GenCon 2015

So, Saturday August 1 was GenCon 2015 in Indianapolis. And I again attended... my 4th of the last 5 years, or maybe 5 in a row. They all sort of blend together. But in a good way. Certainly, I did not take as many pictures as in years past, but that was in no way a judgement on whether there were cool things to see and do.

It was also the second year of taking my youngest daughter. And this year that paid of nicely. It was a con trip wherein I got to have fun largely through her experience, and that made it somehow more special. First though, let's hit the less daughter-y highlights.

Not only do I like games, and books, I also really like RPG books. Even if I never ever play the game. I get inspired, and have fun reading about the settings and matching rules to those settings. Eclipse Phase is a wonderful sci-fi RPG setting presented in books of outstanding quality. And their latest expansion book was out, and in my personal GenCon tradition, I snagged a copy of Firewall to drag home and peruse in detail. If you are not familiar with EP, it is incredibly dense with material and options letting entire campaigns or single sessions be horror, mystery, action,... all with the ability to jump bodies, telepathy, robots, nano-swarms... it is pretty crazy and cool.

Then I discovered a new board game I liked and pick up a copy of Lagoon. It has a few features I like - from a randomly building surface area, beautiful art, simple yet clear rules, strategic options, pretty quick play, and a solo mode. But more important it is desceptively dynamic. You may play with a goal in mind and strive towards it successfully enough to feel you have victory in the bag and then in the last round you may find yourself in last place because of the one element you missed. (As I dramatically learned playing with my daughters when I got home and was soundly trounced.)


I popped by the Patrick Rothfuss' Tinker's Pack space looking for fun stuff to get and support their charitable efforts. Sadly, the booth was much smaller than I recall from past visits, in particular lacking the books I've enjoyed perusing and had hoped to get. I settled for an attractive set of playing cards, just to get something.

Speaking of books, I browsed the writers' section, but little really jumped out at me. I did end up grabbing an anthology of short stories called "Heroes" after a pleasant conversation with Dylan Birtolo, one of the authors, who signed the book for me. A mix of heroic stories, from the mundane to the cape and cowl and everything in between. Fun, light stuff.

There was more I liked, but that probably sums up my key take aways.

So, then, back to my daughter.

We had arranged to meet a friend of mine at the Con, and we all ate lunch together. Just listening her have a full adult conversation in detail about her TaeKwonDo with him was a heart warming experience for this dad. I could have just eaten and never spoken while listening to them, and I doubt lunch could have been better.

I managed to get her interested in Star Trek, by way of starting with The Next Generation via Netflix. Given her age (12) she latched onto young Wesley Crusher, add my following of Tabletop on YouTube and Titansgrave, and she certainly knows who Wil Wheaton is. She realized he was there at GenCon and was quite interested in see if she could meet him. She asked repeatedly all day where he was, as if I had access to his daily calendar. It was amusing, in the way only parenthood can be (not least because I kept wondering if I could meet Laura Bailey to discuss Lemley (Titansgrave) or Critical Role, and was pleased to see River Tam (Summer Glau) even if from 25 feet away, so I guess I've still got the heart of a 12 year old fan, too).

Regardless, we never did meet Wil. BUT, Wesley is not her favorite character on ST:TNG. Sorry Wil, that honor belongs to Deanna Troi. And my daughter flipping through the con catalog discovered that Marina Sirtis would be signing autographs the afternoon we were there as part of a promotion for the game Five Year Mission (couldn't find an official link) - kind of a cool game, actually. It is a cooperative game, with both ToS and TNG crew options, each person plays a crew member trying to overcome the crisis presented, just like episodes in the shows. She was determined to get a signature and meet her, so her big softy of a father bought the game, but then she was the one who had to wait in line since she wanted the autograph. And she did, and had an extended conversation with those in line near her - some serious Trekkers and also someone there from the Philippines. She held her own just fine.

And then she met Marina.

Now, I had become stuck in a line of my own and failed to get back in time, but my daughter related a pleasant and not too short conversation covering things such as my daughter's age (she was notably younger than most of the rest of the line, "Who got you into Star Trek?"), her hair (she recently had it cut and added some blue color "Your mother let you do that to your hair?"), and my daughter did relate that her favorite character was Deanna ("Tell your father he is a good parent," yay me!) Marina signed her character card in the game, and we look forward to playing with it many times. It was a relatively brief interaction that I think was valued highly in my daughter's life, and makes me so pleased as a father for the her she is becoming.

What else? Oh, there was another location in the con with several demo game options going simultaneously. She spent a while there - trying to earn points for a raffle drawing - but one of the tables had a really pleasant group promoting it and we played with them, and my daughter liked the game, so we ended up getting her a copy of Boomtown Bandits. There is a lot to be said for having a product that is just a little different than the usual game (die rolling, but die rolling fast to try to win old west shootouts), but sharing it in a spirit of fun regardless of your age... there's real value there and the crew promoting it deserve kudos from this guy who has done the stand and talk up a product at a con routine. It is not always fun, but they successfully engaged us.

There's the short summary of my one day visit to GenCon 2015. What I did get from the day? Some new game material, and I got to share a day in my daughter's progression to young adulthood. It was a good day.

What is the Heritage of the Confederate Flags?

I would like to concede something I continue to see thrown about by those defending the Confederate Battle Flag. What I concede is that, yes, the flag (that everyone recognizes), and all the others of the Confederate States and their militaries, does in fact represent a heritage beyond that of simple racism. It is true. No doubt about it.

Can you articulate that heritage?
I can.

The heritage of the Confederate flags tell us that a group of people had the courage and bravery to step on to the field of battle and face death and deprivation for their beliefs and their freedom. They stood up for the freedom for men to own and treat other men like cattle and that such freedom was more important than the ideals and strength of the United States of America. The strength of their conviction was such that they turned their back on the U.S. and raised their flag in rebellion. That is the heritage of the flags' origins.

If you search online you will find that the bloodiest day in U.S. history is listed as September 17, 1862. That is the day during the Civil War when the Battle of Antietam took place. Why is that called the bloodiest day? Because historians insist that those killed on both sides were Americans and count them together. This is common practice for evaluating each battle within that conflict. Yet, just as the name of The Civil War is not even accepted by southern historians, there is no agreement on the name of the day. It is the Battle of Sharpsburg for southern history books. The flags in question, and those who revere their heritage, continue to set themselves apart. They honor rebels against America. Yet, in a odd contrast, I would wager that most who hoist a Confederate flag today probably pretends themselves an American Patriot.

So there is plenty of heritage to the flags. And every time I see them, and consider that heritage it infuriates me.

As such, I am infuriated before we even begin to touch on the modern fact that more than a minor portion of the so called patriots who celebrate the heritage of armed treason to defend slavery are still racists today.

I accept no rational defense of these flags beyond immediate historical context (i.e., museums, film, military gaming, etc.). Defending or flying such flags in any other context deservedly invites derision.

The Power of Discontent

Perfection does not exist. In fact it cannot exist, for I would challenge that nothing is 'free from all flaws or defects'.

But that fact cannot, should not, stop someone for seeking the achievement. Taken further, “If you look for perfection, you'll never be content.” (Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina). That quote is powerful. Given various goals I have in front of me, I do not want to be content. We should never be content, rather we should be discontent and always look towards perfection.

Yet...

...Still, perfection does not exist, for the common understanding of the idea - 'free from all flaws or defects' - leaves us striving for the impossible. And 'strive' is an excellent word in this context for it carries a negative connotation of strain, effort, or laborious endeavor. Not that such a struggle is not worth it, but instead that there is a sense of  inevitable failure, and such an anticipation of failure can be self creating of defeat. It can de-energize.

So setting a seemingly unachievable goal, can create the condition of inability to reach such a goal. The solution? We should recognize that perfection is not about 'free from all flaws or defects'. No. Instead, we should choose to act within a  process of improving until the focus of our effort can be as free as possible from flaws or defects. As free as possible - this phrasing empowers. It removes the sense of the impossible.

Consider the words of Salvador Dalí “Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it.”

What happens when we put this together with the thought of Tolstoy?

Do not fear discontent. If fact, choose discontent. Use it to embrace the process of making things as free as possible from flaws or defects. To be energized to move forward. We should run towards perfection.

Tolstoy's words are correct.
Perfection is not the word for what we want to be.

No. In looking for perfection, we should choose to be discontented.

Chili

So, like many people we cook chili from time to time. And like many people when we cook chili we have a go-to recipe. In our case it is from The Fresh Market 25 Year Anniversary Cookbook. Their Whiskey Chili recipe is really quite good, once we found it we have never tried another.

Of course, with any familiar recipe we do deviate and play with it a bit. Sometimes chorizo goes in the pot for the sausage component. We have found that ancho chili powder is an quite excellent substitute for regular chili powder. A dash of espresso balsamic is subtle, personal, secret ingredient.

This time, we added a chipotle in adobo sauce. Smoky, rich, & tasty - I was very much looking forward to it. And I was not disappointed. With only one pepper added to the full batch, it still added just enough of a hint of flavor change that I was quite pleased with the results.

Here endeth your random food post of the day.

Do The Right Thing

Many moons ago when I was in college, young and convinced of my wisdom and ready to take on the world - as college students are wont to be - I saw the Spike Lee flick "Do the Right Thing". This film led to an extended discussion with my room mate at the time, someone of minority heritage who had grown up in a largely minority neighborhood. It is more than fair to say, that my life experience, despite my confidence and wisdom, was far removed from his frame of reference. Suffice to say, we disagreed.

I refused to believe that someone could so... callously? calmly? obliviously? Take another man's life.

And today we all confront an example nearly scripted out from the movie's scene.
Over a few cigarettes a man died.

Any yet, there is no accountability.

I wish I could find my room mate from so many years ago, and apologize. And tell him he was right. Even now, a quarter of a century later.

My Favorite Movie Scenes (vol 2)

I struggle with what my favorite movies are. People ask me... and I just cannot find a way to rank and sort the many movies I love for many different reasons.

On the other hand, I can put together a list of favorite scenes. Moments that leap out from film into crystallized emotion or thought or acting. Here is round two of this list with 6 more.

*****There are spoilers here. Consider yourself warned.*****

 If you haven't seen a film here. Make it a goal to see it.

These scenes alone make the experience worthy of your time.

Glory (1989)

This movie has some issues, the framing of the ending scene not least, but... "I love the 54th."

Denzel Washington plays Private Silas Trip, an escaped slave who volunteers for an all colored unit raised by the North during the Civil War. Trip resists integration and rejects acceptance by his white officers and by his fellow soldiers. He is a loner, self reliant and independent. He joined for his own personal reasons, not for shared identity or goals. The story progresses, events unfold, and history is told while the characters come together.

Before the climatic engagement, the soldiers of the 54th gather to share in comraderie. There are testimonials,  song, and worship. And Trip has his vulnerability and ache for companionship pulled out of him before the entire unit. He lays himself bare and joins his brothers in arms in an emotional and effective portrayal given an exclamation point by Denzel's wonderful ability to deliver a line:

"I ain't much about no prayin,' now. I ain't never had no family, and... killed off my mama. Well, I just... Y'all's the onliest family I got. I love the 54th. Ain't even much a matter what happens tomorrow, 'cause we men, ain't we? We men."

A man and a people given the freedom to display strength, pride, and character.

The Fall (2006)

(This, IMO, is a much watch film if you have not seen it.)

This is set in the early 1900s at the dawn of the Hollywood movie boom. A young immigrant girl, Alexandria, is in a hospital when she meets another patient - a stuntman named Roy. The story's outline is that Roy begins telling the girl a story of flamboyant heroes in an epic tale. This is done to entertain her and manipulate her into helping him get opium. The young actress (Catinca Untaru) is tremendously adorable as little Alexandria and just eats up screen time. Pair that with a visually stunning film - locations, costumes, colors... and it is an excellent movie.

The scene that matters comes  near the end. Roy has become increasing despondent, with both his own situation and with what he has done to Alexandria. He wishes to end the story, but she insists on completing it. His sadness and angry bleeds into the narrative and hence into Alexandria. She sits by him, crying and pleading for the story (and Roy) to become bold and happy again with a power that is so moving that I fall for it every time.

I am Legend (2007)

Okay, the movie is not faithful to the literary source but despite that, I can forgive it for being good at what it is.

Will Smith plays Robert Neville, the last 'man' left alone in a New York after a plague. (Disclaimer, in the written source it is a spread of vampirism, the movie makes it zombie-like.)

This film is wonderful at displaying Robert Neville's determined isolation, loneliness, and longing. His companion dog, Samantha, is the focal point of this and wonderfully scripted and filmed as a character in her own right holding up his sanity in the face of his stress, grief, and horror. But dogs are not immune, and when Samantha sacrifices herself to protect Neville it leads to a heart wrenching scene as his last friend leaves and becomes a foe. No other response is possible than to cry watching such sacrifice and loss.

Gladiator (2000)

The opening sequence to Gladiator is visually stunning. The might of Rome intruded upon a wilderness, grinding the woods of Germania to mud and tree stumps in an inevitable tide. The tribes shout their defiance, and the legion stares unmoved.

"A people should know when they're conquered"

And then the real organization, determination, efficiency of Rome is displayed as the technology, planning, & logistics are artfully portrayed with slick direction and stunning force. There is no doubt why Rome strode the Earth as they did.

(And I think they did know they were conquered.  But what choice did they have?)

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one."

Trapped and certainly doomed, as for once Scotty cannot work a miracle to save the ship, Spock seals himself in a certainly deadly situation and proceeds to save the ship. The joy of survival is destroyed as Kirk comes to face the dying Spock through a window, and he is powerless. Spock places his hand against the window in the classic Vulcan position and dies saying "Live long and prosper."

Years of shared experience as a viewer of the series encapsulate all the emotional investment into show, setting, and characters in that one moment. It benefits from nice pacing of the moment, and a brevity of dialogue delivered with some of the best acting those involved ever managed together. I admit I teared up the first time I saw it, and I still do today.

(They never should have brought Spock back. It was one of the truly great character deaths on screen.)

(Oh, and JJ Abrams can just suck it.)

Star Trek: The Next Generation "Family" S4:E2 (1990)

Okay, this is not a "movie scene", I know, but it is a scene worthy of being highlighted in this list without question.

The Season 3 Finale and Season 4 first episode is as fine a dramatic and action filled story in all of Star Trek. And Episode 2 is a critical component of that story arc, it is the heart and soul of what makes the previous episodes' succeed in my opinion.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard has recently been rescued from incorporation within the Borg (Season 3 finale and Season 4 first episode in as fine a dramatic and action filled story in all of Star Trek). The Enterprise returns to Earth for repairs, and Picard takes leave to the surface and returns to the family vineyards now run by his brother Robert. He connects with his nephew, his sister-in-law, and struggles with the idea of leaving Starfleet after his recent travails. Robert stalks around the scenes gruff and dour as any Klingon...

And then the scene: the brothers come to blows, wrestling in the mud of a French vineyard. When they stop to talk, there is a powerful heartfelt brother-to-brother conversation that rings far too true-to-life. Picard sobs and cries, pouring out his humanity and weakness in some wonderful acting:

"They took everything I was. They used me to kill and to destroy and I couldn't stop them. I should have been able to stop them. I tried. I tried so hard. But I wasn't strong enough. I wasn't good enough! I should have been able to stop them. I should... I should..."

and his brother says the things that need to be said, in the way they need saying.

"So... my brother is a human being after all.

This is going to be with you a long time, Jean-Luc.

A long time."

Depth of character, family dynamics, and tough love classically depicted.

And the definitive moment for me in what makes Jean-Luc Picard The Best.

Syria Chaotica

So, at one time the Moderates in Syria had a clear opportunity for victory. A US policy decision was on the table to arm, train, and support the Moderates to contribute to the goal of toppling Assad. Someone talked the Administration into believing that was a bad idea, because we would just end up arming militants. Turkey asked to go in and handle things, and we stopped them. NATO/EU tried to come up with a intervention, and we stopped them.

(As a side note: Russia is buddies with Syria, so we were trying to play nice with Putin by being nice to Syria - fat lot of good that did.)

Some of the people fighting Assad got desperate for aid and turned to militants for help. A flow of arms, fighters, and leaders from the chaos the US helped create in Iraq gave the militants muscle. These militants got organized, became the IS, and were not bashful about attacking the Moderates as much as Assad. The Moderates were beaten back in a two front war. No one paid attention until the IS grabbed land in Iraq, because they astutely took advantage of an opportunity presented. In doing so they gained credibility, more arms, and attracted more fighters to their cause.

The Administration finally started to notice that they may have made a mistake, and that sometimes doing nothing is worse than the pain of doing something.

I have seen several reports that conclude that the Moderates have lost, with few meaningful enclaves remaining. In a recent major battle/last stand against Assad, IS attacked their flank and rear and the Moderate opposition was largely shattered.

It is now we are going to arm and train the Moderates to win in Syria and face off with the IS... Moderates that have already lost the war they wanted to fight, and we are going to ask them to fight a war they probably don't want to fight. This situation is going to take a lot more will and investment from a lot more sources to clean up.


In my opinion March of 2003 was the worst mistake in US foreign policy history. And we have been in a disastrous tail spin ever since with mistake on top of mistake, and it is all coming home to roost.