Marty McFly & Doc Brown Visit Jimmy Kimmel Live

Back to Back Game Days

There are a few things that I look forward to, and Game Days are one of them.

When Rita and I got married, we decided to set up a family tradition of holding monthly Game Days -- dedicated days where we invite friends over to hang out, play games, and have fun. We find that it is refreshing to the soul, a time of respite from daily work, chores, and responsibilities. Some of our friends share this sentiment, and they come over to play, schedule allowing.

This October 3, we scheduled such a Game Day. Alas, all but one of our friends were available for it. And personally, it was a downer. But then, one is still better than none and we three -- Rita, Bryan, and myself -- are enough of a quorum for most games, so we pushed through with it.

Geme Review: Card of the Dead

While none can take away my love for tabletop role-playing games (TRPGs), there are some games that I came to like because they simulate certain aspects of TRPGs. Munchkin is one of them, Bang! is another. A third, easy to play game came our way via Gaming Library: Card of the Dead.

When Movie Reflects Meta: Thoughts on how "Heneral Luna" criticized today's moviegoers

When the news that the movie Heneral Luna will have its run shortened by theaters, many netizens wailed. Some, like myself, made plans to watch the film before it gets pulled out. Others, understandably, criticized the movie-going public's taste in movies. Still others campaigned and encouraged on social media to have more people watch it, sharing images like this:

What Heneral Luna taught me

After watching the beautiful but painful movie Heneral Luna with my cousin, Emil Flores, I can't help but think how thematically parallel it is with "The Dark Knight."

Movie Review: The Avengers -- Age of Ultron

The Avengers: Age of Ultron opened last April 22 much to the delight of many a geek. Here is this geek's reactions. SPOILERS AHEAD

David Hasselhoff - True Survivor

As a guy who grew up in the 1980s (and a fan of The Hoff's Knight Rider), this video really had me rolling in laughter while applauding its unabashed love for that era's action genre. It is littered with 80s things like the Lamborghini Countach (the dream car of my generation), vikings with Uzis, buddy cop tropes, and martial arts cops. Anyone who grew up in the 80s would definitely love this!



The Hoff just made me want to watch Kung Fury, the indie movie where "True Survivor" is the theme song.  

Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game Expansion Wave 7 looks awesome!

Fantasy Flight Games released Wave 7 of expansion packs for their Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game, and they look exciting!

Wave 7 is a mix of all three factions -- Rebel, Imperial, and Scum and Villainy. This wave is composed of Bossk's ship "The Hound's Tooth," a Rebel bomber (finally!) called the K-Wing, a Black Sun syndicate Kihraxz fighter, and an Imperial Punisher which looks like a TIE bomber on steriods.

See them here: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/4/20/hit-them-hard-and-fast/

Game Day April 18, 2015 part 2

For Part 2 of the April 18 Game Day, I'll let Bryan tell the story.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
[Quoted from our Tavern Adventurers email group. Pictures are Bryan San Miguel's and mine]

Game Day at the Magallona's.

There were just three of us, Ian, Paul, and I.

Finally got to roleplay again. I ran a game under a new system but we played it old school. No minifigs. No playmats. (well, we did use a playmat but only as a substitute for pen and paper) Just character sheets, dice, and our imagination. No heroic quests to complete, no monsters, no big bad. Also no pictures taken.

The whole game was about two guys, hired to be debt collectors, going about town, having misadventures along the way.

It was... something. But a good something. A great something.

Next we played X-Wing miniatures. 100 point build per faction. Paul and I were playing glorious Empire against Ian and his Rebel scum.


Here's the set-up at the start of the first match.

Game Day April 18, 2015 part 1

This Game Day is different because it was meant to be a dedicated RPG session. Only my friends Bryan and Paul came. I was disappointed with how the day unfolded, but looking back, there are some things that I am grateful for.

Bryan decided to go old school RPG: no minis, no playmats, just dice, pencils, paper and out imagination. Thus, no pics because, seriously, how interesting are pictures of guys talking around a table with dice, pencils and paper?

The story went like this: Two adventurers were in a tavern -- Vaden the Ranger (played by Paul) and Varbio the Barbarian who looks exactly like this guy:

Bob, the innkeeper/bartender, hires them to collect five gold pieces from Drago (who supposedly has chihuahuas the size of dobermans) and promises to pay them two gold pieces. So off our adventurers went.

Star Wars Episode 7 (VII): The Force Awakens Official Teaser Trailer #2 ...

My officemate came in this morning with a wide grin on her face. She excitedly asked me, "Have you seen it?" referring to the latest The Force Awakens trailer.



Saw it. Went giddy as a fanboy. The trailer was exciting, with plenty more action scenes. But that ending just blew me away. December can't come soon enough.



Here you go, and join this fanboy in his giddiness.

Happy International Tabletop Day

Today is International Tabletop Day, and I won't be gaming.

This sounds strange because, since last year, my wife and I have been hosting Game Days at our place about once a month. And on this international gaming occasion that's been running for three years now, I won't be gaming? Almost unthinkable.

One of my Game Day highlights: playing the X-Wing Miniatures game.

A new favorite of ours: Bang!

But then, it is for a good cause. My wife and I will be at a student leadership camp,  facilitating a session on love, courtship, sex, and marriage. That particular relational "game" has higher and more life-defining stakes and so these kids have to learn the rules of the game well.

But maybe I could bring a card game or two to the camp. Maybe I could find someone to game with.

Or I could just wait til the 18th, when we play an RPG again.

My Pathfinder stuff is ever ready.

Light in the Dark Knight: First Impressions on "God on the Streets of Gotham" by Paul Asay

I've always been interested in seeing God in the geekery that I indulge in. Thus I have books like Finding God in the Lord of the Rings and Finding God in a Galaxy Far Far Away. So when Tyndale House Publishers sent me an email telling of God on the Streets of Gotham: What the Big Screen Batman can Teach us About God and Ourselves as one of their free ebook offerings, I immediately grabbed it. (As of this writing, the Kindle version is still offered for free.)

And I was very happy I did.

Not only did the book discuss how to find Christian themes in the Batman films, it also delved into the depths of the character of Batman/Bruce Wayne and how it well it resonates with how we see the world and how we would want the world to be. Happily, it does not only explore the Batman of Christopher Nolan's exemplary trilogy, but also the Batman of the various media -- from comics to earlier movies to the different TVseries and specials.

And that's just after reading the first 10% of the book.

I've always wanted to see how Christ and the Christian faith can be found in secular/contemporary media. This is one major window I'm looking through to see it.

I'm off to read the rest of it now. A more detailed review later.

Disney-buying-Hasbro rumor debunked

Reading through the Transformers fan site tfw2005.com, I saw the rumored negotiation of Disney to buy Hasbro is false. Following the link trail to seibertron.com  reveals that Hasbro's stock went up 6.8 percent because of the rumored buy attempt by Disney. (Providence Journal) But despite this, there is no truth to the rumor that Disney is planning to buy Hasbro.

As with the purchase of Lucasfilm, I'm on the fence whether it would be a good thing or a bad thing if Disney did buy Hasbro. Reflecting on it further, it would lead to a lot of complications as Hasbro is said to own licenses to Disney's competition. Which those are, I do not know.

Moot point now.    

Big rumor: Harrison Ford might be Solo again!

Photo from www.empireonline.com article

At first, I was on the fence about Disney buying Lucasfilm. Is it good? Is it bad? I don't know.

And then my girlfriend posted this on her Facebook page:

Harrison Ford "Open" to Star Wars Return

I'd like to say that I'm on a "wait-and-see" stance, but I just got really excited. And according to the Empire article,

Entertainment Weekly’s new hire, Geoff Boucher (formerly of the LA Times) has a source saying that Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher are all “upbeat” about returning to the franchise that helped launch their careers. 

More details here: Entertainment Weekly exclusive on Star Wars sequel

So, we wait and see . . . but very very excitedly!

Rumor: Is Disney buying Hasbro?

I'm not one for rumor-mongering, but I had to take notice of this one, as it will affect several of my favorite franchises (GI Joe, Transformers, Dungeons and Dragons) in one swift blow.

In the wake of the news that Disney bought Lucasfilm for $4 billion, there is now speculation that Disney is negotiating to buy toy giant Hasbro. Personally, I'm taking this as strictly rumor. On the one hand, it might infuse my fave franchises with new life. But on the other hand, why Hasbro? Why not Mattel which is smaller? Or is this another manifestation of the ugly side of capitalism: If you can't beat them, buy them.

Reflecting on it further, such a merger, if true, might be a good thing. During my visit to Hong Kong Disneyland, I had a first-hand experience of what "Disney Magic" can do: it brings out your inner child regardless of your current age. If Disney could do that to their brands, could they also do it to Star Wars (another favorite franchise of mine).

Time will tell if such rumors are true, and if they would be good things.

Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome preview

This geek is giddy!

After the conclusion of the long-running series Battlestar Galactica, many fans clamored for more. Sadly, Caprica didn't quite satisfy. Then news of a new spinoff series, Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome, began circulating but never really appeared.

Until now.

According to GeekRest,

Battlestar Galactica fans have only four days to wait until Universal Cable Productions’ long-awaited Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome series premieres on Machinima. Taking place in the 10th year of the first Cylon war, the upcoming series follows a young William Adama as he begins his first assignment aboard the Galactica.

Originally developed as a series for the Syfy channel, the network eventually wound up passing on the project earlier this year after keeping it in limbo since the conclusion of their long-running Battlestar Galactica series.

Since that time, producers have now struck a deal that will allow fans to get their Battlestar Galactica fix through Machinima, who will release the pilot episode through 7 12-minute installments that will begin posting on Friday this week. The remaining episodes will be released over the next four weeks before the full two-hour version of the pilot episode is scheduled to air on Syfy early next year. In addition to that, an unrated version of the pilot episode will also be released on Blu-ray and DVD shortly after the Syfy premiere.

Read more: http://www.geekrest.com/2012/11/new-trailer-for-battlestar-galactica-blood-and-chrome-series/#ixzz2BPKe3B1m

 

Ancient Greek-Egyptian D20?!

Photo from The Metropolitan Museum of Art website

As a tabletop role-playing gamer for the better part of two decades, my jaw dropped at a post at the Being A Geek FB page of a D20 dating back to the Ptolemaic period!

Seriously? A D20 with Greek numerals/letters? Dating back to 304-30 BC? Wow!

Movie Review: Skyfall

WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS!

 Photo from http://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/movies/sf.php3?s=movies&id=03347

The James Bond franchise is arguably the longest-running franchise in history, spanning all of 50 years. And the film that marks 50th year, Skyfall is one of the best I've ever seen and is, in my opinion, a fitting 50th year offering.

Skyfall opens with Bond back at work, after the whole affair that began in Casino Royale followed by

Disney Buys Lucasfilm!

I came across this news item in Facebook:

Disney Buys Lucasfilm for $4 billion

On the one hand, it might not be so bad, considering that Disney earlier bought Marvel. Marvel didn't turn out so bad (or rather, no worse than it was already sliding into). Also, it might infuse the franchise with the funding needed for the rumored projects in the works.

Looking at it from the more corporate perspective, it may just be a case of "If you can't beat them, buy them." The Clone Wars series is a fairly successful TV series, and I don't see any Disney TV series that has come close (I could be wrong, as our cable service is pretty limited).

But I think Lucas sold Lucasfilm just to get away from the nerd-rage of all the so-called fans. Personally, I don't think the prequels are not that bad. But I am in the minority. There is only so much hate, amplified by the Internet, that one man can take, and over his own work! 

We'll see. . .