Thoughts and What Not

Well that's it folks, GenCon 2016 has officially come to a close.

Sunday tends to be a more low key day, so I didn't do a whole lot, caught a few more songs from Dan the Bard (awesome man), made a few final purchases (100 bucks for 5 games, not too shabby), and did some final wanderings before saying good bye to the wonderful (and horrible) mecca of Board Games.

As my second year attending GenCon comes to a close, I wonder what the next year will bring and what new things will come, but these thoughts and what not, are for another day.

Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

-Phil

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

Day 3 of GenCon has come to a close, and with it, the majority of activities are coming to an end.

Naturally there is still one final day of GenCon (today/tomorrow, depending on where you are) and while it will still be somewhat busy, it isn't nearly the powerhouse that the other days of the week are. The dealer hall closes early, some dealers leave (maybe?), many dealers are out of stock and most promotional items are long gone.

Sunday, as the last day of GenCon, is in many ways a much more relaxed day for someone like myself. Ill spend the day wrapping up anything I wanted to finished and wandering the Dealer hall in hopes of finding one last deal, but neither of these things will be done in haste. For me the Con is "over" and this is just the epilogue, where stress is neither needed nor welcome.

Now that my thoughts on the final day are aired, lets review today.

I spent the greater majority of the day with my delightful girlfriend, and a reasonable degree of it with my dear friend Christopher, other friends entered and left as the day went on.

I elected to not go to any seminars or concerts today and instead simply wandered the dealer hall in between lunch and dinner (and a bit before but we got there rather late so not much). I found a few games that seemed interesting, and found that the Zombicide promos were all gone :( The night wrapped up with dinner at the Ram (good, but a bit over hyped imo) and then hung out back at the hotel room and played a few games.

All in all it was a fine, if less productive day, and whatever tomorrow may bring, I will be both happy and sad to see GenCon 2016 draw to a close.

-Phil
 
Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

So as you can see I bring you this installment of my GenCon adventures just a tad late, but I assure you that it is with good reason.

So yesterday we had a bit of a lie in and got to the ICC around 10am. After wandering the Dealer hall for a bit we went and took in another TheAngeryGM seminar, followed by a Dan the Bard concert, both were superb!

We moved back to the Dealer hall and did a bit more browsing and coupon redeeming before heading out and getting lunch at Pie Five, a pizza place that I highly recommend. We then returned to the hall and continued browsing, demoing, and couponing until the hall closed at 6.

We sat for a bit before regrouping and heading out for the big finish to the evening: The Concert Against Humanity. Just like last year it was an absolute blast and lasted way to long haha, but I will definitely be going again next year.

Finally we headed back to the hotel and wrapped up the evening with some drinking and hanging out,

Onward to day 3!

-Phil

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

Test Post Please Ignore

-Phil

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

So day 1 of GenCon has come to a close, and on the whole it was a really good day. There were some rough patches, but when attending an event with thousands and thousands of people, you really have to expect as such.

Since this was the first proper day of the con, I thought I would give a bit more of a report on what I did today.

The morning went somewhat less smoothly then I'd have preferred as I managed to secrete my wallet at the bottom of my suitcase and then had to go back up for my badge (slipped my mind after the wallet panic). Once that was all settled we headed down to the Convention to begin our day. Naturally do to my delays (probably) we got to our preferred parking garage, LITERALLY, as they put out the full sign, however we got decent enough parking a few blocks away and the walk was good for us haha.

Once in the hall we picked up some generic tickets and then parted ways as the two bums went in early thanks to their trade day badges (grr). Once the doors opened officially we wandered around the dealer hall for a bit before going and listening to the delightfully angry "TheAngryGM" as he gave a simple and basic guide on running your first sessions as a GM while dressed up as Sailor Jupiter (Charity reward for the people who donated lol).

We then went and did a few more booths before splitting up again. At this point Chris and myself went and enjoyed some fine cuisine from Scotty's and picked up the blue D6 (the necronomicon grilled mac'n'cheese and pulled pork sandwich was great).

We then wandered the hall getting swag and procuring a few games before meeting up with several groups of friends and formed a mighty blob (thirteen people!).

The rest of the night was general hang outs and fun times, so with that I will end the post and hit the sack as Day 2 of GenCon waits for no one!

-Phil

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

So despite not being one of the lucky few with a Trade Day badge, I still had a pretty darn good day.

Went to the Farmers Market with Eva & kin and got a variety of tasty Honey treats and then ate at the food court which was reasonably interesting. Then wandered and hung out with friends who had just got in until the 13th annual Stink began. Ended up eating Bangers & Mash at the Irish pub and then wrapped the day up with a swim and then hanging out with Eva and some close friends.

Not the most exiting day but a good one none the less.

I'd love to chat more but I'm afraid I am ready to pass out.

Peace!

-Phil

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

People that get to go to Trade Day suck!

That is all.

-Phil

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

Greetings and salutations my friends from the far off land of Illinois, I write this post to you from the far flung future of one hour ahead!

That's right folks, I am once again in delightful Indianapolis for the once a year event that is GenCon. As it is rather late and I've only slept a few hours today, I am not going to type much, but I just wanted to share a few thoughts before I turn in.

A few years ago I never would have fathomed that I would be in a position to go to GenCon, and yet this is now my second time attending this national Nerd and Geek past time. While I'm by now means rich, it is nice that my position in life has increased to a point where I can actually do fun things of the moderately expensive variety. furthermore I continue to count my blessings that I have such good friends to share these experiences with, as I've found over the years, that going to such events alone is often rather lacking.

Well folks, at this point I am going to go ahead and turn in, stay nerdy, and keep your stick on the ice!

-Phil

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

*WARNING: While this is not a review it will most certainly contain spoilers, read at your own cognizance*

So I went and saw the new Star Trek film last night, and I have to say I quite enjoyed it. That being said, it was something of a bitter sweet viewing as it once again brought focus on the unfortunate truth that the Star Trek Universe has lost not one, but two, of its bright and shining stars this past year and a half.

As you all know Leonard Nimoy passed away early last year in February, and while Spock stated: "Every life comes to an end when time demands it. Loss of life is to be mourned, but only if the life was wasted" it is rather hard to put that into practice, at least at first. The passing of Leonard however was something that was at least a possibility that we all knew was coming, and he lived an incredibly full life.

This year however, we had a much more tragic passing. Anton Yelchin passed away due to an unfortunate accident, and while I wouldn't say his life was wasted, it was most certainly cut far too short. Anton was only 26 years old and had his best years still ahead of him, and I mourn both the loss of his life, and the loss of all that he did not get to accomplish and experience, for he was on a path that few of us get to tread.

I mention these losses to the Star Trek family, as they were given notice in the film (albeit only briefly for Anton as he passed just last month). As the film is getting under way, young Spock (Zachary Quinto) is informed of the passing of Ambassador Spock (Nimoy) and is given a few personal affects left to him by his older self. Among those cherished few possessions that Spock had with him after the time lines split in the 2009 Star Trek film that relaunched the series, we are shown a single photograph of the original Star Trek crew all gathered on the bridge. This scene was probably the hardest one to watch as it was painful for a variety of reasons. First, it was a reminder of something we would never have again, as out of the original seaven members of the bridge crew, only  four remain with us: William Shatner (Kirk), George Takei (Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), and Walter Koenig (Chekov) remain. Second, it showed us something that can now never happen for the new Star Trek crew, as Anton is no longer with us.

Moving away from the unfortunate loss of life, I look to the future of Star Trek and I see the hole that now exists, as even if Chekov was recast (which they have stated he won't be) it still wouldn't be the same. I feel guilty that part of me is more focused on how this affects the franchise that I love, but at the same time I did not personally know Anton and as such its easier for me to focus on that which more affects me, and to be frank that kind of makes me feel like shit.

To be perfectly honest, I'm not entirely sure what I intended to accomplish here today with this post. I guess as I get older and I continue my path to maturity (a path that will never be finished imo), I've begun to reflect more on the things that I'm missing out on, not necessarily because I wouldn't do them, but because I didn't do them in time. This is something of a scary thought as my own father is in less then ideal health and I know my time with him is becoming more limited.

I guess, in the end, it comes down to this (and its certainly something everyone has heard in some form or another): Cherish your loved ones while you can and live every moment of your life to the fullest, as tomorrow is not a promise.

-P

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

GEN CON - DAY 1 So it finally happened, I finally made it to Gen Con! Thanks to my Wonderful friends Matt, Chris, and Julie, I have finally made it to one of the Great Geek events of our times, Indianapolis Gen Con. We left the Chicago Suburbs on just 4 hours of sleep after a light repast of Blueberry Bread/Coffee Cake thing made by the Fosters. We then loaded our final items into the car and began our travel eastward.... Into the daystars dread glare. We made it into Indiana at 9am proper time, 10am Eastern and after finding our hotel room was not yet ready, we departed on foot for the City Café, which was a favorite venue of those whom have gone before me. No surprise, I found it to be quite enjoyable as well. We then headed back to the hotel and unpacked our gear, and headed over to the convention center, which was about a 10-15 minute walk. As I took in the sights I realize how under prepared I was for the immensity that was Gen Con. We picked up our free loot bags and coupon books, and went in search of the elusive Gaymer and Ally ribbons for our badges. We found them in the main gaming hall, and then moved on to the dealer hall for our next desired activity. We picked up a series of "quest" cards from the Cheese Wheel and used those to chart our next series of moves. We played Roll for It, which was great. I won that game and purchased a limited edition copy. We then moved on and had our pictures taken while wearing fezs. Our next stop of note was to play a game called buccaneer, which was delightful and became my second purchase for the day. Oh, I almost forgot, after picking up our ribbons we went to the UltraPro booth to get the free Mox Art dividers, but they only had the white ones left, they were out of blue. Moving on we decided it was time for lunch and went to get free dice at Scottys Pub, the experience///POST NOT COMPLETE -Phil Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

So, It's been a while hasn't It?

A lot of things have changed in my life since the last time I posted here.... A LOT of things.

The biggest and probably most life affecting is the fact that I have a new Job. In fact it's not just a new job, it is a GOOD new job. I do over the phone technical support for Android Devices, Routers, Network Storage Devices, and Modems; as well as on the spot Wireless Troubleshooting for a wide variety of Hotel customers. If that isn't good enough for you, I am currently training to become a Tier 2 Technician (not the exact position but its as good a name as any) which will entail taking any and all kinds of calls that our support center receives. This is both exciting and challenging which is something I don't think I have ever had in a job before. Now don't get me wrong, this job is not perfect and I certainly don't want to work here for the rest of my life, but It is a damn good stepping stone towards the kind of Job I want and a good work experience all around.

In other news, as is alluded to in my post title, I am returning to several games that I had once abandoned. I am delving back in to the eternal realm of Vana'diel in Final Fantasy XI and I am returning to the battlefield of the Imperium in Warhammer 40,000. It is a nice change of pace from my life as of late which has pretty much been nothing but working and reading on the internet or just browsing the internet aimlessly. I mean, my life is not perfect, but for the first time in a long time I feel as if I am actually doing something instead of just treading water and it is a good feeling.

I have more things to say but I think that I will leave them to my next post and to the posts that I will make shortly in the other catagories of my Blog. So far as my updating schedule goes, I figure if nothing else I will make at least one post every Saturday evening/Sunday morning when I get off of work.

-PT


Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

The above clip shows us game play from the all need Metroid game for the Wii, Metroid: Other M
This is a game that has been on many Metroid fans minds ever since it was announced and I am happy to say that I like what I see so far. So far as the game play shows, it makes me feel like I am playing Super Metroid for the SNES, while also reminding me in some parts of Metroid Prime for the Cube and Wii. It seems to be trying to give you a bit of that old 2D side-scroller feel and I would be lying if I said I didn't like what they have done in that regard.

Now, as we all know (if you have been reading up on it anyways) Metroid: Other M is supposed to be the true sequel to Super Metroid or Metroid 3 as it was also known. With the events of the game starting off RIGHT at the end of Super Metroid, as in you get a Cinematic Cut scene of Samus killing Mother Brain to start your next Metroid experience with, how awesome is that? This title will in theory link Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion, so hopefully many plot points that were brought up in the Metroid Fusion game will be addressed.

Well, I all hope you enjoy this video as much as I did, and I can tell you that this is going to be the game that gets a Wii in my home. lol

-Phil

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

Huh, forgot about this thing, oops ^^

So, life is going reasonably well if not awesome. I have started work at AMC Cantera 30 and it is alright. It is about what you would expect from theater work which isn't necessarily a bad thing, it is nice to have reliability in your job. I have met several awesome people including Hanners whom is hanging out with Christopher and I at the Denny's as I type this hehe. I am still hunting for a better job, but at the moment I can at least pay my bills... Mostly.

I wish I would remember that this thing exists more often as it really helps me to get things out of my head and onto paper. I read so often in stories that therapists greatly recommend keeping journals as a way to deal with issues and help ones mental health. Of course for them to work you have to actually write in them more then once every three months :P

In all honesty I can't say I am very happy with where I am in life... I'm not going anywhere with my education, I have a dead end job that just barely makes ends meet... I am so confused about my faith and where I am in my life. I wish someone would just come forward with all the answers, but I know that won't happen.

/sigh

-Phil

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

Ok, so here is the general Post for the day.

First off there is a new post over on the Reviews Page, 3 new posts on the Videos Page, and 1 new post on the MTG Page although that one isn't really all that important.

As for how my life is going, I would have to say not all that great unfortunately. I need to take my car in to the shop today and have them replace a wheel bearing if they can. Hopefully that is the only thing that is wrong with my car at the moment. I had an issue with the battery yesterday but that seems to have been merely a case of not driving it for several days. With luck that won't take too terribly long and I can attend to other thing like looking into financial assistance for school and getting signed up for the new semester before it's too late.

My job hunt continues to turn up nothing. Picked up an application for Cracker Barrel yesterday, going to give Borders a call and see whats up over there. I have an application in to my former employer CompUSA, don't know if that one is going to go there, but I left on good terms so I am hopeful. I still have not heard anything from the Library job I applied for so that seems to be a bust. The Naperville Library seems to have some job Openings so I will look into applying there today. I don't have much hope at the moment, but I must keep trudging on. Something has to turn up eventually right?

My plans to go on a "new food regiment" i.e. diet are progressing moderately well. I can't use the gym at the moment due to an unfortunate misplacing of the key, but hopefully I will have a new one later today. I have successfully stayed off Soda since Sunday, if nothing else it is a start right? I will report back next Tuesday on how that is going.

Well, I would have to say that is all I have to say at the moment. I will probably post something on a more specific topic later today if I think of it, otherwise I will see you peeps on Twitter until tomorrow.

-Phil

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

Alright then, I have finished the last of the major site changes for the time being. I have added the reviews and video pages, and I have linked in and updated my old blog about Magic the Gathering. Mind you the last post on that one is from 2008 and was the only one I had made. Shows how much diligence I had back in those days, mind you the fact that I have not updated this blog in almost a week kinda puts a bit of damper on it.

Anyways, as you might have gathered by the links at the top certain blog posts will go on certain pages. For instance If I review a book that I have read recently, it would go on the reviews page, with a minor note on the current days main blog post about the review, and any videos I wish to put up will go on the video page again with a note on the current days blog, same goes for an MTG post.

The reviews page will be about book and movie reviews, the video page will either be videos of myself about random topics, or videos from around the web that I particularly like and wish to share with all you fine folks.

That is all for now on the site changes, a more general post will be up shortly as well as at least one post each in the other pages.

-Phil

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

So.....

I am certain that most of you can guess what I did. That's right, I left a full unopened can of Coke in may car... Overnight.... In WINTER! I am a dumbass >.>; Suffice it to say, I was not a happy camper when I got in my car this morning /sigh

Now, annoying as this was, it did give me an amusing topic to blog about, so some good did come of it. I mean, how many times to you get to go, "It's raining coke!"? Not many. Now mind you I am none too pleased that my trench coat is now the victim of an unwanted coke baptism, and my car is definitely going to need a good scrubbing.... that I really shouldn't put off until Spring but damn is it tempting.

Either way I have been up all night... again.... and as such I am quite tired. I wish all of you a wonderful day, I shall now retire to the land of Nod.

Oh, here are the links to the photos of my little coke incident for those of you coming from FaceBook instead of Twitter.

Pic I
Pic II
Pic III
Pic IV
Pic V
Pic VI

Good Night.

-Phil

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

Ok, I think I have found a template I like. Its simple and clean, and since I like the colors of black and blue I think this one works.

-Phil

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

So, as many of you probably know, I am an avid reader of books. They are my most treasured possessions next to my PC. I currently have a library of somewhere in the neighborhood of 450-500 books. I will definitely have 500+ books by the time I finish fixing the series that are incomplete on my shelves. My goal for the year is to basically double that number, by the end of 2010 I want to have a personal library of 1000+ books. Now, I am looking to you good folks in internet land for two things that would greatly assist me.

1) New books to read!
---One can't very well expand ones library if one does not have new things to add to it! The fact of the matter is, I don't want to add just anything to my library, I want to add GOOD books to my library. Now, I know, that just because someone recommends a book to me, that does not mean it will necessarily be to my liking. However, It does mean that there is a better chance of that happening. So, for those of you out there here is what I am specifically looking for. Sci-Fi, preferably series verses stand alone. Fantasy, Mystery, Etc.. are fine, its just that Sci-Fi and Fantasy are my two favorites and I believe that my fantasy collection quite overwhelms my Sci-Fi counterpart.

2) Places to buy them!
---Books are expensive, period. There is no sugarcoating it, one book can easily buy you a Nice dinner, or a decent portion of groceries if you are being cheap. As it is, even if every book cost me a dollar, this project would still cost me at least $500, and that is not taking into account taxes or book shelves. What I am looking for from you fine frugal folks is places online or in the Chicago Land area that will help me get the best bang for my buck.

This is my first grand project of the year, and lets face it, it probably is doomed. But none the less I must try for as I said, I cherish books above almost all else!

On that note, if anyone is interested I shall endeavor to post a blog every Saturday about the current Novel I am reading or have just finished. Hopefully my posts will lead others to enjoy them as much as I have (or help them avoid the bad ones).

-Phil

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

Bleah, have to agree with James that December is a bit busy of a month to start a blog, oh well.

December 28 Stationery. When you touch the paper, your heart melts. The ink flows from the pen. What was your stationery find of the year?

Found some awesome quality legal pads at the local store that are also quite cheap. I have taken to filling them with notes on novel, comic, and video ideas using my favorite gel pen... which seems to be lost at the moment ;.; The trick now, is to actually put any of them into action hehe.

December 29 Laugh. What was your biggest belly laugh of the year?

In all honesty.... I can not really remember. What can I say, I had some awesome laughs but I just suck at remembering specific events. So instead I will tell you about my best laugh in the past few days. Day before yesterday: me, my roommate, and a friend of ours, John, are all sitting around Chris' PC watching Chris play GTA IV. One of his favorite things to do, and we all admit its really kinda horrible, is to kill hookers and take their money. Well, since he likes to use cheat codes, he has a RPG and we decide it would be amusing to shoot the hookers body with it, so we do.... and the rocket bounce off the body and shoots into the sky. I almost pissed my pants it was so funny to watch that and then watch Chris' reaction to it lol.

December 30 Ad. What advertisement made you think this year?

I really don't watch T.V. (not having T.V. service kinda nips that in the bud) and I make every effort possible to avoid ads on the internet so... I am going to have to take a pass on this one... Sorry :/

December 31 Resolution you wish you’d stuck with. (You know, there’s always next year…)

Ugh... Cliche as it Is... I am going to have to go with my pledge to lose weight, I failed miserably at it. This year will be better I hope.... PLEASE!!!

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful 2009, I love you all and I can not wait to really kick off this new year of experiences and memories! I can tell this year is going to be awesome so lets do this!

-Phil

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

December 27 Social web moment. Did you meet someone you used to only know from her blog? Did you discover Twitter?

Hehe, this one I got in the bag. I, like many others, am a big fan of the Nostalgia Critic from "That Guy With The Glasses". I was lucky enough to be honored with an invitation to dine with a large group of my friends... with The Critic as the guest of honor! It was the best night of the year in my humble opinion. I have not had such fun in ages.

-Phil

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind