Showing posts with label Show and Tell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Show and Tell. Show all posts
Sunday, June 01, 2014
Looks Can Be Decieving
When it comes to Digital Audio Restoration. Often things that look irreparable can be cleaned up, and sometimes things that are barely visible can be irreparable.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Audio Restoration Process
For those that are curious about the process and delivery method of my transcription service.
It Starts with a recording. Provided by the client. (hopefully that's you.)
The Physical Medium is cleaned thoroughly to ensure the sharpest recording possible.
Some records require a little more cleansing than others.
Don't try this at home.
(Unless you've been properly trained as I have—otherwise, you might damage the tunes)
Then the record is played, and the sweet, sweet, sounds are scientifically transferred from the Analog to the Digital realm.
The sneaky little notes have to be trapped, so I use this device, much like the Ghost Trap in Ghostbusters--Unlike Ghostbusters however, turning off the power supply doesn't blow up the fire station.
Then, like a Drill Sargent at a futuristic boot camp for newly digitized melodies, I iron out those tunes and make them like new again, clicks, crackles, and excess noise are removed methodically and with precision.
Most transcription services use a simple, single pass, click and crackle processing. I use a multi-pass algorithm for click and crackle removal that surgically removes the unwanted noise leaving little or no distortion in it's wake.
Finally the product is delivered on Compact Disc in this snazzy paper sleeve of my design. Unlike commercial paper sleeves, mine are printed with the Original Album art, and are designed so that they can fit into a Jewel case if you so desire.
It Starts with a recording. Provided by the client. (hopefully that's you.)
The Physical Medium is cleaned thoroughly to ensure the sharpest recording possible.
Some records require a little more cleansing than others.
Don't try this at home.
(Unless you've been properly trained as I have—otherwise, you might damage the tunes)
Then the record is played, and the sweet, sweet, sounds are scientifically transferred from the Analog to the Digital realm.
The sneaky little notes have to be trapped, so I use this device, much like the Ghost Trap in Ghostbusters--Unlike Ghostbusters however, turning off the power supply doesn't blow up the fire station.
Then, like a Drill Sargent at a futuristic boot camp for newly digitized melodies, I iron out those tunes and make them like new again, clicks, crackles, and excess noise are removed methodically and with precision.
Most transcription services use a simple, single pass, click and crackle processing. I use a multi-pass algorithm for click and crackle removal that surgically removes the unwanted noise leaving little or no distortion in it's wake.
Finally the product is delivered on Compact Disc in this snazzy paper sleeve of my design. Unlike commercial paper sleeves, mine are printed with the Original Album art, and are designed so that they can fit into a Jewel case if you so desire.
Star Wars Sound Track in Dolby Surround on LP
I just finished processing the Original Star Wars Double LP for someone, On a whim, I took it a step further and processed it for Dolby Surround (Star Wars Was the first movie mixed in Dolby Surround, I've heard that most movie soundtracks after 1977 on vinyl, are the same audio mix from the film and thus are encoded on the vinyl in surround—they just have to be decoded) and it sounds AMAZING!!!
It's hard to believe the original source is vinyl when listening to it on my Surround Sound System. (Even though I did the transcription myself)
It's hard to believe the original source is vinyl when listening to it on my Surround Sound System. (Even though I did the transcription myself)
Monday, May 26, 2014
Fathers Day Gift Idea
Fathers Day is Coming Up!
LP Transcriptions Make Thoughtful Gifts. A Forgotten Memoir of his Youth, like a High School Choir/Band Album--
or Perhaps something he brought home from a mission or a trip abroad?
Now is the time to think about it, transcriptions and clean up take some time to do.
Contact me for pricing.
LP Transcriptions Make Thoughtful Gifts. A Forgotten Memoir of his Youth, like a High School Choir/Band Album--
or Perhaps something he brought home from a mission or a trip abroad?
Now is the time to think about it, transcriptions and clean up take some time to do.
Contact me for pricing.
Digital Audio Restoration
I realized that not everyone I know is on Facebook, and I would hate for all you Blog followers to miss out on this...
Do You Have An Audio Restoration Need? I can fulfill your audio dreams, and solve your audio nightmares.
Have you got stacks and stacks of vinyl records just lying about? Or perhaps just one or two precious gems that you can't part with.
Perhaps you don't have a working turntable, or perhaps you have a low quality turntable and would like to hear what those records should really sound like.
Maybe you have a multitude of cassette tapes lying about.
Do you have something rare and out of print—or a precious piece of family history that everyone in the family would love to hear, but no one has the equipment to play it.
Speaking of Precious Family Moments, do you have a moment of Family History Locked away on an "Ancient" piece of mysterious technology? I can unlock its mysteries for you.
Have you got something from your youth, that you would like to share with a new generation?
Maybe you found something unusual at a yard sale and would like to hear it, but you don't want to invest money in equipment for just one record.
Perhaps something really old that you have and would like to hear, this 1916 Edison Diamond Disc for instance.
Or maybe you found a Cylinder Record of that Poem Grandpa has recited all your life, and you would like to hear the original.
Do you have some Quadraphonic Records Lying About, and are you itching to hear the glorious 4-Channel Surround?
Don't want to buy specialized equipment from the 70's Just to Hear A record or two in surround?
Do you have audio repair needs? Is that recording extra crackly? Did the Air Conditioning Ruin the Audio of your best take?
Contact me for details.
Do You Have An Audio Restoration Need? I can fulfill your audio dreams, and solve your audio nightmares.
Have you got stacks and stacks of vinyl records just lying about? Or perhaps just one or two precious gems that you can't part with.
Perhaps you don't have a working turntable, or perhaps you have a low quality turntable and would like to hear what those records should really sound like.
Maybe you have a multitude of cassette tapes lying about.
Do you have something rare and out of print—or a precious piece of family history that everyone in the family would love to hear, but no one has the equipment to play it.
Speaking of Precious Family Moments, do you have a moment of Family History Locked away on an "Ancient" piece of mysterious technology? I can unlock its mysteries for you.
Have you got something from your youth, that you would like to share with a new generation?
Maybe you found something unusual at a yard sale and would like to hear it, but you don't want to invest money in equipment for just one record.
Perhaps something really old that you have and would like to hear, this 1916 Edison Diamond Disc for instance.
Or maybe you found a Cylinder Record of that Poem Grandpa has recited all your life, and you would like to hear the original.
Do you have some Quadraphonic Records Lying About, and are you itching to hear the glorious 4-Channel Surround?
Don't want to buy specialized equipment from the 70's Just to Hear A record or two in surround?
Do you have audio repair needs? Is that recording extra crackly? Did the Air Conditioning Ruin the Audio of your best take?
Contact me for details.
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Kindle App Update
My Kindle App on my Android Device informed me last night that there was a new update available.
There was a note in the whats new screen that caught my attention. It reads PDF files now. I had to check it out.
First of all, I had to copy the pdf that I wanted to view into the Kindle App Folder. I'm not a fan of that. I have literally thousands of books in PDF format that I keep on a micro SD in my Android Device. (Notion Ink Adam, thanks for asking, I've been meaning to write up a review of it ever since I bought it) Making a copy of one or two that I'm currently reading wouldn't be too bad, but if I was browsing through files I would definitely use a different program.
The File I decided to go with is a Monstrous beast of a thing: 196 pages, two columned text, and Illustrations; it has crashed every single PDF reading App I own (there's a caveat to this I'll get back to in a minute.) I think the PDF is just not optimized, it's a fairly slow document to deal with, even on my PC. Kindle Handled it Like a Dream. My only complaint is that it doesn't have a cover in the Kindle App, but I can probably figure out how to resolve that on my own.
Now to the Caveat. I was reading an article today from someone about getting past the jpeg2000 problems that iPad's Acrobat reading applications have, and I realized that I have the Android version of the Adobe PDF viewer that the author was referring to. So I tried my Monstrous beast of a file in eZPDF Viewer, and it handled it just fine; it must have had an update, because last time I tried it in the program it crashed. Kindle does have an Advantage over the eZPDF viewer...it's free and saves your position in the book automatically, but ezPDF Viewer handles Outlines.
Quick Update, this morning I was looking at some files and noticed that when I select a PDF file it now asks me if I want to Open it with Kindle, It opens but does not add the Book to your Library or remember the last page you were on. I did a little Test, and ezPDF Viewer does remember the last page you were on. (There are probably limits to this—I didn't test it extensively). I think I'm going to be reading using ezPDF Viewer for a while now. I was not using it before, because it turned pages slower than Adobe's Viewer, but that seems to have changed.
Another Update. I discovered a functionality in ezPDF Viewer that could be useful—it can read the PDF file to you in a Simulated Voice. It's not perfect, but I've heard worse.
First of all, I had to copy the pdf that I wanted to view into the Kindle App Folder. I'm not a fan of that. I have literally thousands of books in PDF format that I keep on a micro SD in my Android Device. (Notion Ink Adam, thanks for asking, I've been meaning to write up a review of it ever since I bought it) Making a copy of one or two that I'm currently reading wouldn't be too bad, but if I was browsing through files I would definitely use a different program.
The File I decided to go with is a Monstrous beast of a thing: 196 pages, two columned text, and Illustrations; it has crashed every single PDF reading App I own (there's a caveat to this I'll get back to in a minute.) I think the PDF is just not optimized, it's a fairly slow document to deal with, even on my PC. Kindle Handled it Like a Dream. My only complaint is that it doesn't have a cover in the Kindle App, but I can probably figure out how to resolve that on my own.
Now to the Caveat. I was reading an article today from someone about getting past the jpeg2000 problems that iPad's Acrobat reading applications have, and I realized that I have the Android version of the Adobe PDF viewer that the author was referring to. So I tried my Monstrous beast of a file in eZPDF Viewer, and it handled it just fine; it must have had an update, because last time I tried it in the program it crashed. Kindle does have an Advantage over the eZPDF viewer...it's free and saves your position in the book automatically, but ezPDF Viewer handles Outlines.
Quick Update, this morning I was looking at some files and noticed that when I select a PDF file it now asks me if I want to Open it with Kindle, It opens but does not add the Book to your Library or remember the last page you were on. I did a little Test, and ezPDF Viewer does remember the last page you were on. (There are probably limits to this—I didn't test it extensively). I think I'm going to be reading using ezPDF Viewer for a while now. I was not using it before, because it turned pages slower than Adobe's Viewer, but that seems to have changed.
Another Update. I discovered a functionality in ezPDF Viewer that could be useful—it can read the PDF file to you in a Simulated Voice. It's not perfect, but I've heard worse.
Thursday, November 03, 2011
Moleskine vs. Leuchtturm1917
I know I said I was getting back to blogging. I wrote this a while back, my server where I host all my pictures was undergoing some maintenance, and now I have finally posted it. --Enjoy--
My brother introduced me to the Moleskine. Let me quote from their website.
Here is a picture of a couple of my Moleskines:
I have Several, and after trying out a number of different ones, I decided that I liked the quadrille (gridded) paper the best. I purchased and carried several of the smaller ones before I ever considered buying a mid-sized one. As it turns out I really like the mid sized one, and I carry it almost everywhere.
As my last Moleskine was nearing completion, I happened upon a Leuchtturm1917. From what I can tell, Leuchtturm1917 is the notebook that Moleskine thinks it is (I stole that line from another blogger). Leuchtturm was founded in 1917, which seems to be the time period that Moleskine bases their books on.
But let's talk about what differentiates the two. A common practice among Moleskine users is to set aside a page or more to be used as an index/table of contents, which requires that you go through the book and number the pages. Leuchtturm has pages set aside particularly for this purpose and the pages are pre-numbered.
I've never had a problem with the paper in the Moleskine, it seems to handle the ink from my favorite pens without problem—but I guess fountain pen ink doesn't work very well with them. The Leuchtturm paper apparently alleviates this problem (except in the case of very wet inks). I can't really speak for that, but it's nice to know they have thought of it.
The Leuchtturm I have is the same height as the Moleskine I have, but the Leuchtturm is slightly wider without being unwieldy.
Moleskine and Leuchtturm come in a variety of types. Sketch (No Lines), Quadrille (Graph Paper), Ruled (Lines). The Leuchtturm has one up on the Moleskine though—they have a dotted grid. There is a grid of Dots on the paper, giving you the functionality of the Grid or lined paper; yet the dots are so lightly printed that the paper also works quite well for sketching. Speaking of lightly printed, the other Leuchtturm options (Grid and Ruled) are printed lighter that their Moleskine brethren. The patterns are not difficult to see, but they are very unobtrusive and get out of the way when scanning.
The Leuchtturm has tear out pages in the back, Moleskine does not.
They both have a convenient pocket in the back of the notebook.
They both have a ribbon bookmark. My last Moleskine bookmark frayed almost immediately after I purchased it. I thought it was made of a synthetic material, and tried to seal it using a flame, and nearly had a more serious fire on my hands. The glue came loose literally when I was moving the bookmark out of the way so I could write on the last page of the notebook.
The Leuchtturm bookmark appears to be synthetic and feels like it could take more abuse.
Moleskine wins in the elastic band category. The band on Moleskine is tighter, and feels more substantial than the one on my Leuchtturm.
The Leuchtturm1917 comes with Labels. It's my understanding that the intended purpose of these, is that they are to be placed on the notebook once it is full.and you are storing it on the shelf. They come with Spine and cover Labels.
So far I'm really liking the Leuchtturm better. I have the quadrille variety, I was hoping to get a dot grid—but the university book store (where I discovered the Leuchtturm1917) did not have that particular flavor. I'll have to order one online.
A Pic of My Leuchtturm1917:
My brother introduced me to the Moleskine. Let me quote from their website.
Moleskine® was created as a brand in 1997, bringing back to life the legendary notebook used by artists and thinkers over the past two centuries: among them Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and Bruce Chatwin. A trusted and handy travel companion, the nameless black notebook held invaluable sketches, notes, stories, and ideas that would one day become famous paintings or the pages of beloved books.These notebooks are based on notebooks made by small bookbinders and sold in stationary shops in Paris in the late 19th–early 20th century, Moleskine was a nickname that Bruce Chatwin called his notebooks by.
Here is a picture of a couple of my Moleskines:
I have Several, and after trying out a number of different ones, I decided that I liked the quadrille (gridded) paper the best. I purchased and carried several of the smaller ones before I ever considered buying a mid-sized one. As it turns out I really like the mid sized one, and I carry it almost everywhere.
As my last Moleskine was nearing completion, I happened upon a Leuchtturm1917. From what I can tell, Leuchtturm1917 is the notebook that Moleskine thinks it is (I stole that line from another blogger). Leuchtturm was founded in 1917, which seems to be the time period that Moleskine bases their books on.
But let's talk about what differentiates the two. A common practice among Moleskine users is to set aside a page or more to be used as an index/table of contents, which requires that you go through the book and number the pages. Leuchtturm has pages set aside particularly for this purpose and the pages are pre-numbered.
I've never had a problem with the paper in the Moleskine, it seems to handle the ink from my favorite pens without problem—but I guess fountain pen ink doesn't work very well with them. The Leuchtturm paper apparently alleviates this problem (except in the case of very wet inks). I can't really speak for that, but it's nice to know they have thought of it.
The Leuchtturm I have is the same height as the Moleskine I have, but the Leuchtturm is slightly wider without being unwieldy.
Moleskine and Leuchtturm come in a variety of types. Sketch (No Lines), Quadrille (Graph Paper), Ruled (Lines). The Leuchtturm has one up on the Moleskine though—they have a dotted grid. There is a grid of Dots on the paper, giving you the functionality of the Grid or lined paper; yet the dots are so lightly printed that the paper also works quite well for sketching. Speaking of lightly printed, the other Leuchtturm options (Grid and Ruled) are printed lighter that their Moleskine brethren. The patterns are not difficult to see, but they are very unobtrusive and get out of the way when scanning.
The Leuchtturm has tear out pages in the back, Moleskine does not.
They both have a convenient pocket in the back of the notebook.
They both have a ribbon bookmark. My last Moleskine bookmark frayed almost immediately after I purchased it. I thought it was made of a synthetic material, and tried to seal it using a flame, and nearly had a more serious fire on my hands. The glue came loose literally when I was moving the bookmark out of the way so I could write on the last page of the notebook.
The Leuchtturm bookmark appears to be synthetic and feels like it could take more abuse.
Moleskine wins in the elastic band category. The band on Moleskine is tighter, and feels more substantial than the one on my Leuchtturm.
The Leuchtturm1917 comes with Labels. It's my understanding that the intended purpose of these, is that they are to be placed on the notebook once it is full.and you are storing it on the shelf. They come with Spine and cover Labels.
So far I'm really liking the Leuchtturm better. I have the quadrille variety, I was hoping to get a dot grid—but the university book store (where I discovered the Leuchtturm1917) did not have that particular flavor. I'll have to order one online.
A Pic of My Leuchtturm1917:
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Show Reel
This is some of the work I have done in animation. I decided to try uploading to YouTube for the first time since it launched in 2005.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Buried Alive!!
My Saturday Savage Worlds Game did not take place. I only had My Wife and three others R.S.V.P. and one of them was unable to make it. I was not upset by this, since I was only marginally prepared for the evening.
We had a little Holiday recently, you may have heard of it. . . Halloween.
I had some birthday money, and wanted to get a new game for Halloween, but the game I wanted to get was sold out, I tried my favorite game store, the discount game store (Which looked to be closed for good), and the game store that's practically around the corner. None of them had a copy of The Last Night on Earth: The Zombie Game.
Seven years ago, when we first lived here, we had a Halloween Party. I wanted to play a Halloween appropriate game at said party. The game I ultimately chose was Betrayal at House on the Hill. It took me a while to make that decision and when I went to get the game. . . no one had a copy—it had gone out of print and used copies were going for a premium.
So, I decided to go with another game that had piqued my curiosity, Zombies!!! I had seen some pictures of games in progress with hundreds of zombie figures on the table. I had heard it said that there can never be too many Zombies, and I had noticed that they sell Extra Zombies in bags of one hundred for a ten spot, and that they had Glow-in-the-Dark Zombies as well.
I was pretty new to the specialty board game scene at the time, I had not yet played a game, and then not wanted the expansion or expansions—and of course, I can never do anything half way. I found an E-bay auction that had Zombies!!! and two of its expansions (Zombies!!! 2: Zombie Corps(e), and Zombies!!! 3: Mall Walkers) for just a little more than the base game would cost. Could I stop there? No. I also picked up a bag of Extra Zombies (100 Glow-in-the-Dark—I'm kind of a sucker for Glow-in-the-Dark, I'm not sure why) and the other two available expansions, Zombies!!! 3.5: Not Dead Yet and Zombies!!! 4: The End?.
I really like the Zombies!!! games, but the people I generally game with are rarely in the mood to play it. I've still picked up Zombies!!! 5: Schools Out Forever, Zombies!!! 6: Six Feet Under, Zombies!!! 7: Send in the Clowns, Zombies!!! 8: Jailbreak, Zombies!!! 9: Ashes to Ashes, Humans!!!, Humans!!! 2: Sea Food, Martians!!!, Zombietown, Zombietown 2: Road Rage, Zombietown 3: Big Boom Theory, MidEvil!!!, MidEvil!!! 2: Castle Chaos, & MidEvil!!! 3: Subterranean Homesick Blues, plus extra Zombies in Standard and Glowing Varieties of the Following Types—Zombies, Zombie Babes, Zombie Dogs, & Zombie Clowns, Plus Extra Skeletons (MidEvil!!! Uses Skeletons instead of Zombies—Skeletons are just like Zombies with no flesh right?)
Zombies!!! is pretty much reviled in the Board Game Community, ranking only 5.65 out of 10 on Board Game Geek. I've yet to see a very positive review of it, nothing down right bad, nothing truly positive either. The Last Night on Earth: The Zombie Game however, has ratings in the High seven to low eight range and I've heard reviews of even non-gamers really enjoying it. Which is why I really wanted it—if the game I love seems to be almost universally hated (I mean, come on, someone has to be enjoying it enough and buying enough copies for them to keep pumping out expansions) then the game that has the same thematic elements, but is beloved in comparison has to be fun, right?
Of course, when I have birthday money, and it's Halloween, and I'm in the mood for a new Zombie game, it's nowhere to be found (one of the game stores told me it was out of print)
So what do I do?
Save my money and buy it online of course. . . no. I ended up getting Betrayal at House on the Hill. It had recently come back to print.
If you've read this far, I'm impressed—I've been rambling.
Still wondering about the Blog Title up there? Since we didn't have enough people for me to want to run the game session, we played Betrayal at House on the Hill.
So, here's how Betrayal at House on the Hill works. You are exploring a haunted house. There are Six pre-painted explorer mini-figures and each figure has a corresponding character card; the cards are double-sided and have a different character on each side. The Character Cards are pentagons and have four character attributes, two physical and two mental. There are little plastic arrow clips that slide onto the card, and as your attributes are effected you slide them up and down.
When exploring the house you move through the number of rooms that equal your speed, when you encounter a room with an item, you pick a card from the item deck, read it aloud and keep it. When you encounter a room with an event, you pull the event card and read it aloud, follow the instructions and discard the card. When you encounter a room with an omen, you pull an omen card read it aloud keep it in front of you and then make a haunt roll. When making a haunt roll if you roll a number lower than the number of omen cards on the table, the haunt begins.
There is a chart in the Traitor's Tome that tells you which haunt to play (based on the room and omen card) and which player is the traitor (hence The Betrayal at House on the Hill). The Traitor then takes the Traitor's Tome and Reads the Haunt. The rest of the players take the Secrets of Survival book and read the corresponding Haunt.
The Haunt we played was called Buried Alive. The Survivors had to find their missing friend that was buried alive and dig her up before she dies. The Traitor's goal was to kill the survivors before they could dig up their missing friend.
It's a fun game.
I played again with some other friends on Monday, and the Haunt had no traitor, we had to fight our Evil doppelgängers.
Again, a very fun game. I've played two of fifty scenarios, and due to the house being modular in design, even if I played the same scenario again, it would be different. I highly recommend playing it—a great alternate since Savage Worlds didn't work out.
I really like the Zombies!!! games, but the people I generally game with are rarely in the mood to play it. I've still picked up Zombies!!! 5: Schools Out Forever, Zombies!!! 6: Six Feet Under, Zombies!!! 7: Send in the Clowns, Zombies!!! 8: Jailbreak, Zombies!!! 9: Ashes to Ashes, Humans!!!, Humans!!! 2: Sea Food, Martians!!!, Zombietown, Zombietown 2: Road Rage, Zombietown 3: Big Boom Theory, MidEvil!!!, MidEvil!!! 2: Castle Chaos, & MidEvil!!! 3: Subterranean Homesick Blues, plus extra Zombies in Standard and Glowing Varieties of the Following Types—Zombies, Zombie Babes, Zombie Dogs, & Zombie Clowns, Plus Extra Skeletons (MidEvil!!! Uses Skeletons instead of Zombies—Skeletons are just like Zombies with no flesh right?)
Zombies!!! is pretty much reviled in the Board Game Community, ranking only 5.65 out of 10 on Board Game Geek. I've yet to see a very positive review of it, nothing down right bad, nothing truly positive either. The Last Night on Earth: The Zombie Game however, has ratings in the High seven to low eight range and I've heard reviews of even non-gamers really enjoying it. Which is why I really wanted it—if the game I love seems to be almost universally hated (I mean, come on, someone has to be enjoying it enough and buying enough copies for them to keep pumping out expansions) then the game that has the same thematic elements, but is beloved in comparison has to be fun, right?
Of course, when I have birthday money, and it's Halloween, and I'm in the mood for a new Zombie game, it's nowhere to be found (one of the game stores told me it was out of print)
So what do I do?
Save my money and buy it online of course. . . no. I ended up getting Betrayal at House on the Hill. It had recently come back to print.
If you've read this far, I'm impressed—I've been rambling.
Still wondering about the Blog Title up there? Since we didn't have enough people for me to want to run the game session, we played Betrayal at House on the Hill.
So, here's how Betrayal at House on the Hill works. You are exploring a haunted house. There are Six pre-painted explorer mini-figures and each figure has a corresponding character card; the cards are double-sided and have a different character on each side. The Character Cards are pentagons and have four character attributes, two physical and two mental. There are little plastic arrow clips that slide onto the card, and as your attributes are effected you slide them up and down.
When exploring the house you move through the number of rooms that equal your speed, when you encounter a room with an item, you pick a card from the item deck, read it aloud and keep it. When you encounter a room with an event, you pull the event card and read it aloud, follow the instructions and discard the card. When you encounter a room with an omen, you pull an omen card read it aloud keep it in front of you and then make a haunt roll. When making a haunt roll if you roll a number lower than the number of omen cards on the table, the haunt begins.
There is a chart in the Traitor's Tome that tells you which haunt to play (based on the room and omen card) and which player is the traitor (hence The Betrayal at House on the Hill). The Traitor then takes the Traitor's Tome and Reads the Haunt. The rest of the players take the Secrets of Survival book and read the corresponding Haunt.
The Haunt we played was called Buried Alive. The Survivors had to find their missing friend that was buried alive and dig her up before she dies. The Traitor's goal was to kill the survivors before they could dig up their missing friend.
It's a fun game.
I played again with some other friends on Monday, and the Haunt had no traitor, we had to fight our Evil doppelgängers.
Again, a very fun game. I've played two of fifty scenarios, and due to the house being modular in design, even if I played the same scenario again, it would be different. I highly recommend playing it—a great alternate since Savage Worlds didn't work out.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
King Brian's Antics
In March I tried to Purchase Darby O'Gill and the Little People on DVD, but it was sold out. I found it a month later and picked it up. I was looking at the DVD Case and noticed immediately that there was something wrong.
Still Don't See It? Try taking a look at it on the shelf.
King Brian is Definitely Up to His Tricks Again!
Still Don't See It? Try taking a look at it on the shelf.
King Brian is Definitely Up to His Tricks Again!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Support Pakistan Flood Victims
Doctors Without Borders RPG Bundle (and Comic Bundle)
Back in January, Gamers Donated to Help Haiti. Now there is an opportunity to Donate via the same Organization, but this time in support of Pakistan Flood Victims. I must admit, I had not even heard of a Flood in Pakistan, I've really been out of the News Loop since I've been unemployed.
There are Two Bundles available via donation. An RPG bundle $25, and a Comic Bundle $10.
There were several things that Caught my Eye in the bundle, I'll Highlight them for the Curious.
4-Color: Super Teams Super Bases
@ctiv8
Accent Your Character: Standard British English
Adventures in OZ: Fantasy Roleplaying Beyond the Yellow Brick Road
Alien Planets
American Artifacts
Age of Volondor: Midlands Map Set
Apocalypse Prevention Incorporated Worldwide: Europe
Autopsy
Avalon Design Elements: Asian Elements Set 5
Behind the Spells: Permanency
Blessed By Poison
Caltrops
Character, Infiltrator
Church & State
Contenders
Covenant
d66 Spaceport City Names
Dark Waters
Dhanurvidya & Varman: The Arms and Armor of India (4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons)
Disposable Heroes Cyberpunk Statix 1 (Anime 203X)
Divine Foes
Don't Rest Your Head
Dragon Warriors RPG
Exalted 2nd Edition
Fear Itself
Feudal Characters: Noble
Firepower Pass
Fort Triside
FSpaceRPG Air Grid 1 board maps basic
Gaslight Victorian Fantasy (OGL Version)
HarnMaster: Third Edition
Himmelveil Streets / WorldWorksGames / TerrainlinX
Hot War
House in the Hills
Hyperlite: The Sirius Treaty
Icons
Karmic Places: Revelation
Kingdom Builder Generator Pack
Kingdoms of Legend: World Guide
Legacy of Maela: Campaign Setting
Legendary Blades [PFRPG]
MADS: Quickstart Rules
Objective Interim Modern Combat System
Open Game Table: The Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs, Vol. 2
OWG: The Original Witch Girls
Phaethos RPG: Core Rulebook
Pnumadesi Player's Companion
Scaldcrow Generic: Goron'Talteth
Spycraft 2.0 Rulebook - Second Printing
Starblazer Adventures
Sufficiently Advanced
Supplement I: National
The Cursed Chateau
The Pine Ridge Horror (Savage Worlds)
The Sanctuary Ruin (Blackmarch: Module 1)
The Sensitive [PFRPG]
The Ultimate GM Screen 2
The War of the Goblin King
The WatchGuard Sourcebook (Preview Edition)
Time & Temp: Paperless Office Edition
Undiscovered: The Quest for Adventure (Core Rulebook)
Unnamed Heroes #2
Unsung: Deluxe
Wild Talents 2nd Edition
Wrack & Rune
Zombie Death Town
[PFRPG] PaperCraft Legions: Titanic Clash!
[PFRPG] Player's Aid II: Monster Summoning Cards
Total Value $724.46
Then there's the Comic Bundle, which I wouldn't normally be interested in—except for the fact that they included some RPG Goodies in it.
2000 AD: Prog 1610
Alpha Gods OGN
Art of Vampire: The Masquerade
Cadre #1
Cwen's Quest Vol. 1
Dark Champions (Hero System)
Deadlands: One Shot
Descended From Darkness: Apex Magazine Vol. I
Equinox #1
Exalted Comic #1
Fana The Jungle Girl
Grumlahk's Troll Tales
Hawaii Star Manga Project #4
Heist
Jon Pay P.I. vs. Machine Gun Kelly
Livin' La Vida Dorka
Memoranda #1
Mouse Guard #1
Mutants & Masterminds, Second Edition
Roll Them Bones Unabridged Audiobook
Samhain
The Gunfighters of Korv Nikul : Sorcerers and Six-Shooters
The Uniques #2
Wombat Rue - Chapter 1: After Armageddon
Total Value $173.91
There are Two Bundles available via donation. An RPG bundle $25, and a Comic Bundle $10.
There were several things that Caught my Eye in the bundle, I'll Highlight them for the Curious.
4-Color: Super Teams Super Bases
@ctiv8
Accent Your Character: Standard British English
Adventures in OZ: Fantasy Roleplaying Beyond the Yellow Brick Road
Alien Planets
American Artifacts
Age of Volondor: Midlands Map Set
Apocalypse Prevention Incorporated Worldwide: Europe
Autopsy
Avalon Design Elements: Asian Elements Set 5
Behind the Spells: Permanency
Blessed By Poison
Caltrops
Character, Infiltrator
Church & State
Contenders
Covenant
d66 Spaceport City Names
Dark Waters
Dhanurvidya & Varman: The Arms and Armor of India (4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons)
Disposable Heroes Cyberpunk Statix 1 (Anime 203X)
Divine Foes
Don't Rest Your Head
Dragon Warriors RPG
Exalted 2nd Edition
Fear Itself
Feudal Characters: Noble
Firepower Pass
Fort Triside
FSpaceRPG Air Grid 1 board maps basic
Gaslight Victorian Fantasy (OGL Version)
HarnMaster: Third Edition
Himmelveil Streets / WorldWorksGames / TerrainlinX
Hot War
House in the Hills
Hyperlite: The Sirius Treaty
Icons
Karmic Places: Revelation
Kingdom Builder Generator Pack
Kingdoms of Legend: World Guide
Legacy of Maela: Campaign Setting
Legendary Blades [PFRPG]
MADS: Quickstart Rules
Objective Interim Modern Combat System
Open Game Table: The Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs, Vol. 2
OWG: The Original Witch Girls
Phaethos RPG: Core Rulebook
Pnumadesi Player's Companion
Scaldcrow Generic: Goron'Talteth
Spycraft 2.0 Rulebook - Second Printing
Starblazer Adventures
Sufficiently Advanced
Supplement I: National
The Cursed Chateau
The Pine Ridge Horror (Savage Worlds)
The Sanctuary Ruin (Blackmarch: Module 1)
The Sensitive [PFRPG]
The Ultimate GM Screen 2
The War of the Goblin King
The WatchGuard Sourcebook (Preview Edition)
Time & Temp: Paperless Office Edition
Undiscovered: The Quest for Adventure (Core Rulebook)
Unnamed Heroes #2
Unsung: Deluxe
Wild Talents 2nd Edition
Wrack & Rune
Zombie Death Town
[PFRPG] PaperCraft Legions: Titanic Clash!
[PFRPG] Player's Aid II: Monster Summoning Cards
Total Value $724.46
Then there's the Comic Bundle, which I wouldn't normally be interested in—except for the fact that they included some RPG Goodies in it.
2000 AD: Prog 1610
Alpha Gods OGN
Art of Vampire: The Masquerade
Cadre #1
Cwen's Quest Vol. 1
Dark Champions (Hero System)
Deadlands: One Shot
Descended From Darkness: Apex Magazine Vol. I
Equinox #1
Exalted Comic #1
Fana The Jungle Girl
Grumlahk's Troll Tales
Hawaii Star Manga Project #4
Heist
Jon Pay P.I. vs. Machine Gun Kelly
Livin' La Vida Dorka
Memoranda #1
Mouse Guard #1
Mutants & Masterminds, Second Edition
Roll Them Bones Unabridged Audiobook
Samhain
The Gunfighters of Korv Nikul : Sorcerers and Six-Shooters
The Uniques #2
Wombat Rue - Chapter 1: After Armageddon
Total Value $173.91
Friday, September 24, 2010
Savage Cake
The Cub Scouts have a Cake Auction/Pot Luck Soup Dinner every year as a Fund Raiser. This year, I had an Idea for a cake.
My wife covered the cake with orange (because that's what we had on hand), then I put on a one inch grid. Dropped some Dice and figures on and viola. The Zombie vs Robot vs Pirate vs Ninja Cake was born.
I had the Zombie and the Pirate and the Ninja on Hand, but I had to be a little creative for the Robot; I had a generic cake topper Soccer guy and spray painted him silver.
We included with the cake a copy of the Savage Worlds Test Drive Rules, and Character Sheets for a Zombie, Robot, Pirate, and Ninja.
My wife covered the cake with orange (because that's what we had on hand), then I put on a one inch grid. Dropped some Dice and figures on and viola. The Zombie vs Robot vs Pirate vs Ninja Cake was born.
I had the Zombie and the Pirate and the Ninja on Hand, but I had to be a little creative for the Robot; I had a generic cake topper Soccer guy and spray painted him silver.
We included with the cake a copy of the Savage Worlds Test Drive Rules, and Character Sheets for a Zombie, Robot, Pirate, and Ninja.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Dicecreator's Dice Update
I've had these dice on my person, almost since I received them. Yesterday I pulled them out of my pocket because I was playing with Handful of Heroes Figures with my daughter and wanted to give some structure to the play. I noticed that the Gear Die had developed a problem, the #2 Gear's edge has popped up.
Now to be fair, I have been very hard on these Dice. They have been in my pocket since April. They've been in my pocked at scout camp, they've been in my pocket in 100+ degree weather, they've been in my pocket when I've been fishing, they've been in my pocket at church. They bounce around with other things in my pocket, and deal with extreme temperature changes, I think they've done very well. The Halo Die is still in perfect condition.
Now to be fair, I have been very hard on these Dice. They have been in my pocket since April. They've been in my pocked at scout camp, they've been in my pocket in 100+ degree weather, they've been in my pocket when I've been fishing, they've been in my pocket at church. They bounce around with other things in my pocket, and deal with extreme temperature changes, I think they've done very well. The Halo Die is still in perfect condition.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Fire Wire
So I had a birthday recently, and my Mom gave me these Fire Wire things. I'd seen them on Woot! occasionally, but I was still a little unclear as to what they were. They are skewers for doing shish kebab, made of flexible surgical stainless steel. We used them the next day.
Thanks Mom!
Thanks Mom!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Snow?
This was on my porch August 30, 2010 7:38 am
Does this qualify as Early Snow, or Late Snow? It's Madness I tell you! However, I'm extremely happy for the cooler weather. Have I mentioned that I HATE Summer? It's true.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Deadlands Session Photos August 28, 2010
I'm always forgetting to post the photos that are taken at the session. The figures we use always amuse me. P tends to bring his own Hero Clix, and had some Jonah Hex figs this evening. Everyone else generally uses what I have on hand, which is currently figs from the Deadlands Board Game. This session they were in Shan Fan and were fighting Martial Artists, and I used some Colorful Ninjas that I got at a Party Favor Store some time ago. I apologized for the scale mismatch and Back to the Future was quoted, "Please excuse the crudity of this model, I didn't have time to build it to scale or to paint it."
I'm still laughing about that, just thinking about it.
Using Salt Water Taffy as Rubble.
It's inevitable, if P and I are both taking pictures, we will take pictures of each other taking a picture.
See? I told you.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Thrift Store Score
My second daughter had a birthday recently. We had looked for a cheap Ken Doll at the Walmart, but the only cheap one they had was Identical to the one that my four year old has—since we were trying to remedy a source of argument between them, my Wife wanted it to be different.
My Mom mentioned the Thrift Store at the Birthday party and frankly, I don't know why I didn't think of that—I love buying toys at the Thrift Store. So, we planned a trip to the store of thrift.
Now, I have my particular brand of Thrift Store Shopping down to a science. First, go straight to the Toys. What I look for is small scale plastic figurines, not necessarily articulated. When I was a Kid (and to this day) my favorite toys are the ones that are small, make no noise, and inspire imagination. Examples: Action Figures in General, Fisher Price Action People, Muscle Men, Fisher Price Little People (I don't like the new ones as much as the ones they made in the 70's–80's), Playmobil, Little Green Army guys (anything made in the manner of Green Army men), but my favorites are the small PVC plastic figures like the ones featured on my Savage Worlds Character Blog.
After I dig through the Toys, I check the Games (looking for games with interesting dice or components), I give the electronics a cursory glance, I check the CD's and Vinyl Albums (generally finding some really good stuff in vinyl), the books, the Good Stuff (a.k.a. the things kept locked behind glass), and finally the Ties (it has become increasingly difficult to find the good ties [I like ties that are stiff, thick, made in the 70's, polyester, with outlandish non-repeating patterns])
I started rambling didn't I?
My find this week? An Almost Complete, Dungeons and Dragons—Dragons Quest "Board" Game. The only thing missing was The Cover to the Rule Book (a.k.a. the Dungeon Masters Screen, of which I found a scan online), and the Adventure Book—which is kind of a bummer; but for two dollars I got six metal fantasy figurines and six polyhedral dice (1d10 was missing), 14 paper doors, and 48 varieties of paper monsters (only 2 missing).
My Mom mentioned the Thrift Store at the Birthday party and frankly, I don't know why I didn't think of that—I love buying toys at the Thrift Store. So, we planned a trip to the store of thrift.
Now, I have my particular brand of Thrift Store Shopping down to a science. First, go straight to the Toys. What I look for is small scale plastic figurines, not necessarily articulated. When I was a Kid (and to this day) my favorite toys are the ones that are small, make no noise, and inspire imagination. Examples: Action Figures in General, Fisher Price Action People, Muscle Men, Fisher Price Little People (I don't like the new ones as much as the ones they made in the 70's–80's), Playmobil, Little Green Army guys (anything made in the manner of Green Army men), but my favorites are the small PVC plastic figures like the ones featured on my Savage Worlds Character Blog.
After I dig through the Toys, I check the Games (looking for games with interesting dice or components), I give the electronics a cursory glance, I check the CD's and Vinyl Albums (generally finding some really good stuff in vinyl), the books, the Good Stuff (a.k.a. the things kept locked behind glass), and finally the Ties (it has become increasingly difficult to find the good ties [I like ties that are stiff, thick, made in the 70's, polyester, with outlandish non-repeating patterns])
I started rambling didn't I?
My find this week? An Almost Complete, Dungeons and Dragons—Dragons Quest "Board" Game. The only thing missing was The Cover to the Rule Book (a.k.a. the Dungeon Masters Screen, of which I found a scan online), and the Adventure Book—which is kind of a bummer; but for two dollars I got six metal fantasy figurines and six polyhedral dice (1d10 was missing), 14 paper doors, and 48 varieties of paper monsters (only 2 missing).
Notice there are three Zombies...any day you can get Zombies and Dice at the Thrift store is a Good Day.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Finally!!!
I just approved a comment on my blog, and Google Finally made it say who was commenting and what Post they were commenting on part of the approval page.
I've wanted this for a long time. The only workaround I had was to enable the e-mail notifications, because in the e-mail notification it would actually tell me what blog post they commented upon. This means I can finally stop spamming myself every time I approve a comment just to avoid confusion for those rare moments that someone comments on an old blog post.
Huzzah!!
I've wanted this for a long time. The only workaround I had was to enable the e-mail notifications, because in the e-mail notification it would actually tell me what blog post they commented upon. This means I can finally stop spamming myself every time I approve a comment just to avoid confusion for those rare moments that someone comments on an old blog post.
Huzzah!!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Ah, Memories
This is not the kind of post I normally make—i.e. embedding a video, or pointing to another blog post sans commentary, etc..
However, I know a lot of my cousins visit the site, and I know that we used to play Oregon Trail on grandma's computer. I didn't like it or play it that much, I found it to be repetitive, still I played it enough to understand the humor in this fake movie trailer. So I though I would share...
However, I know a lot of my cousins visit the site, and I know that we used to play Oregon Trail on grandma's computer. I didn't like it or play it that much, I found it to be repetitive, still I played it enough to understand the humor in this fake movie trailer. So I though I would share...
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