update. We picked up the first 25 stashes during
the drive north, and they're fabulous! As I sit writing this
on the laptop in our hotel room, Kristin is busily applying purple
paint to a set of these big foldable corrugated pyramids. Today,
we'll be trying them out for the first time, and I'm really excited
about playing over-sized IceTowers with them. Giant Icehouse
pieces have existed for a long time (in fact, these were sized
to be compatible with Mike Sugarbaker's Gargantua set) but never
before have such big Icehouse pieces been *stackable*. It's gonna
be great playing the other real-time Icehouse game on this grand
scale!
Happy Labor Day!
PS: The appearance of a Toilet Monster on this page indicates
that I've reached the bottom of my Sketchbook Harvest barrel.
This is the last such image I'll be posting for a while. [Coming
soon: The new Image Wall!]
|
|
 |
|
 |
Now that we have Fluxx Blanxx to work with, I've
started trying out new card ideas. My favorite of late is the
New Rule "X = X +1" (submitted to the big list of ideas
by Neil Raynar). It has great results that aren't immediately
obvious. For example, Secret Data lets you hide 2 cards, Draw
3, Play 2 Of Them becomes draw 4, play 3, you need an extra Keeper
to win with 5 Keepers, and Everybody Gets Two! |
 |
"Two decades ago, the author book tour was
almost a novelty. Today it can be the deciding factor in a book's
success. Touring has always been as much about selling the author
as the book. Turn the author into a traveling salesman, and those
personal appearances generate real sales -- important when a
few thousand books can make a best seller -- not to mention media
attention on local radio and television and reviews in the local
press." -- writer Malcolm Jones, in an article
in this week's Newsweek entitled "The Hard Sell" |
|
"There are a lot of people like me who can
smoke weed and still get a day's work done."
-- award-winning film director Kevin Smith, in an interview in
High Times magazine (the current issue also has a description
of the first time the Beatles tried it, written by the guy who
brought both the weed and Bob Dylan to the party) |
|
-
- "A friend of mine, hopelessly hooked on Icehouse (thanks
to me :D), ended up picking up a set, along with Black Ice. Now
he's going around school teaching people how to play Martian
Chess...I have to say, after finally giving the rules a shot,
it's really a great game. I'm sure everyone had the same reaction
as me upon reading the rules over (Whaaaaat?), but it does indeed
work. Mind you, I'm terrible at it, but it's a very deep game,
and I'm hooked." -- Mike, on the Icehouse
mailing list
|