Last night, as a special Halloween one-shot, my gaming group played Call of Cthulhu instead of Eberron. I had never played CoC before and wasn’t sure what to expect, and found it pretty interesting.

Later, TJ was talking about a super-mega-huge Call of Cthulhu adventure called “Beyond the Mountains of Madness” that he’s never played all the way through.

For those not familiar with this, Call of Cthulhu is based on the horror writings of H. P. Lovecraft, who instead of writing about ghouls and ghosts and vampires instead wrote about humans’ encounters with godlike, alien beings whose very existence drove people mad. In one story, “At the Mountains of Madness,” an expedition to Antarctica encounters traces of such a being and the results are tragic and horrendous. The adventure, “Beyond the Mountains…,” apparently concerns a group of people returning to the site to try and find out what happened to the original team.

TJ said he was now considering starting that after finishing our Eberron run. Grant mentioned that TJ has said something about doing “pirates” next, which was new to me, so I have no idea what game that would be. 7th sea, maybe?

I suggested we combine them. Pirate ship gets blown off course in freak storm, ends up in Antarctica. A quote from the game: “YARR! I be feelin’ me sanity slipping away at the sight of these eldritch cyclopean ruins, says I!”

The game would be called, of course, Keelhaul of Cthulhu.

Unlike many comics readers, I didn’t really “grow up” reading comics. I slouched towards comics-reading, moving at it in disconnected fits and starts. Here’s the story of how I became a comics reader, told via the medium of a list of the important titles in that journey.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #11 (Marvel)
DC’s Super Stars of Space #6 (DC)
Star Trek, unknown issue (Gold Key)

These are the first comics I remember owning. They are all from the mid-to-late seventies. The Spider-Man one I remember picking up off a newsstand while on a family vacation in Florida. The cover looked cool. The Space one is still a huge favorite of mine. And the Star Trek one concerned a race of godlike beings that had looked over this other planet for millennia but were now abandoning it or something. I read these books over and over until they frayed and yet I didn’t really pick up any others. I don’t know why that is.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Marvel)

The first regular series I bought from start to finish, more or less. I bought it the old-fashioned way: riding my bike up to Time Saver and grabbing it off the spinning rack there. I missed a couple issues here and there, but I loved it and again read and re-read them. I still have these. My favorite storyline was, of course, the battle with the Beta Beasts! I actually got less interested when people like the Champions and the Fantastic Four showed up. They kind of cheapened the whole thing for me, if you can believe that. In a world with a stretchy guy and a guy on fire, a giant lizard just wasn’t as special. But I think the best issue in terms of quality beyond monster-on-monster violence was the one where Godzilla hits Las Vegas.

Star Wars (Marvel)

Of course I have to mention this. I bought the movie adaptations, of course. Several times. I bought the giant-sized editions of them as well (how come nobody does that anymore?) But I never went much past the adaptations. I loved the first part of the Han Solo story with Jaxxon and Hedji the Spiner, but I never got the second part of it. I don’t know why. I loved Star Wars, couldn’t get enough Star Wars, but I never really bought or read the original comics. Of course, I grabbed the Dark Horse reprints of them recently, and loved them now for being everything the regular Dark Horse Star Wars comics aren’t: fun, exciting, in the spirit of the original movie. But at the time they didn’t grab me.

That was pretty much it for a long time, although I did pick up and enjoy Gold Key digests of The Twilight Zone, Ripley’s Believe it or Not, and all that other jazz. I also got hold of some Richie Rich digests and enjoyed those. But neither was something I actively sought out…if they wandered into my hands, I read them.

In the early 80s I went to work for a used book/comic store called The Book End. It was there that I first really started getting into comics. There were two in particular that I really enjoyed:

The New Teen Titans (DC)
Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! (DC)

I really got into both of these titles. They both made me appreciate what comics could be all about. I enjoyed the writing, the humanity and humor of both, and the artwork of Perez and Shaw!. These were the ones I grabbed regularly, got excited about when new issues came out. Because of these, I started picking up other titles as well: Justice League of America, Firestorm, and Green Lantern were the notable ones. This wasn’t a bad time to be buying comics, really. Camelot 3000 came out at this time, which I totally enjoyed, and titles such as Omega Men were experimenting with new kinds of paper that made the artwork really shine. IT was during this time that I really cemented myself as falling in on the DC side of things; I just couldn’t get into much of any of Marvel’s offerings. My friend and co-worker, Allen Ulrich, tried to get me to pick up the X-Men, and I tried, but it just didn’t take. There was this seemingly crushing amount of backstory, none of the characters really interested me, and then, as now, I really disliked Byrne’s art.

Jon Sable, Freelance (First)

Notable because this was the first “alternative publisher” comic I ever regularly bought. Also notable because it wasn’t really based on superheroes or the fantastic or such. It’s probably the direct precursor to my buying habits today.

This phase lasted until, in this order, I started driving and started dating. With both those events, my comic buying ended.

I didn’t touch a comic book again, really, until I went to LSU in 1989. My friend Jody loaned me Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns and I totally dug on them. But the title he showed me that really stuck was:

Sandman (DC)

(You knew it was coming.) Let me tell you how much Sandman hooked me. During this time I had a job driving for Pizza Hut, which was next door to Comic Book Emporium. On Thursday nights I would stick my head in the door and, on sight, the manager would tell me whether or not a new Sandman issue was in. I was, I guess, that pizza driver that only bought Sandman.

Eventually I started to pick up other titles to pass the time between Sandman issues. I tried to get into Batman at this point (like everyone else; the movie had just come out) but the only title I could get into (and that only briefly) was the new Legends of the Dark Knight, since it had self-contained stories. I got caught up in the speculation frenzy, the Image hype, and bought a lot of crap I now wish I’d never bothered with. Among all this short-lived dross were some notable gems, such as:

Doom Patrol (DC)

Not only was this way different from most of the other stuff I was getting, it was the first comic that made me consider following a creator around from book to book. Grant Morrison’s style was so unusual I purposely looked out for things he was writing, such as the Kid Eternity miniseries. It was during this phase that I started getting the X-Men again, and would do so for a couple of years until I finally just said “screw it” and ditched every single X-title.

This is the phase that I’m still in, though there was a brief moment there a few years ago when I stated that, once The Invisibles ended, I would probably stop buying comics altogether. That didn’t happen, but it does show that there just wasn’t a whole lot out there that really interested me (largely because of the crappy quality of my local comic book store - by this time I was in Illinois.) Obviously I no longer feel that way.

There are a lot of books since then that I now consider favorites. Hellboy, Starman, Astro City, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Queen and Country, and so forth. You pretty much know them by now. The only other thing I can think of to add to this list as notable would be:

Planetes (Tokyopop)

The book that broke the manga barrier for me. While I haven’t joined the ranks of the “manga will save comics” crowd, this is the book that made me realize there were some gems in there worth sifting through for.

I’m sure there’s something I’m overlooking, but those are the books that really stand out and chart how I got to the point where I am now. I didn’t exactly grow up reading about a lot of the iconic comic book characters, which might explain why there’s little about them that interests me to this day. On the other hand, when I do read some Superman or Fantastic Four, it’s pretty much always gonna be the older stuff. A lot of modern superhero books from the “big two” publishers I wouldn’t read on a salary. (Digression: I’ve noticed a lot of comics bloggers who talk about such books don’t seem to enjoy them so much as tolerate them. Is this really the case?)

There’s not really a unifying theme here. I did the mainstream thing, did the superhero thing, did the speculation thing; until recently I largely bobbed along with the current except when I did weird, unpredictable things like not buying the Star Wars comic. I guess it’s pretty obvious that until recently, I never really took comics reading that seriously, merely dabbling instead of being a true believer. Hell, for all I know, that still applies. I like reading comics. I like buying comics. I like hearing about new comics coming out that I might be interested. I like talking about comics. I don’t particularly care about the comics industry as an industry. The are creators I like and follow, but I don’t need to read interviews with them or get in their heads. I couldn’t care less about movies based on comics. So I guess I’m still just sitting on the surface, naively enjoying comics for their own sake instead of immersing myself in the culture.

So there’s my comics DNA. Maybe it ’splains something about me.

Sometimes it’s hard to keep my mouth shut. The other day I was in Toys R Us, looking at the Legos, and there was a young couple there, guy and girl. He was talking about how cool certain sets were, and then she says, “Yeah, but how many lego sets are there for girls?”

Of course I wanted to say, “Umm…all of them?” I’ve never been required to show my penis when purchasing legos, though I’ve sometimes considered doing it anyway, and last I checked, the same lego bricks that make cars and spaceships and Harry Potter scenes can also be used to make buildings, kitchen appliances, romantic comedies — whatever a girl might be interested in. That’s kind of what lego is all about. Ask Sophia!

I ended up saying nothing — and buying nothing. This is not prime Lego time; that’s after Christmas, when you can get sets on HUGE discounts. Well, nothing lego, at least. I was at TRU because they were having a buy two, get one free sale on PS2 games.

I went in hoping to snag and save on some big-ticket games like Champions of Norrath, but not only didn’t they have it, the guy behind the counter had never heard of it and seemed skeptical that it even existed. It does.

So instead I went the other way and got three “Greatest Hits” games. (Whenever a PS2 title sells over a certain amount, I’m not sure what, they release it as a “Greatest Hits” for $20.) I decided to not just buy three platform games but instead got Red Faction (a first-person shooter, I think), Tenchu 3 (ninja stealth game), and Jak and Daxter (a platform game). Dig this, though: Although they’re all marked $19.99, apparently two of them scanned in wrong, because I got all three for $30. That’s the American Dream, that is.

Haven’t played them yet, though, since we’re still banging away on Ratchet and Clank 2, which is just as much fun as the original. Playing it too much, really. The other night at a lovely dinner at Brett’s place I kept looking at the light fixture over his table and thinking I should throw my wrench at it to get bolts.

But the fun and games need to take a break, as the leaves are piling up. Not only do we get to rake ours, but a lot of the neighbor’s too. He’s got this leaf-blower, see, and he blows all the leaves from his yard into the street where, presumably, magic road pixies whisk them away to points unknown. In reality, they just blow into everyone else’s yard so that, yes, the leaves get raked, but not by that jerk. So that needs to be done. There’s also NaNoWriMo starting soon, if I’m going to participate in any way.

I got this in my email today. This is the entire text of the mail. It’s not the hash-busting portion of the message (the fake text designed to thwart spam filters); it’s the entire text. Enjoy!

Well, my Great Linux experiment may be nearing an end, I’m sorry to say. I may be heading back to Windows. I don’t want to, but I may have to.

I originally switched to Linux because at the time I was planning a big Windows reinstall anyway. I figured, “I’ll give it a whirl, and if I don’t like it, I’ll just reinstall Windows like I intended.”

I’ve been using Linux for two months and it’s just been a lot of headaches for me. Now, most of these problems have nothing to do with Linux. First I had hardware problems unrelated to any operating system. Second, I never should have imagined that for a person like me, who would like to spend more time actually doing things on his computer than tweaking and screwing around with it, that Linux was the ideal way to go.

But two months into the trial, and I still don’t have a text editor I like as much as Ultra-Edit on Windows. I still don’t have am mp3 player I like as much as iTunes or Winamp 5. I can’t get my email program to work correctly. I’m having all kinds of problems with my desktop environment. I’m basically doing less than I did with Windows, only with more hassle. The weird problems I’m having put me in the same situation as before, eyeing a full re-install and thinking, “If I’m going to do this anyway, why not use the opportunity to switch?”

I’ve been trying to learn, trying to solve my own ignorance and not have to rely on friends to come and fix things for me or figure out problems, but it’s an uphill climb. There’s just not a lot of help out there for newbies. Which is nobody’s fault: the system is robust and powerful, and you’re not going to be able to talk a Saturn V rocket down to the level of an engineering neophyte. But when I’ve tried to figure problems out, I see things like, “Oh, to solve that problem with fonts, just edit /etc/flib/foobar and set hoopla=0″ and my heart sinks.

This is NOT an endorsement of Microsoft, by the way. I want to make that 100% clear. I return to Windows-land not as a prodigal son, penitent for abandoning the true way, but hollow and defeated. I’ll still chuck Windows aside as soon as I get anything better, and believe me, for all the problems I’ve been having, I’, still halfway tempted to stick with Linux. Had I the money, I’d be buying a Mac right now, and my future plans still include that. But in the meantime, I need something that works, that does what I need it to do with as little bumping around under the hood as possible. Windows only wins right now because it’s easy and because, instead of making me feel like a moron, it’s just plain intended for morons.

Well I’m back on my medication now, so here’s something fun.

Last night, Dan, Jen, TJ, Mary, Becky, and I went to the Iron Horse in Northampton to go listen to Matt Sharp and Goldenboy play. Matt Sharp, for the uninitiated, is the former bassist for Weezer (he played on their first and second albums). Since then he’s done a variety of other projects, including The Rentals (”If you’re friends with P, well then you’re friends with me…”). Goldenboy I was not familiar with before this too much, except for two mp3s of theirs linked on Matt Sharp’s website. This was all Dan’s idea, as he is the biggest Weezer (and related) fan ever.

The show was poorly attended, because of all the Red Sox stuff going on. However, the people there were fortunate enough to see a really good show. The format was unique. Goldenboy is just two guys, and Matt Sharp is just one guy (named Matt Sharp), so they basically just all played each other’s stuff (and some stuff they apparently have collaborated on.) It was all good stuff, and I’m really looking to hear more stuff from both of them.

Here’s a link to Matt Sharp’s website and here’s one to Goldenboy. Here’s two mp3s of theirs you can download:

Twenty Months in a Hailstorm
Almost Perfect

It was an excellent show.

We got to Noho a little later (not too much later, though, thanks to Becky’s speed-demon driving) than expected, so I didn’t pick up any comics this week yet. I might be able to go this afternoon, but I doubt it. No visit to Modern Myths, in addition to no comics, means no Pirates of the Spanish Main, the constructable card game from WizKids that I finally got to play. TJ and I each had a pack and just played with what we had. I started out strong, sinking one of his ships, but then he paralyzed one of mine with plague. Before I could do anything about it (and frankly, there wasn’t much I could do) it too was sunk, and my remaining ship was too puny to prevent his from grabbing all the remaining treasure for…a tie. 12-12. So I wanted to grab another pack so that we could each have a couple more ships on the table and thus some more options. However, TJ’s second pack contained the Revenant, a 5-masted nightmare that makes the seas quake with fear.

TJ and I also played a game of HeroScape and again I lost. I hate that stupid game. No, not really. It’s a really fun game with loads of possibilities.

Do I do anything other than play games? No I do not. Having triumphed over Ape Escape, Becky and I cracked open Ratchet and Clank 2: Going Commando and have each started it. She’s way ahead of me, getting to play while I’m breaking my back mining coal to put bread on our table.

The only non-game, non-comic book, other news I have concerns what’s become an annual pleasure for me, Sam Adams Octoberfest beer. Now, I’m no beer connoisseur. I’m not even that much of a beer drinker. But I know what I like, and I love Octoberfest. It only comes out this time of year, and I’m always glad to see it. I thought about buying, like, 20 cases and keeping them in the basement so that I could enjoy it year-round, but no, that would be like having Christmas 365 days a year, except that I don’t much like Christmas.

Fall is falling here in New England, and the explosion of colors in the trees, like nature’s own fireworks display, mean that we’ll have to rake the damn yard soon. Probably this weekend, in fact. Last year we got over thirty bags of leaves out of the front yard alone; we’ll keep you updated on this year’s tally.

I leave you with this, the logo for the new Doctor Who series:

Like Sky Captain, I’m looking forward to this more than common sense tells me I should.

FYI, this site will experience a little downtime tomorrow as the server is being moved to a temporary location while my gracious hosts move to St. Louis. So if you aren’t reading this, that’s why.

I think it’s interesting that a large portion of Bush’s reasons he should be elected rely on things not happening. Since you can’t prove a negative, the claim that “because of my actions, X didn’t happen” is totally spurious. How do we know that his actions alone prevented X? How do we know that X would have happened if he hadn’t acted? It’s a completely ridiculous claim, and yet two cornerstones of his campaign rely on claims such as these. Namely, that because of his tax cuts, we didn’t go into a big recession/depression after 9/11, and because of his steadfast determination, we haven’t had another 9/11-style terrorist attack. (Which is another blog entry that I haven’t found a good way to articulate just yet.)

I’m always ready to help out the Bush campaign as best I can, so I propose other things he can claim didn’t happen as a result of his policies.

• Because of his rolling back how much arsenic is acceptable in drinking water, giant poisonous lake monsters have not gone on killing sprees.
• His tough stance on defense has prevented King Morgron, leader of the Lava Men, from bursting forth from their subterranean lair.
• The earthquake that didn’t level Chicago? His.
• Under his watch, angry storm gods haven’t pummeled Florida with hurricanes
• Underfunding No Child Left Behind means you can count on continued lack of harassment from evil genius children.
• Asteroids leveling cities are now a thing of the past.
• Far fewer rhino attacks than some other countries I could name.
• Remember when you bought that DVD and you watched it and it wasn’t scratched, didn’t contain the incorrect movie, and didn’t fly out of the machine and decapitate you? Coincidence?
• Cat Stevens’ reign of terror stopped before it started thanks to timely intervention.
• Crack homeland security team apprehended and punished Anthrax letter mailer to prevent and deter future crimes of this nature.

So there you have it. Ten (okay, eight) items that the administration who will take all credit and no blame can woo voters with. Get to it, boys, time’s running out!

Time for something a little more upbeat. Though I have stopped collecting Star Wars action figures, this is something I’m going to have to own:

Cal Thomas, today:

Somin adds, “Particularly significant is the fact that, on many issues, the majority is not only ignorant of the truth, but actively misinformed. For example, 61 percent believe that there has been a net loss of jobs in 2004, 58 percent believe that the administration sees a link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11, and 57 percent believe that increases in domestic spending have not contributed significantly to the current federal budget deficit.”

The Bush administration has repeatedly denied a link between 9/11 and Saddam, but this fact is not getting through to most voters, and job growth continues upward.

Cal Thomas, on June 22:

The commission looking into the causes of the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States did not conclude that claims by the Bush administration of ties between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda were pure myth, as many newspaper headlines and broadcast reports asserted. As the vice chairman of the panel, Lee Hamilton, stated, “There were connections between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein’s government. We don’t disagree on that.”

Would the liberal media please stop giving voters incorrect information?

Incidentally…

“The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al Qaeda [is] because there was a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda,” Bush told reporters after a Cabinet meeting at the White House.

Bush said the contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda provided proof of a relationship.

Of course, their defense, if they ever bothered to defend anything they said, would be that saying there’s a link to Al-Qaeda isn’t exactly the same as saying there’s a link to 9/11, even though they are functionally the same. This is like the right’s previous fascination with semantics when arguing that unless you say the actual word “imminent,” you aren’t describing anything as imminent.

Keep on reaching for that rainbow, Cal.