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Sitting in the grand hall of the Renwick Art Museum,
surrounded by old American paintings of landscapes and Indian
portraits, and statues of white stone. Andrea Gill is at the
podium, answering a question. "I'm not interested in installation,
but I teach it -- with a vengeance."
quondam (kwon'-dum) adj.
former; sometime
- A Knight's Tale :)
The guy's really hot!
This film's formulaic but
it has great jousting .
Capricorn One
 OJ
Simpson plays an astronaut who thinks he can get away with faking
the first manned mission to Mars. Made in 1978, this film is
a rather interesting artifact of its time: Post-Watergate and
Pre-Space Shuttle. It's also a great example of how unbelievable
the moon landings would have been had they been similarly faked.
 
Building the Washington
Metro
Nukees
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- "The boyfriend came and went, the love for Fluxx (he
had an ancient B&W deck) stayed. Oh, Despair!, when I thought
I would not be able to find a deck of my own! As per the whims
of the USPS, I shall soon be again empowered."
-- Ramie (Cookeville, TN), comments accompanying an order
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We've Got Help! |
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 Sometimes things
happen fast. Our search for a summer
intern had barely begun when the perfect candidate showed
up for an interview, and we ended up hiring him on the spot.
His name is Dave Chalker and after his first couple of days on
the job, it's clear he's gonna be an excellent Rabbit
Coordinator!
Dave is 19 and in the fall he'll be entering his third year
of college at Miami University of Oxford, OH, where he's majoring
in "Game Theory and Design". Well, technically his
major is "Interdisciplinary Studies", which just means
he gets to create his own major program. (The field of Game Design
is about as easy to major in as it is to get a job in. He's also
minoring in Computer Information Systems, which shows he's being
realistic about the job prospects in his chosen field, and will
always have something to fall back on when he needs a real paycheck.)
Dave's own game design efforts include numerous home-brewed
Fluxx card ideas and a pretty neat new Icehouse game called
Rat
Patrol, and since he aspires to run his own game company
someday, an internship with one such company is an invaluable
opportunity for him.
Interestingly enough, his father is world-famous science fiction
author Jack L. Chalker,
which means Dave grew up attending science fiction conventions.
There he learned about gaming and became active in organizing
gaming events even as a youth. Now he's serving as the Gaming
Czar for Balticon (which unfortunately means he'll have to miss
most of our Pop-Tart Cafe), and while he never would have guessed
such activities would ever be considered job skills, to us they
are, since one of the big things we need help with is getting
our demo team organized.
Dave's already doing exactly that. To help really jump-start
the sales of Fluxx and Chrononauts when they start showing up
on WotC/GameKeeper shelves, we're launching a Welcome
Brigade. This is everyone's chance to become a full-fledged
official Mad Lab Rabbit (with Membership Cards and everything).
After that, he'll be working to extend the program to include
local stores and other gaming events. It'll be great to have
someone working on all these little details that have been falling
through the cracks up till now.
Welcome Aboard, Dave! We're really excited about having your
help!
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 In the wake of Kristin's hand injury, she's been
enjoying quite an outpouring of love and support from her friends
and loved ones. "I feel very loved," I've heard her
say repeatedly. But while most of our friends have been very
sympathetic towards Kristin and the loss of the use of her primary
hand, one friend has actually stepped forward to replace it.
Her name is Lauren Brown, and she's someone we've also met fairly
recently (although our mutual acquaintance Mar
has known her since a couple of job/years ago). Lauren is the
Wonder Woman of Executive Assistants... she's been doing this
for over ten years now, and she knows her way around any executive's
office. However, having just been down-sized and going crazy
with nothing to do, Lauren has volunteered to be Kristin's right
hand while hers heals. So, she's been taking Kristin to her doctor
appointments, setting up travel arrangements, making calls, doing
paperwork, even pointing out new leads on manufacturing, fulfillment,
and funding options... the kind of stuff she usually does for
high-powered executives at a considerable salary. Needless to
say, her services have been incredibly helpful. At some point
she will find that new job, and have to stop helping us, but
maybe Kristin's hand will be better by then. (And if any of my
readers know of any job opportunities for Executive Assistants,
contact us know and we'll
pass it along. Kristin highly recommends her... she would be
an excellent asset to any company.)
As for Kristin's hand, there's good news and bad news. The
good news is, she's healed considerably since last week (as this
updated gory
details image depicts), and although the exercises make her
pain a lot worse, she's rapidly re-gaining mobility in her fingers.
On the other hand, the numbness in those two fingers (on only
the left side of each one, she's come to realize) means that
follow-up surgery is necessary, which obviously sucks. She goes
in for that on Monday morning, but she likes her hand doctor,
David Dorin, and he says she can expect a full recovery, so I
think all the news really is good.
Anyway, the healing continues, but it'll still be a long time
before Kristin can really use her hand again. But hey... at least
now, we have help!
Have you cast your vote in the Origins
Awards yet?
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Though I'm disgusted by their refusal to acknowledge
the glaring unconstitutionality
of drug prohibition as a whole, I'm not too concerned about the
Supreme Court's rejection of the medical necessity defense for
marijuana use. Though I mourn the plight of the sick and dying
for whom it would have been beneficial, exemptions for the seriously
ill do little to address the real harms of prohibition. Legitimate
medical uses are an excellent way to bring up the subject, but
legalizing pot for such uses alone is like treating cancer with
a band-aid. We must accept the reality of recreational use as
well, and tax and regulate the stuff as we do with tobacco and
booze. The law is the law, says the Supreme Court, and only Congress
can change the law. |
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"Apparently, Clarence Thomas and Co. forgot
a slightly more important statute than the Controlled Substance
Act -- the Constitution of the United States! Remember that one?
I think it's still mentioned in high-school civics classes. Grab
a copy if you have one handy and open that grand, national operating
manual to Article 1, Section 8. This section lays out in very
clear terms the enumerated powers of Congress -- what our representatives
are permitted to do. ( Pay attention, Clarence. ) There are not
many items listed, and you'll probably notice the striking absence
of anything about regulating marijuana -- or any drugs for that
matter. It's not in there. Establishing postal roads, declaring
war, coining money -- that much is enumerated, but not a word
about dope." -- Joel Miller, "Supreme
Court's Reefer Madness" |
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Though I disagreed with many of their omissions
and inclusions, I was pleased to see that A-Ha's "Take On
Me" placed 8th on VH-1's countdown of the 100
Greatest Videos ever. For me, this one set the standard by
which all videos are measured. |
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