(This code didn't work for me - I don't know if it's because I'm in the UK or that shop-owners already get some built-in reductions ... it's probably because of the latter)
But no, wait, I have something much more important than that: I've entered a competition on Deviant Art and I'm now selling my friends for votes (no, wait, that came out wrong).
Look, it's sick really. It's a "Cute Monster" competition, and well, I sometimes draw cute-ish monsters. Actually they're all "emotionally distressed", but apparently that can be endearing to chicks and kids...
Hey look it's a red t-shirt - it'll be like voting for the original D&D red box (honest...)
Just go there, click on "I'd wear this" and we'll call it quits okay? and I'll never mention it again.
I seem to have been living under a rock for, well, since forever, so I hadn't really heard of "Black Friday" - and even then I assumed that we were all commemorating a stock market crash or something. In my various jobs in the past I have noticed a pre-weekend slacker attitude which can cause typing mistakes on a Friday, which may or may not lead to global financial meltdown.
I haven't had my translation goggles set to "American" so anything relating to Thanksgiving seems to come through as Klingon-Ewok gibberish. It seems that Black Friday is a bit like our own hideous bun-fight Boxing Day sales.*
I find the customs of the Lost Colonies just fascinating. ;)
[ * -Either that, or my mother is a verengan Ha'DIbaHand I'm a P'Tok for not defending my family honour.]
By way of absurd comparison, the fact that we in the UK mainly only have fireworks on Guy Fawkes Night (New Year's excepting) will seem a little strange to outsiders.
Oh dear. I've just realised that July 4th and November 5th could be seen as celebrations of political polar opposites. The former is the independence of a nation from The Crown and the latter being the successful prevention of a plot to overthrow, and loyalty to, the same said crown. So, perhaps in the UK we use fireworks to celebrate the execution of treason-doers and successful suppression by the state (of Catholic folk, anyhow ... oh, god, please don't mention Ireland, or this really will look like I was trying to be political and not just silly or trite -gulp-).
In my hometown fireworks go off all of the time from October through to January. People in-the-know point to the Diwali, the Festival of Light and Eid; also there's return of students to university, the occasional autumnal wedding, but normally it's just the local psychotic kids, who are armed. Not with guns, but the next best thing, GUNPOWDER. It's a plot I tell ye! Occupy Parliament! (Hums God Save the Queen in quiet self-reassurance)
Anyhow, I think I supposed to be talking about cheap turkeys stuffed with maize and pumpkin or something.
Happy bargain Black Friday money-saving greetings to you all!
(and good luck to Christmas shoppers as well ...)
... because you can never have
too much Star Trek gear...
Quick Jim, that man isn't
spending enough, shoot him!
(or throw quality mugs
and t-shirts at him)
Spend long and
makes us prosper...
(This is how I stave off my existential angst. No, really.)
On a random almost-related note, this week I quickly dashed together a Calendar on Lulu to give as a present to friends and family - however I'm not so sure that it'll even get past the quality control robots at Lulu, but here's the link anyhow: Monsters! Calendar 2012
Thanks for reading this far.
May your Gods aid you during your foretold credo-assigned apocalyptic civilisational endpoint.
Spend!
For the love of money,
spend now before it all becomes worthless!
Chatting about dice. It's at the core of gaming. Lovely, shiny, almost edible dice. Poly dice ... oh yeah, baby! Is it a fetish? Isn't a fetish really just a type of dedicated love-niche? I mean I love women. I like some in high heels - but I don't want them to actually walk across me. Okay I don't exactly go to bed with dice but, no wait... this is getting weird. I mean I hardly know you.
High heels being used for storing dice in. How does that make you feel? (As a talking point probably beats the hell out of one my dice mugs)
The editions of games may change but at least you get keep bringing the same dice to the table
I was intrigued the other day to read that some players like to punish their dice for being bad.
Noisms in a post on Monsters and Manuals said that out of a "f*ckload of d6's" those "... that score 1, 2 or 3 have to go back to the dice bag and think about what they've done. When they've had some time to reconsider their positions they can come back into play." In the comments he also referred to "a teenage friend who used to put his d20s in the freezer if they'd performed badly" An anonymous comment which made me laugh (and slightly disturbed me) was about a chastised d20: "It was yellow, translucent, and evil. It rolled 20s only in practice, the rest of the time (i.e., when it mattered) it was a 1 rolling machine. I threw that bitch deep into the woods after it vexed me one last time with (you guessed it) a 1." Banishment! :o
I mean those sorts of relationships don't just happen over night, and I'm just highlight the cruelty side of our loyalty-fickle random enumerators. :) Not to mention the don't-touch-my-dice-or-you'll-destroy-my-luck obsessives. I'm sure Knights of the Dinner Table and Dork Tower must have plenty of material on that. :)
Oops, I really just meant to post about some dice shopping. Apart from some dice sets bought from Forbidden Planet in Nottingham, my most recent polyhedrals purchases were from the cheap and cheerfully priced Big Cherry on Amazon. I bought two sets of black dice to offset a pack of white polys I already owned ( Big Cherry Poly Dice Set, Black, 7 Polyhedron Dice ). Of late, my dice collection has looked a bit like a bag of Skittles mixed with a whole load of boiled sweets (gems), so black and white opaque dice feel like a "mature" purchase. ;) I like them, but pondered upon the D% double-unit tens die - I don't remember owning one in the past, tens and single units were differentiated by colour (ah, yes, these are all black, I get it ...). Then I remembered those strange the d20's with the 0-9 twice. Well, they rolled better, I suppose. I'm also surprised at myself how I'm going off translucent gem dice and maybe one day I'll invest in some of those metallic coated ones. I used to crave matching sets of gem dice.
Ah, our clacking tactile friends. Roll, my pretties roll!
Anyhow, here's a little slideshow of some other dice on Amazon via a widget which I decided was far too distracting to put into my blog margin.
Got any dice-punishing stories? This perverted priest will listen to your confessions. :D
I seriously need a manager! It's the middle of the night (UK its-dark GMT time). I've promised several people reviews. I've promised myself and others the completion of two floor plan products. And what am I doing? I'm trying to fill the world with more junk, through CafePress!
Not quite satisfied with my dice mugs on Deviant Art, I have turned to CafePress (Cafepress, Cafe Press ?) , who at least mock up an actual graphic of the product (which is more than DA seem to be able to do).
My art lends itself well
to baby bibs. Is this
a good thing?
The expression "sell-out" doesn't even begin to cover it... but I refuse to feel guilty unless I actually start selling. ;) Anyhow, it's a sort of 3-D home publishing. You have to try it at least once. I just didn't think I'd be so taken by putting a design on a baby's bib:
On a more RPG related note, I've been really taken in by all of the different demonstrations of iPads and tablet computers at the gaming table, so maybe I can make the iPad look more at home amongst the dice and scenarios:
On a more practical and affordable note, these journals come with a choice of plain, lined, "task sheet" or dotted paper. The latter would be perfect for mapping during a gaming session. I'm definitely ordering a few for myself.
Okay, the prices are pretty high. I've added mere pennies to the Cafepress base price. The good news is that sometimes Cafepress run promotions - For example: this week the code is "SPRING2011" for a 15% reduction on prices for the next 7 days. (Untested - might only work in one continent region)
Save 15% at CafePress, coupon code: SPRING2011
(for the next 7 days)
In June try this:. CafePress.com is offering 15% Off your entire order. Plus shop early for Father's Day, it will be here soon (June 19th). This offer is valid from June 1 to June 15th. Use Coupon Code: CPJUNE
Cafepress! - Loads of gimmicky stuff, which you can add your own designs to.
Tonight I've added a few extra pages to this blog - including a Second Hand Gamebooks page (I've been updating the old ebay list - curse those insertion fees!); plus the usual cross-links to Inked Adventures dungeon sections, which have become woefully neglected in the quest to create dice mugs and sell old books.
I've promised to write lots of comments and tiny reviews for a few people, so be prepared for splash of select RPGDriveThru and Lulu product links. :)
I wish I could bring you wit, gaming observations and declarations of self discovery tonight, but I'm too busy selling my soul for pennies across the broken wastelands of threads on decadent forums.
Ooh look!
A big site about dice: http://www.dicecollector.com/
No, really, if you like dice, there's everything there (be prepared to lose a few hours browsing in that place, mwhahaha).
Dice are cool. The spin, roll and clatter.
Cool. :)
on Amazon. I bought two sets of black dice to offset a pack of white polys I already owned ( Big Cherry Poly Dice Set, Black, 7 Polyhedron Dice ). Of late, my dice collection has looked a bit like a bag of Skittles mixed with a whole load of boiled sweets (gems), so black and white opaque dice feel like a "mature" purchase. ;) I like them, but pondered upon the D% double-unit tens die - I don't remember owning one in the past, tens and single units were differentiated by colour (ah, yes, these are all black, I get it ...). Then I remembered those strange the d20's with the 0-9 twice. Well, they rolled better, I suppose. I'm also surprised at myself how I'm going off translucent gem dice and maybe one day I'll invest in some of those metallic coated ones. I used to crave matching sets of gem dice.
