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Ok, updating the blog should be the last thing to do before heading out to GENCON, baby! Lots of stuff going on, from KFG Wednesday Gaming to my ever-popular Mike B's Room Party! Can't get out of here fast enough, although poor Cordy is already wise to what's fixing to happen. It's OK, I'm gonna bribe her with some catnip before I go. So if you got one of the Zombies Ate My Buick cards at the Con, and are wondering what this site is all about, just pop on over to the Town, and you'll find all my scatterbrained (and half-complete) projects all over.
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Ok, once again, I gotta say I'm the worst blogger ever. But it's not my fault, dammit. I'm now addicted to Facebook! But I promise, the neglect here will end... at least for a month or two and more content is coming soon. I'm closing up the Crypt, because I've decided I want to use it for something a bit more than another document/project repository. Log back on the week of Halloween and something special will be there. So, now we teetering at the edge of another August. Another year of GenCon coming up: running a bunch of stuff for KFG Wednesday Gaming... and after that, back over to Texas for my cousin Jimbo's wedding. Anyoo, time to go add stuff in town...
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I'm not really feeling THAT emo, but hey, I always loved "Pity For The Self" by Poesie Noire. So deliciously downbeat.
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Ah, how appropriate this site is called ZOMBIES Ate My Buick, since this blog is a tomb. So for Saint Patty's Day I was a well-behaved Irishman and didn't go out and party, as I just got back from Whosyercon, and was inducted as an Ensign in the august organization of Barfleet. Speaking of Saint Patrick's Day, a tale comes to mind from my days living in Texas. Around 1996 or so, there was a teacher at Browning Elementery School who wanted to give her students a Saint Patrick's Day treat, in the cinematic viewing of Leprechaun for her 6th Graders. In her Blarney elan, she must have failed to notice it was an R-rated slasher movie with lots of gore and violence. Lucky the Leprechaun he wasn't. This misguided holiday hijinx made it into the paper. Saint Begorah! In the town, updated the jukebox in the bar, moved Wars of Chocolatia to The Museum (along with some other cookie-related mayhem). Today, I'm adding more stuff to the Video Vault. Honest Injun.
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Hungry? Pop on over to the Tarman Bar and check out the menu on the bar.... :P
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Heh, well so much for weekly blog updates, eh? Work's been pickin' up and other commitments have been hornin' in on my blog time! That, and lots and lots of damn ICE! The Commonwealth has been iced over for the past two weeks. Real fun to drive in with a rear-wheel drive, lemme tell ya! Lots of stuff coming up. First is Mardi Gras (back up in Newport), then Whosyercon and Saint Patrick's Day in March. I need to move some of my event pics up online... in the city of half-complete features, right? :P More stuff in the Crypt. Wars of Chocolatia is starting up... who will win? Only time will tell. That is if I get off my ass and start working on the site... heh.
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Another year, and yes, I made the same abysmally failed resolution to update this site at least once a week... the last blog entry stopped at the end of August. Ugh! But hey, it's a fresh year, right? I'll do better. :) Had a wonderful holiday -- other than injuring my thumb while skiing. Still feels numb, and is driving me nuts. The ol' sawbones thought it was Carpal Tunnel (big surprise there) and for a week had my hand in a cast. Lousy way to ring in the new year! Getting the 3rd Season of Tales from the Darkside as we speak, so the reviews for that will resume soon -- check the basement in the theatre. Also, time to update the abandonware library as well. Happy New Year! May the zombies lose their appetite for your vehicular transport.
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...I ain't got no wheels and I just *didn't* get paid. Money is tight after GenCon, so a few nights in may do me some good. So I am currently exploring the wilds of Cyrodil... well, that is, my thief is running up against the wall to raise his stealth while I update ZAMB. :P Interesting item -- if you have a local account on your Xbox 360, it will use that instead of the live account by default. So I just lost everything I accomplished in Oblivion. Ach. Fortunately I wasn't that far along anyway... so its back to whacking mud crabs all night. Finally managed to update the Museum. I only had one art piece handy, but my friend the lovely and talented Stacy Becker submitted some pieces for your viewing pleasure. Love ya baby! I really gotta update that Abandonware and Library, but tomorrow I gotta go back into work. Yikes. Stay tuned, more content before the Labor Day weekend is over, honest injun.
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So where are the Museum pieces and abandonware I promised the other night? Hey, don't blame me. Blame Bethesda. My replacement CD of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion arrived the other day, and we all know how that "I just wanna take on ONE more dungeon" slippery slope goes, don't we? It truly is amazing how far CRPGs have progressed. I still remember Akalabeth, where just having a stick figure a different color on the screen was cause to sit up and notice. Hell, I still remember The Holy Grail by Hayden Software, my very first computer game. All text. The Highwayman (who wasn't as dashing as the Loreena McKennitt song... that one always reminded me of Gargamel for some reason), that odd man-eating lichen forest (oh no, I covered your toe!) and of course all those weird sci-fi twists and turns. Odd when you consider that was a mere 23 years ago! Now, we have such realistic graphics I find myself wincing when the goblins swing their axes, or when the barbed traps descend from the ceiling. Just remember it is the story, not the trappings. And Oblivion has an immersive story to boot. So, hey, I may be a while. :P Too bad I gotta go to work. Damn practical financial activities hornin' in on my game playing!
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Ok, the Museum is up, but as everyone has been good enough to tell me today, nothing is in it. I am going to bring a few pieces online tonight -- but don't count on those other categories (Diorama and Archives) staying. Still not entirely sure what else I can put in that thing. I do, after all, have a Library I really need to populate sometime soon. Also, I will work on bringing some more Abandonware online tonight.... I will update those projects one day -- I promise I'll post some stuff I programmed that ISN'T from the Jurassic Era. Yes, the Bar now has a guestbook (of sorts). As my esteemed college buddy Mr. Evans has observed, my PHP leaves something to be desired, and I need to tweak it so it's not such a jarring departure from the site. Finally, those Ravenloft characters should be up tomorrow. Just have to scan 'em in.
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Another GenCon down. Aside from a few mishaps (making out while I should have been running a game -- bad Mike :O) it was a blast as always. Too bad I got that Con Cold that was going around! Anyhow, a definite highlight was running the original Ravenloft Module. I'm pretty sure this is going to be a yearly thing for me at the KFG Wednesday Gaming. For those of you unfamiliar, Ravenloft is an adventure module (written by Tracy Hickman) which is the archetypal "vampire/madman in the dark castle at the top of the mountain" quest, where the adventurers must take down the BBEG on his own turf. Yeah, it's cliched. It's melodramatic. It's... it's ambrosia to gamers and horror fans. :P I will now create a subsite of the Crypt just for this campaign, which I will run at The Frightfest (live!) and Wednesday Gaming from here on in. Ok, and I gotta update the Museum too. The wonderfully talented Miss Becker will be on dispay.
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Added a new building to the Town. Nothing in it yet, but hey, something soon. Anyhow, today I got to chat with one of my old GenCon Compadres, Raeliste, also known as the dynamically determined do-gooder Deoderant Dame. It's so cool that all my peeps are coming out of the woodwork, now that the big dance is about to start! In that spirit, let me share some of my field work in the area of gaming research: Gamers In The Myst. Enjoy. I'm sure you've encountered many of my field subjects in your own forays into the Dorito-scattered wilds of the gaming tables. Ok gonna add a few more things and then off to bed. I've done enough for King and Country for one night.
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Stories of my disappearance have been greatly exaggerated. Stories of my slacking, however, have been right on the mark. Well hey, it's only been a quarter of a YEAR since I updated the blog, right? Jeesh. So much for my resolution to keep on top of things. As penance, I will build three new features in the town by Monday, scout's honor. Origins was a blast -- once again, got to hang out with my friends and partied the nights away. Practice, of course, for the BIG Party of GenCon. The After Dark Party is really starting to pick up steam, and promises to be a wild time. Meanwhile, I still haven't built my modules for the KFG Wednesday Gaming. Ol' Slackasaurus Rex is just a prodigy of procrastination, isn't he? Speaking of building modules, I am thinking about seeing if the publishers of Aces and Eights would be interested in taking some freelance mods. Don't know when I would have time to work on it, but it would be nice to have some published work in the games field. Happy Birthday to Vanessa and Stacy!
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Well, 2008 has been kind of a bust so far. Virtually all my jaunts got cancelled... including Mavencon last weekend (on account of snow)... everyone told me it was a wild time, especially with the Barfleet shindig afterwards. Instead of partying with my favorite friends, instead I stayed here, snowed in, and watched some LOTR while playing Ultima Online. Wow, the excitement just never stops at Casa De Brannon :/ Anyhow, I was supposed to be up in The Windy City right about now, but a bunch of factors prohibited my yearly Saint Patty's Day pilgrimage/bingegrimage... gas prices, the 30 degree high for tomorrow, and oh yes, that wonderful surprise $200.00 bill I got yesterday for a knee x-ray I had done last SEPTEMBER. Evidentally it was not covered because it was done at a Hospital. How fucked up is that? I guess next time I'll go to the K-Mart Superstore to get my x-rays. I hate insurance companies. Liars, cheaters and scammers that live off human tragedy, every one of them. I think I'll call Humana and suggest their new motto: "HUMANA: You'd Better Pray You Don't Get Sick." So looks like I'm doing my Irish throat-barley-baptisms around Lexington, possibly Cincy. I have the iTunes gift card right here on my desk, so go see if you won it here!
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Just booked up my hotels for the first half of the year. Mavencon, Saint Patrick's Day in Chicago, Horton Heat concert up in Newport, and so on. I stayed in last night and watched the entire first season of Metalocalypse. I walked away in a metal-induced stupor, like listening to a Cannibal Corpse marathan. The show does have some great music and witty commentary, but still a bit thin in concept... the 10 minute run-time is perfect for it but I'm not sure it can go much further. Ever since South Park, it seems like everyone is moving to Flash animation. Are the days of animation craftsmanship over? Anyhow, an annoying development. I've just been told that the Town has a black line through the top quadrants. This seems to only happen in Firefox and Safari. Not exactly sure why, but it may have something to do with ActiveX. Oh well. Time to go grab some grub. Can't work on little inconsistencies on an empty stomach, doncha know! :P
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Ooohh my head. I miss the days of my heady youth when I could go out and booze it up and wake up without a hangover. Age is catching up with me at last. But still, had a blast at the Cincinnati Mardi Gras on MainStrasse in Covington. Beads, boobs and booze galore as everyone lived it up in our Midwestern (scaled down) version of the Big Easy. It was but a street block long, but all of the Mainstrasse bars were open for business. I got there too late for the parade, alas. And it was a bit cold so folks weren't on the streets, only huddled in the many taverns. I did get to spend the end of the evening hanging out with the famous Cap'n Jack Sparrow. We shared tales of pirates and pondering the eternal question of why the run is always gone. As the money for the imbibables ran low, and it was merely midnight, I went to my car to go get more cash -- I didn't bring my credit cards, only cash on hand. However, I ended up getting lost, pounding the dark streets of Covington and being chewed mercilessly by Jack Frost. My fondess for cold soured a bit. By the time I finally found my car, it was time to call it a night. Woke up in the wee hours with a 3-alarm hangover, and my noggin is still aching a bit despite a breakfast of aspirin. It's enough to make me forgo the beer I was planning to drink for the Super Bowl. Super Bown XLII! The Patriots vs. The Giants. Who am I rooting for? Neither, really. Since my team, the dolorous Miami Dolphins, had a wretched season (I tell folks they almost did the perfect season again -- in reverse), I really am ambivalent. I suppose I marginally want the Pats to win because they are AFC East. But we shall see. I have the 7-layer-dip and buffalo wings ready... but no beer.
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An interesting development -- Exstream Software, the company I used to work for, just got bought out by Hewlett Packard. I'm a bit concerned for the friends I left behind -- although they have been assured their jobs were safe, I've been promised the same thing in the situation, and that's usually a sign to start worrying. Anyhoo, updated the town with some new locales. And no, they don't really do anything yet. I spent over an hour wrangling with tables to break up the town into more sophisticated sections. I really suppose I should do this in flash, but I want the site to be accessible to all, not just a collection of Flash Movies. So John IMs me with some ideas he is doing for a paper on military thought and aspects of strategy. We got on the subject of World War II tanks, and he told me about the Aberdeen Proving Grounds and gave me some pics of their famous Tank Alley. Looks very impressive... even more so than the Patton Museum. Gotta check it out some day. And it's 2:00am. Time to hit the rack. Oh and Charolette, I added your tombstone to the boneyard. So put the duct tape away, babe. :P
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Ok new content added today. Won't say what exactly, but it should make the couch potatoes happy. Go rooting around the Theatre and you'll see what I mean. :) What a dud of a weekend -- it was below 10 here, and I just couldn't bring myself from leaving the cozy warmth of the apartment. So much more to do before I make the site public. Anyone who is reading this blog must have arrived by word of mouth -- I never programmed in the meta codes, but I figured I needed a lot more content before I give it to the ol' spiderbots. I did mean for the website to be a giant hodgepodge of variety, but it does need to do some of the things well, after all. January is almost gone, and registration for GC is coming up. Tales of my debauchery have reached near and far, it would seem -- I've already gotten 10+ emails asking about my Saturday Night blowout. I hope Rachel turns up again. <3 And a big shout to my forum buddy tehana, who had to call me up last night to tell me how she was living it up at some Boston con. Luv ya, hon!
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Hm, skipping 8 months isn't much of blogging, is it? Well, I have made a New Years Resolution to update the blog at least once a week, AND to add something new to the site at least one each weekend. So keep your eyes peeled in the city. More buildings coming soon, and of course more features hidden every which way. And yes, the Crypt WILL be updated, for those who are brave enough to step inside. So here we are in 2008. Another 365 circuits of the moon. I've made a great deal of other resolutions, mostly to get other projects off the ground and try for that brass ring. More on that later. I rang in the New Year in Chicago, after an enjoyable Denver Christmas. Didn't hit a tree this year skiing -- in fact, I didn't fall down once the whole time... new record for me! However, the New Year pub crawl was severely curtailed by inclement weather, which took me two days to drive back from. Boy oh boy, Jack Frost was biting a hell of a lot more than my nose. Happy New Year, and keep your eye out for new mucho new content .
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Yeah, yeah. I know. The idea behind a blog is to keep it updated, right? Lots been going on in the past two months, not the least of which involves starting a brand spankin' new job as a System Validator. Pays a lot more for a technical writer, and much more in demand. So I think I'm going to try this for a year or two. I've been pulled into process validation my whole life. Maybe it's what the man upstairs intended. Who knows? Today is Cinco De Mayo! The day Mexico declared its independence. Naturally, as a USA Gringo I really don't have a stake to celebrate this event, other than it's yet another occasion to go out and get hammered. Speaking of which, the Saint Patrick's day trip was a blast -- what I remember of it! Wonder where the party is tonight. I suppose I'll check ever Mexican Restaurant in Lexington. Hopefully I won't be gone for another two months... hope to do more work on the site to make it for it. Adios, muchachos!
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It's nearly midnight here, and I've been adding more content to the site. Mostly the new town map, which looks slicker and accomodates more locations. I wanted to add the Software Shop tonight, but the hour is getting late. I still have a lot of graphics to clean up. We're moving from JPGs (lossy as hell) to the bigger but crisper PNG files, folks. You can see the difference in the blog titles! We had quite a Kentucky snowstorm here today, so I had to skip out on the gym and came right home. Why not work on the site, since I was snowed in? Also, it was a good chance for me to dive into my Dungeons and Dragons DVD set. Great memorable characters, from the jovial Arabian Maruader Ramuud, to the villanous Warduke. The shows were always great fun and take me back to a time in the 80s when I was first learning the game. I especially liked Eric the Cavalier, the sarcastic, cynic blowhard. Well, I suppose I can go try to add the Software Shop to the town. If I don't fall asleep on my keyboard first.... Zzzzzzz....
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Well, well, well. We are one hour away from the SuperBowl, that pinnacle of merchandising and beer commericals. I've spent a bunch of time today on the site. The Library is now up, even though it doesn't do anything yet. And now the moongate is working. Lots more work to do, but hey, gotta take a break for the Pigskin Classic, eh? I'm in an odd mood right now, having watched Night of the Living Dead, Scarface and Clue all back-to-back while hammering away on the site. BTW, I know the email isn't working right now.... use my evilwillhunting@gmail.com address for now. But at any rate, the ghoulish mood brought back an odd memory: Blood Bowl by the Game Designers Workshop. In essence, it's a football game with fantasy adventure monsters -- elves, orcs, trolls, gargoyles, and so on. I remember two games made for it (the turn-based one with the series name, plus the memorable arcade game Grave Yardage. Fun times. I remember playing the human team, The Ruaorkland Revears! Smashdown, baby! I doubt we'll see as many ogres and ghouls running end zones tonight. But if I had to guess, I'd say the Bears. But I'd like for the Colts to pull an upset. I'm pulling for you, Mr. Manning. Let's make the Super Bowl Peyton's Place... erm.... wait... maybe not.
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I refer to, of course, the boy with the bow -- son of Venus and Mars. With a direct hit from his quiver, you think one would be wounded from the arrow's blade. Yet instead, we fall irrevocably in love with our current fancy. Sometimes I think the arrow's blade would be better. My valentine not only nixed the 14th, but also told me the "chemistry is not there" for us to go the next level. Ah, the old chemistry line. A one-size-fits-all relationship breaker. This wonderfully vague line fits all occasions. But if it's not meant to be, c'est la vie, mon ami. Perhaps the life of a monk is a simpler calling. They don't have to deal with such issues. But then, the cassocks look itchy. And those vows of silence and ceblicity just won't work for me. Oh well, maybe Cupid will soon hit me with his enchanted arrow of passion, instead of gleefully winging me with bladed sheaf arrows.
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Anyhoo, one of my New Years Resolutions is to get on the ball with this site, update it more than once a month. That and the Gamernomicon, Kentucky Fried Gamers, and about a billion other projects I have in the fire. Is this the year I find Mrs. Right? Will I stay in Kentucky? Will I ever figure out the difference between Bok Choy and Cabbage? All of these things can only be answered in the hazy murky depths of the future, into which we delve with a bold sense of adventure... Oh, and the Christmas CD list hit an all time high -- 200! Good Lord, I went through two sets of ink carts to print up all those labels. It was a huge hit, though. Folks especially liked the collage of Zat You Santa Claus. Gotta top this one next year!
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It's been a while since Slackasaurus Rex has updated the ol' WebSite, eh? We missed all of October! Speaking of which, thanks to everyone who participated in the Holiday Festivities: we had an intrepid band explore The Crypt, and meanwhile over at Gamernomicon, we had two Halloween Frightfests: NIGHTMARE.MSI and The Carnival of Cerebus. Chills and spills all around! Alas, too much going on and I found myself on the annointed (or villified) night without a party. So I went over to Survivors where some jovial sot dressed as Satan led the festivies in a wild karoke fest. I caught the fancy of some luscious goth vampire gal, but alas The Wizard O' Booze didn't impart enough courage for this cowardly lion. Anyhow, since bonuses are given out at the END of the quarter, I got my Xmas funds on Nov 1. So I have completed all of the Christmas shopping, shipped off all the gift parcels, and got all the cards, stamps and seals for the CD ROM distribution. This year's will knock yer socks off! This has all given me some Christmas spirit a month early. Also I am working on the tiptop secret "Gift of the Mage Eye" project for the GenCon crew (yes I went crawling back after that fuckwit left). Anyhow, new update before the next year, I promise.
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6 ...where the Good Lord has split ya! Ahh, geez. Ya gots to love the Internet. I'll throw modesty to the wind and say that I've been something of a fixture on the GenCon OffTopic Forums for the past two years. I've been very sad to see some of my best friends leave the boards out of protest due to policy of the powers that be. Thinking I was on good terms with all of the mods, I was sure that would never happen. But, I fear, it has. A while ago, a rabblerouser/troll/internet know-it-all was banned for a series of truly tasteless and childish stunts. Well, he has returned under a friend's account -- and if it is not him, then his friend is doing a damn good impression -- but in the end, it doesn't matter. And he seeks only to sow discontent and disparage anyone else handy. Well, trouble starts brewing when I don't lay down for his arrogant bullshit. And then I find the mods back his underhanded play. Why? Because they are scared of him. This whole damn board has been ruled by this banned turkey for a year now. It's annoyed me to no end. But now I see there is no end in sight to this shameful farce and fear. It really disgusts me to think of how much time and money I've put into that community. Driving up for Mavens meetings. Working on scheduling tools. Organizing parties. Buying/making prize kits. ALL FOR THEM. Each GenCon I spend nearly $1,000 on organizing, prizes, gas, hotels, all for the community. And yet they'll still throw me to the wolves because they fear this chucklehead and his vegence. And another one bites th' dust!
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6 Don't ya love the night after a concert? Ears are ringing, head is pounding? The Rev was in rare form last night, playing to a sold-out crowd. Not enough room for dancing -- actually, not enough room for *breathing* -- which is a shame, since there were some hot honeys packed in at The Dame. Interesting opening act -- a Danish psychobilly/goth number called The Horrorpops. Something bizarre about seeing a goth chick playing an upright bass. The had these two nummy (but slightly scary) go-go dancers in skull dresses jamming to the music. All in all, a wild time, even if The Dame was a bit crowded (as usual). Planning to go back up there for the Salsa Dance this Friday! Bonita!! Oh yes, and today, mucho work on the site. I promise.
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6 Yes, let the word go forth on the street that Mike Brannon's blog LIVES! Now he can inflict himself on the public when you all foolishly think you are safe in your homes and surfing the internet for Bavarian midget porn or whatever pumps through that cable modem of yours. What's going on this week? Umm, well, gonna work on getting ZAMB online. This weekend: The REV is gonna be up at The Dame! Oh yes, the raucuous rockabilly will reign. Also, I will pen my story of travail and heartbreak, and hide it somewhere in the town. And no, I'm not telling you where to look.
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