200th post!

So this is the big 2 0 0 and I am afraid I don't have much to post... but felt its been too long between real posts so obligation has dictated this meager attempt.  Work has been very busy the past month or so, and combine that with an incredibly awesome glut of good videogames recently...  not much free time.  I am way behind on getting models painted, and I have a very big adventure to write for later this month so the busy time will continue in and out of work.

Today is the two year anniversary of Gary Gygax's death.... hope everyone did something D&D-ish in his honor.

In case you haven't heard... A Game of Thrones... confirmed for a 10 episode run on HBO.  Should be on TV around this time next year.  Amazing news indeed.

I shall fill the rest of this post up with some lists..

Currently Reading:
Odd and the Frost Giants - by Neil Gaiman
Warmachine Prime MkII  - by Privateer Press


Recently Finished:
sadly...not much.

On Deck:
Princess of Landover - by Terry Brooks
D&D 4th Edition: Player's Handbook 3 - by WotC
Star Wars: Legacy - Dark Horse Comics

Currently Watching:
Legend of the Seeker: Season 2 - via Netflix on 360
Caprica -  via iTunes 
Robin Hood: Season 3 (BBC) - via DVD
Clone Wars: Season 2 - via iTunes
Spartacus - via Netflix on 360
Robot Chicken D&D vid-casts - via YouTube & WotC

Recently Finished:
Dollhouse: Season 2 - via iTunes

On Deck:
 Dr. Who: Season 5 - via ?

Currently Playing:
Dragon Age: Origins - 360
Street Fighter 4 - 360


Recently Finished:
Mass Effect 2 - 360
Bioshock 2 - 360

On Deck:
Final Fantasy 1 - iPod
Final Fantasy 2 - iPod
Final Fantasy 13 - 360
Bayonetta - 360 (Gamefly rental)

Currently Painting:
Pirates.. lots of em' - Warmachine
Shadowhorn Satyr - Hordes
Tharn Bloodweavers - Hordes

Recently finished:
.... nothing.  gah! nothing!

On Deck:
LOTS...Winterguard... more pirates... Retribution...

Currently Listening:
Inland Territory - Vienna Teng
This is the New Year - Ian Axel
Mass Effect/Mass Effect 2 OSTs - various
Against the Night - Jason Webley

On Deck:
Evelyn Evelyn - Evelyn Evelyn

well...  thats it for post 200...

Gonna be sweet...

Read the book first.

The Reading List

I have really fallen behind in my reading of late... at one point I promised myself I would dedicate more time to reading.. but I have failed at it. So I thought I'd make this list of books that are on "the pile" to be read soon.  Then I saw this post on Wil Wheaton's blog today.. and he had the perfect quote from Neal Stephenson:

"If you choose to read a book today, it's not like a hundred years ago, when that was your only option. Today, when you read a book, you're making a conscious decision not to play a video game, not to surf the web, not to watch a movie, not to turn on the TV. It does require a certain discipline to make that decision.…"

I also spend a good amount of time listening to audiobooks, so I will include them as well.  Mostly for me, audiobooks are a way to re-live a book I have already read, so they are not as much of a priority as reading new stuff.  These are in no particular order...

Star Wars : Allegiance by Timothy Zahn

Star Wars: Outbound Flight by Timothy Zahn

I have been slowly working my way into the Expanded Universe... Zahn is easily the best of the authors writing in there...(he is also pretty much responisble for starting it all...)

Star Wars: Republic Commando Triple Zero by Karen Traviss

Star Wars: Republic Commando Hard Contact by Karen Traviss

This would be the second best Expanded Universe author...gritty war stories from the Clone Wars told from the point of view of the Clone Troopers.  Very respected and recommened books in the Star Wars Community.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Everything this man writes is worth reading... and I have a signed copy of this book just waiting to be read. 

The Dark Tower 1: The Gunslinger by Stephen King

Never been a King fan... but a friend of mine recoommnded this series heavily.. so I am gonna give it a try.

Armegeddon's Children by Terry Brooks

The Elves of Cintra by Terry Brooks

The Gypsy Morph by Terry Brooks

Brook's new series The Genesis of Shanarra, which links two of his previous series together.. I have always enjoyed Brook's work.. just haven't dove into these yet..

Infinity Rulebook: 2nd Edition by CorvusBelli

Still working on learning this game... and this version of the rules just came out...  Its a really cool game.. with awesome miniatures... here is one of those very miniatures painted by the master of miniature painting, Mike McVey.  The fluff behind the miniatures and armies is one of my favorite parts of miniature games.. so I am looking forward to reading this.

Listening to.......

The Black Unicorn by Terry Brooks

I love the Landover series, and hadn't read it in ages.. next fall is a new book in thsi series, so I am gonna get caught up via audio..

Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind

Ever since I started reading about the upcoming TV show I have wanted to go back and read the books.. but audio seems like a good way to go about it... then I can paint miniatures at the same time. :)

Legend of the Seeker

So.. there is a very successful series of books called "The Sword of Truth" by an author named Terry Goodkind.  I read the first book in the series, Wizard's First Rule, and really enjoyed.  It was a great story and was set in a world that had a very interesting mythos/magic system.  The second book was also good, but less so than the first, and I would say the same when comparing the thrid book to the second.  Anyways.. I didn't read the fourth.  Though, I believe there are now like.. 10 books in the series?  I would like to one day go back and read them... for as I said, the world is pretty cool.  The first book in the series is certainly worth ready, for it is quite good.  But, you don't like reading?  Is that what I hear you saying?  Well you are in luck my friend!  For the infamous Sam Raimi (the director of Spiderman) is turning the series of books into an hour long fantasy/drama on your television.  Much in the same vein as Xena:Warrior Princess, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, The Beastmaster, and to a lesser extent Cleopatra 2525 (for those wishing a sci-fi comparison)... this show will more than likely be aired at weird times, on less than big networks.  But I am oddly excited to see it.  I guess its more along the lines of me wanting a fantasy TV series to actually work, and actually be good.

Anyway.. here are some trailers for the show, which airs November 1st (Check your local listings!)

Perhaps the most interesting character in the series is the female lead, Kahlan.  Digging deep into my memory banks here (so some details may be fuzzy)... but she was

 known as a "Confessor."  All the confessor's were women, and they had this unique power.  They needed to touch their "victims" and then they would release their power and those affected would be completely controlled/enthralled/enraptured/in-love/dedicated to/by/with the Confessor, forever, no questions asked, forever.  So they were called confessors, because their power would be unleashed on a potential criminal at court, and since he was then completely dedicated to the confessor, there is no way he would lie to her... thus his confession 

was always truthful.. of course, then he didn't really have much of a life if he was innocent, since he was now pretty much a slave to the confessor.  The confessor had complete power over the people they controlled, they could command them to do anything, and their victims would not waver.. they were completely consumed by the magically induced love for the Confessor that touched them.  Its an interesting power... and I am curious as to how they depict it in the TV show...  I should try to read that book again before the show starts, but my reading list is already too long (soon to be discussed in an upcoming blog post).. perhaps I can snag the audio book off of Audible.com...

And of course, as you can see in the still frame above, the women have to ride around showing lots of cleavage... or else it can't be classified as "fantasy"... 

And a fun fact for you here... if you look at the poster image above.. and look closely at the guy with the bow and arrow.. you will none other than JayLag'aia known by geeks everywhere for his role as Jango Fett (and all subsequent clones of him in Episodes II and III)

You can view additional trailers/media/information/etc at the official website.