Disordered Thoughts and Curmudgeonly Ramblings
Hodor!
Having just finished reading A Game of Thrones I find myself agreeing wholeheartedly with the last panel of the Oatmeal’s I tried to watch Game of Thrones and this is what happened comic (note: extremely creative adult language ahoy).
Looking forwards to the next book immensely. I may even buy that bundled set of all of them.
Um…. Hodor!
This is Jinsy is one of the most fascinating things I’ve seen on television in quite some time.
I eagerly await the next episode.
On another subject entirely – first day back at work, 100% cloud cover, crippling humidity, predicted maximum temperature of 39 degrees and thunderstorms. When did I get moved to the Singapore office!?
(Note: We don’t have a Singapore Office)
Earlier this week I had the singular pleasure of playing the Game of Thrones board game with a bunch of Paula and Bek’s friends. It was a fun afternoon, made even more fun by the fact that I – as House Tyrell – stumbled my way through to winning. I ascribe my victory to the following factors…
1: Keeping a low profile and not attacking any of the other players until well into the game.
2: It was the first time any of us had played, so we were all learning the rules as we went along.
3: A very opportune Westeros card came along at just the right moment to break House Baratheon’s defensive strategy and let me grab Kings Landing.
If we play again I don’t expect to win so easily 🙂
I have been thinking about the game since however, and have come up with what could be an interesting variant (or a horrible, horrible travesty). The game as it stands doesn’t do anything with the seasons of Westeros. I think it could be interesting to play a game where Winter is most definitely coming…
New Rules
* These rules come into effect at the start of Turn Six or (OPTIONAL) as soon as a “Winter is Coming” Westeros card is revealed.
* At the start of every Westeros Phase, before the cards are drawn, the Wildling track is automatically advanced by one.
* Territories with Supply and Consolidate icons lose them at a rate of 1 per turn (if a territory has both Supply and Consolidate icons, it loses one of each).
* Supply is recalculated at the end of every Westeros Phase.
* Players may pay Power Tokens to prevent their supply counter from being moved down the Supply track at a rate of 1 Token for 1 level. For example, if House Lanister’s Supply Counter is going to be moved three places down the track, they can pay three Tokens to leave it where it is, two Tokens for it to move down one place, or one Token for it to move down two places. Tokens CANNOT be used to move the counter up the track.
* OPTIONAL RULE: At the start of the Westeros Phase, all counters are moved one space down the King’s Court influence track. Counters moving off the bottom of the track are removed. The Raven is retained by the holder of the highest position on the track, until only two counters are left on the track, at which point it is removed from play. Bidding for position on the track is played as normal, but bidding cannot place a counter higher than the current maximum (ie: if the tokens have moved down two spaces, then the winner of the bidding places their token on space 3).
These rules would ensure that once winter sets in, everything will go completely to hell in the most entertaining fashion 😀
Back to work on Monday. Blech.
I know I promised a review of The Hobbit, but we’re currently on the sixth day in a row with temperatures exceeding 37 degrees, so brain no working good so much not yus.
In the meantime here’s some Lord of the Rings content to tide you over…
Thorin and Company are trapped at the top of a bunch of burning pine trees, surrounded by Goblins and Wargs…
Thorin Oakenshield: Right! This is a bad situation, but I have a plan! On my word, everyone leap down, weapons drawn, on the nearest warg. Go for the throats first, then turn your axes on the goblins. Not all of us will make it, but we’ll make a damn good accounting for ourselves!
Gandalf: Yes… yes… Or I could just summon a flock of giant eagles to come to our rescue..?
Thorin Oakenshield: ……ok.
Gandalf: EAGLES COME FORTH!!
Gandalf and Legolas have been trapped on the highest pinnacle of Orthanc by Saruman the white wizard…
Legolas: Alright! We’ll wait until the next time Saruman comes up to gloat at us. I’ll climb up on the statuary and loose a rain of arrows upon him, while you blind him with a sorcerous flash. Then we’ll take the stairs and fight our way down, grabbing the palantir on the way out!
Gandalf: Yes… very good… Or I could just summon a flock of giant eagles to come to our rescue..?
Legolas: ……ok.
Gandalf: EAGLES COME FORTH!!
The army of Gondor stands before the Black Gate. The forces of Sauron are in disarray, the ground shakes and ash falls from the sky as the One Ring is consumed in the fires of Orodruin…
Aragorn: The Ringbearer has completed his quest! The power of Sauron is broken forever! Assemble the most skilled riders and the fastest horses – if there is any hope that Frodo and Sam yet survive, we must ride for Mount Doom with haste!
Gandalf: That would work… Or I could just summon a flock of giant eagles to fly to the mountain and rescue them..?
Aragorn: ……ok.
Gandalf: EAGLES COME FORTH!!
(Saw The Hobbit last night. I’ll post my thoughts later but in the meantime I couldn’t get this ridiculous parody out of my head :))
The old depression is absolutely killing me at the moment. I’m dragging myself into work, but spend a lot of the day just dully staring at the screen trying to remember what I’m meant to be doing. Not good, not good at all.
In any case, I have some complaints…
Westpac – it’s pretty impressive that you were able to find, let alone hire Bonnie Tyler for your latest ad, but seriously, what kind of maniac would play Total Eclipse of the Heart at a wedding? It’s a song about a relationship crashing and burning! You might as well play Deutschland über Alles at a Bar Mitzvah!
Treechange – I hate that word. I don’t know why I hate it, I just do. With a passion. If you ask me, Sigrid Thornton has a lot to answer for.
All over the news this morning is an artist in Queensland who’s using roadkill and maggots to make paintings. Any fool who thinks this is newsworthy has obviously never hung out with artists.
The Twelfth of the Twelfth Twenty-Twelve – Oh woop-de-do. Some numbers have lined up. Let’s all strip naked in the street and party. If we used base 8 or something this would be a day like any other.
That’s it. Maybe some caffeine will cheer me up.
1: People who can’t tell the difference between ‘balmy’ and ‘barmy’ should be shot.
2: Kim Deal’s vocals on Here Comes Your Man remind me of the high school sweetheart I never had.
3: The government’s new National Broadband Network ads look like the containment grid’s broken down again.
That is all
One of my fav0urite books of the last few years is Max Brooks’ World War Z. It’s an amazing example of both storytelling and world building, and so enjoyable that I’ve read the entire thing four or five times.
The trailer for the movie adaption was released a few days ago… Oh dear…
Running zombies? RUNNING ZOMBIES!? I don’t know what book they’ve been reading, but it ain’t World War Z.
Well, at least that’s one less movie I’ve got to make time to see…
The news broke today the George Lucas has handed over Lucasfilms – and the Star Wars frachise – to Disney, and that Disney intends to start pumping out new Star Wars films, the first to hit the screen in 2015.
Now, in an exclusive* deal with Disney, the Wyrmlog is proud to present the first look at the under development Star Wars Episode VII!
All hail the mouse!
(* By which we mean entirely fictional….)
Now, I don’t want to alarm anyone, but William Shatner is coming to Perth.
(And a whole bunch of other cool people – including Eddie McClintock, Amanda Tapping, Colin Ferguson, Teryl Rothery, Corin Nemec and Gigi Edgely – but mostly William Shatner)
I know what I’ll be doing in March…
