the longest thread, thread - Occasionally NSFW

[apey]

cookies

[jonesthecurl]

So yesterday was a big nothing for my kids:

my daughter got a voucher for free entrance to Six Flags for reading lots of books, and she decided to use it yesterday.
my son was just back from camp and decided he'd rather catch up with all his mates he hasn't seen since before we went to the UK.

The Mrs takes daughter and friend off to 6F. The friend is v short and can't go on half the rides. The ride they decide on is closed for the weekend. Then the storm comes and all the rides are shut down. They decide to come home, but there's an accident just outside the carpark and it takes nearly an hour to even get out of the car park. The only ride they went on at all was the carousel.

The boy phones round all his friends. No answer - they all seem to be away. Plans to go to the lovely big outdoor pool are squashed by the storm.

Still, at least he got to play with his birthday presents (it was his birthday while he was at camp) - Guitar hero III and the new phone. He's obsessed with Guitar hero, and every so often says something like "Hey, Dad, have you ever heard of a band called The Who?" or "I like 'Paint it Black'!", which has to be a good thing.

Things brightened up in the evening - we played a fine new board game "Simply Suspects" (I recommend it) and after that the boy decided he wanted dad to teach him to play Magic The Gathering, which his friends at camp gave him. I revealed that (as a guy who once owned a game shop) I have a cupboard full of the stuff."Sweet!" says he.

[Dancing Mustard]

the boy decided he wanted dad to teach him to play Magic The Gathering, which his friends at camp gave him. I revealed that (as a guy who once owned a game shop) I have a cupboard full of the stuff."Sweet!" says he.

Your son is perhaps the luckiest child in the world. Ever.

[hecter]

I agree. Can you be my daddy? My real one isn't nearly that cool.

[jonesthecurl]

he he.

oh, if there are any Magic players out there, what stuff have they sneaked in to make older cards defeatable so you have to buy the new stuff?
They started many years back with stuff like "binding", "First Strike", "Flying". I'm sure there's lots since.

[strike wolf]

Who needs guitar hero when you have a real guitar? Though my amp. is busted right now so I haven't been doing much practicing lately.

[jonesthecurl]

A real guitar is hard work, certainly before you can get to the stage of playing say "Paint it Black".
But Guitar Hero lets you do all the posing (you should see him!) for much less input.
Not that you still can't get to the stage of "played until my fingers bled", he's almost there.
Also, it makes a change from 99% of the Playstation games - Batman/Aragorn/007/some dude with a gun kills bad guys. Moves on. another fight. moves on. another fight. blah blah blah.

[strike wolf]

A real guitar is hard work, certainly before you can get to the stage of playing say "Paint it Black".
But Guitar Hero lets you do all the posing (you should see him!) for much less input.

I'll agree it is very hard work (heck I've been playing the guitar for 5+ years and there are still plenty of things that I have trouble with.) BUT it's just one more reason why learning to play a guitar is more impressive.

Not that you still can't get to the stage of "played until my fingers bled", he's almost there.

I once played until my fingers bled. It was about a month after I got my first guitar. I eventually broke that guitar trying to imitate a Pete T. stunt. Stupid mistake as I ended up having to pay for the new guitar.

[strike wolf]

Just like to say that I have finished the uneditted edition of my novel. Though don't get too excited, I am not going to show it to anyone just yet. First I need to edit the crap out of it. My main 4 characters are fine but 3 of the others could be a little better and 1 will probably need a complete face lift.

[jonesthecurl]

Just like to say that I have finished the uneditted edition of my novel. Though don't get too excited, I am not going to show it to anyone just yet. First I need to edit the crap out of it. My main 4 characters are fine but 3 of the others could be a little better and 1 will probably need a complete face lift.

As a budding writer myself, one of my own aims is to make it obvious who is speaking without constantly putting "A said", "B replied" etc. The patterns of speech of the different characters needs to be subtly distinctive to achieve this. i don't manage it all the time, but I'm getting there.

[strike wolf]

Same here. Dialogue used to be the hardest part of writing for me but I find it a lot easier now of days. I guess my worst thing now of days is focusing on an individual story. While this has never stopped me from completing any story, it definitely makes it a lot slower.

[strike wolf]

Anyways. What do you find the hardest about writing a story?

[jonesthecurl]

Knowing where to start.
I often have a good idea of the setting, some of the people, major plot points, etc. - but deciding where in the sequence of events to bring the reader in is a tough decision.

[strike wolf]

I can agree with a lot of that. There have been several occasions where I've scrapped a whole chapter and just brought it in piece by piece during the story because I felt it made the beginning of the story drag on for too long.

[Dancing Mustard]

oh, if there are any Magic players out there, what stuff have they sneaked in to make older cards defeatable so you have to buy the new stuff?

I stopped playing several years ago, but if you want a good giggle (or a good despair at what happens when capitalism and pleasant geek hobbies collide) then google "tarmogoyf" (sp?) an "expensive"/"price"/"f*ck you wizards" or some such, then find a link to one of the many 1000 page threads of irate geeky people screaming abuse at WOTC for printing a card that fetches $40 a piece (a card, not a set) on the singles re-sale market and outclasses ever single other creature ever printed.

Seriously, it's absurd.

Though the threads do make some hilarious reading, some of those guys take games way too seriously.

[strike wolf]

I've never been into the magic style games.

[max is gr8]

niether have I

[strike wolf]

Whoa, haven't seen you in this thread in a long time. How are you?

[max is gr8]

Doing well, spent more time in the important sections of the forum

[strike wolf]

Who cares about the important sections?

[Dancing Mustard]

Doing well, spent more time in the important sections of the forum

The idea of a forum having an important section is a contradiction in terms.

Having a self-important section however, now that's a very different matter...

[strike wolf]

Well in that case, what could possibly be more self-important than this thread?

[jonesthecurl]

myself?

[strike wolf]

You just had to spoil it didn't you?

[jonesthecurl]

selfishly, I did.