MARKCON II

So I was invited to a super exclusive gaming convention taking place in a super secret location. There was a large variety of board games, card games, and a little RPG talk.

When I got there I was invited to play a gamer called Acquire, where players build hotel chains and obtain stock and see who has the most money at the end of the game. It was fun and slightly strategic.

After that I was asked to play Carcassonne Hunter & Gatherers. This was my first foray into Carcassonne as a board game (I played it on XBOX Live Arcade at Rich's house) and I did terrible. But I had fun and got to talk to some new gamers.

I followed up the Carcassonne with a VS game followed by a 10 person, 1 lap game of Formula De which was such a clusterfuck in the end. I started out at the back of the pack and ended up taking 5th place overall. We originally were going to run a 2 lap game and if we had we would have had 3 of the top 5 in the game crash on the first turn of the second lap. That is a great game and i look forward to playing it again (though with less players)

Betrayal at House on the Hill was next. I love that game. We ended up getting the Cannibal Feast scenario and I was the traitor. I got to cook up some human vittles after the feisty little girl tried to take me out.

All in all it was a fun experience and I met some really great people and gamers. We have a Magic draft and more random games scheduled to play. I'm looking forward to it. The con is great because it is invite only and I can actually play games. And there are some writers from Goodman Games attending so I have been talking about the D&D 3.5 vs 4.0 qualities. They both think 4.0 sucks, and we have plans to make shirts based off a comment that I made....

And it looks like Loudtwitter is working again so expect more randomness from me if that is the case.

Diabolik's TNA Wrestling Catch-Up Part 2

Ok. As I said in a previous post that this is my attempt to watch all of the episodes and PPVs between the last time I watched TNA wrestling to the Lockdown PPV that Rich, Colin and I are going to be seeing live.

I just finished watching the last of the September Impacts and just turned on the October 9, 2008 Impact.

I also talked to Rich and he said I won't ruin anything if I post "spoilers" for him. While they can't really be spoilers because they happened over 6 months ago, I wanted to make sure that he wasn't smacked in the face.

Ok, so in the drama of Samoa Joe winning the World Title and then fighting Booker T and etc.....we currently are building up to Samoa Joe vs Sting at Bound for Glory. Jeff Jarrett is back after a 2 year Hiatus due to a variety of things including his wife's passing away.

So September 18, 2008 marks the announcement that Mick Foley is coming to TNA. The following Impact (September 25) marks nothing about Foley except that he will be in the building the following show. I think this is the same episode where you find out that the Tag Team Invitational is going to be a Monster's Ball Match and Abyss flips out because he isn't supposed to use weapons (which I must say is a good move since it moves him out of the genre of "monster" who will come down with barbed-wire kitchen sinks and stuff and makes him be a "wrestler"). I honestly watched this one so late and forgot to write about it so I can't remember much, but I think that Kurt Angle starts shit talking Jeff Jarrett into making a match between the two of them at Bound for Glory.

October 2, 2008 marks the announcement of Mick Foley being the special enforcer for the Jeff Jarrett vs Kurt Angle match. My thoughts are this: If you are bringing Mick into this company for longer than 1 month, why the fuck isn't he in the Monster's Ball Match with like Terry Funk or just about anyone else? Why is he the guest enforcer? I mean if he doesn't want to wrestle that is one thing, but come on. You are paying a man so that you can promote his name which is known for falling off cages and losing an ear and stuff. Now he gets to point sternly at the participants and tell them "No no, you can't do that?" I know the reality is that he is going to get involved and either screw over JJ or Kurt, but still.....I want to see TNA use their money to promote great matches.....but I digress.

Um....that's all I can really remember. From this point on I think I am going to run a pseudo recap like I used to read for WCW when I couldn't tape it and give the breakdowns of the shows as they happen.....or I might just not care enough and just point out the things of note.

And I want to point out the irony of me saying that. I think that TNA has better young smaller wrestlers than WWE and I think they are in a position to showcase them better than they can the Heavyweights. I like TNA for the wrestling and sometimes the storylines. I have been fed up with WWE programming for so long that I vowed to take a year off from watching it, and if I watch Wrestlemania this year and can predict 75% of the match outcomes based on the roll in footage and the crowd reactions, I am done with WWE forever. The reason I saw irony in my statement of "things of note" was because that was all I could remember because my brain has been so polluted by WWE programming to just notice the hype and skip the midcard. The midcard is the best wrestling that TNA (and WWE most of the time) has in it's arsenal.

So with that said (and I think it makes sense....I kind of lost track of where I was going at some point) I am turning on the October 9 2008 Episode of Impact to see the last show leading up to Bound for Glory.

More to come.....

A New Insanity Begins

Well, there was a welcome message up on here that Rich left. And of course he spelled Diabolik wrong. Go figure. But that is besides the point.

So I have been watching a bunch of television recently. I have been trying to give the new shows this season a watching so that I can say whether I like them or not.

***POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. OR DON'T. DOESN'T MATTER TO ME***

90210: Why the fuck am I watching this show? And I watched 4 episodes of it. I hate it. Ooooo we are back at West Beverly High. Ooooooo some of the characters we remember are showing up. Oooooo Dillon has a kid. Who the fuck cares. I am done with this show. Don't wast your time.

Do Not Disturb: Now I like Jerry O'Connell and I did enjoy Carpoolers or whatever the hell that show was. This show is......meh. I think I laughed once. I plan on watching the 2nd and 3rd episodes and then decide whether the creator should be flogged or if he just missed the beat in the first episode.

Fringe: As I write this I am watching the 2nd episode of this show. I am on the fence. It is a paranormal thriller of sorts but it seems like the same formula JJ Abrams used to get people hooked on Lost. It seems like an X-Files wannabe show. The best part of it for me is seeing the guy from Dawson's Creek throw bitch fits.

Burn Notice: I love this show. I know this season is about to come to an end, but all in all it has been solid since Episode 2. First episode was ok at best, but the second hooked me. Hence why I will give a show a few chances. And Bruce Campbell is the best reason to watch the show.

Prison Break: Season 4. It has been the same formula over the last 3 season with a little rinse and wash. Adding a hacker to the group is interesting. Making Bellock and Mahone actually work with everyone is making it better. This is a show that I load in my PSP and watch in batches so that I can remember what is going on. Don't get me wrong...I like the show. I have been watching it since Season 1 Episode 1. Not like all those other posers who had to download it or catch it on the marathon to get into it. I just think we are getting to the point were it went from a minor conspiracy to this huge over-arching monstrosity that we need to pull the plug. Unless they do something crazy I think it is time to end this great show before it completely jumps the shark.

Gossip Girl: I like this show. I was originally just bored enough to try it but it caught me and I look forward to it every week. The plotting and manipulating of the upper class made me resent them and hope in my heart that Dan and Serena would get together and working things out. All in all it is a WB/CW teenage girl drama. But when you get Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) to do the voice of the all seeing all knowing Gossip Girl you get me. And I like girly shows. They tend to have hotter women on them and have better writing. Take Gilmore Girls. Fucking great show. Great dialog and comedy. Gossip Girl, not as much, but I am always looking for Blaire to make an ass out of herself.

Privileged: I must admit, I have no idea why I watched this show. It popped up on the DVR and I figured what the hell. I like the main character because she steps all over herself and says slightly inappropriate things, but the overall show is garbage. Yale edumacated aspiring writer/journalist gets hired to tutor 2 spoiled rich girls. Standard back-stabbing and hair-pulling. Not worth watching.

True Blood: Motherfucker. Anna Paquin with a thick ass southern accent and vampires? And she can listen to people's thoughts? Who the hell isn't watching this? The first episode was pretty slow, but i have hopes. I am told it is based on a book or series of books and I am going to go to the library and see if I can track them down.

House: Meh. Same old same old. I like the show and will continue to watch it, but sick person gets sicker. They treat sick person. Sick person gets better. Then worse. Then lightbulb and case solved. Make some of these motherfuckers die and maybe I will be interested. I was hoping for something so much more out of the Season 5 opener after the way Season 4 ended.

Bones: I love Bones. It is a well written show and is also loosely based on true stories. Somehow there is always a skeleton for them to deal with and not a dead body, but I love the way Bones and Booth interact and the way they play around with the sexual attraction between the two of them. Unfortunately Zach is no longer on the show after the Season 3 closer (or was it 4?) and his naivety and logic was always a great counterpoint to Hoggins conspiracy laced innuendos. Get the DVDs of the past season and catch up. Now.

The Shield: Holy mother of god. I recently watched all of the past seasons back to back to gear up for the final season of this fucking amazing show. I know everyone says it is a good show and all, but it keeps me hooked from week to week. And that is what matters. Making me want to be home watching it so I can get my fix.

Supernatural: Season 3 ended in such a way that you just wanted to scream "What? Why?" Season 4 kind of starts out the same way, but not for the same reasons. It took me 3/4 of the way through the show to finally see what I liked about the show from the beginning. Still, the hook at the end of the first episode.....fuck.

Sons of Anarchy: Another FX show that starts off fairly slow. You learn a little about the main characters, and them being in a motorcycle gang akin to Hell's Angels where they are gun running makes it a show that has a lot of potential. I like a lot of the FX shows and they seem to have different styles but they all seem right on that network. I would give the first episode (which is all I have watched so far) a 6 out of 10 with definite room to move up the ladder.

That is all I can think of that I have watched so far. I have a slew that I am looking forward to coming up over the next few weeks. Heroes, My Own Worst Enemy, Chuck (I am going to rewatch the first season sometime this coming week), Eli Stone (first season was decent and good in the lull of the writer's strike), Dirty Sexy Money (first season was amazing), Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, Smallville (I know the 8th season already started, but I haven't watched the premiere yet), and Crusoe are all on my list of things to check out.


So that is my ramblings for today. A lot of tv like I said. I am also working on revamping baconicecream.com and I hope people like what they see. Maybe I will work on actually rating some of these shows to see what ones were the best over the course of a week. Who knows? Who cares?

Thanks for watching the insanity grow.