Lathany

Back in 2011, quisalan bought me Dark Heresy for Christmas. At the time I was GMing Meteor, but put it to one side vowing to run some when Meteor ended. Yesterday, I finally did. The occasion was ao_lai's birthday and the party was ao_lai (Guardsman), bateleur (Assassin), chrestomancy (Tech Priest) and Alistair (Psyker). They pottered around a Hive World as the new acolytes of Inquisitor Honora Vibius trying to discover what had happened to her colleague (Inquisitor Carl Atlanor) as he and his acolytes had disappeared a cycle earlier. The answer came after a roof-top party, a doll's funeral and resurrection, two bars, a couple of Cult Magi, a high tech storage area and a Daemonhost (they didn't meet the Daemonhost but saw it from a safe distance). Overall the game was a success (the Dredd soundtrack worked very well) and I was very pleased with it.

It was during my game planning that I realised this was the first time I had tried to run a game system which I hadn't previous played (or played some clone of). Whist I had run both Mage and Witchcraft from their books I had previously played Vampire and GURPS (with an apology to Witchcraft which is a bit more than a White Wolf / GURPS cross-over). Also, whilst I was very fond of the Warhammer 40K background, I didn't actually know it that well and owed much of my understand to Dan Abnett rather than directly to Games Workshop. This meant that I required quite a lot of prep, including a combat system test. However, this means that the next time I run Dark Heresy, I will be much more confident about it. I'm not planning a campaign (I'm currently playing in enough games to fill my spare time), but do aim to do one-offs from time to time.

As lanfykins has already posted, One Hundred Secrets, bateleur's new campaign kicked off its first party session last weekend. I had a very enjoyable first session having picked the Secret that the first game turned out to focus on - Geometry. I don't usually go with a GM-designed special when create-your-own is on offer, but Geometry was described as "Think feng shui (not the game) and at higher levels Portal (the game) and Hounds of Tindalos" and I just couldn't resist the idea of playing Portal. At lower levels (aka where my character is), it's more of a slow power than a quick-draw in combat but I'm still loving it a lot. As lanfykins has hinted, the party dynamic is very established centering on the relationship between Lady Prudence Rose Villefontaine and her maid/companion Loyalty Briarsgift with myself (Neddra Kallis) and shadowjon (Carlos Marquis) as observers (mainly). And we managed to end the first session without lanfykins needing to generate a fresh character. Although, only just.

Finally, Mechs continued (a fortnight ago) with session three (minus quisalan). Our investigation into the explosion and the illegal Mech factories continued. We received a tip-off about where the prisoner had gone and we discovered that there might be some version of The Hulk out there (but expanding only half his body and no green). We also have a big Mech battle planned for the next game (at the end of September).

Last Tuesday I met up with friends (former work colleagues) and saw the Brunel Museum, followed by a wander and a pub lunch. Then, on Wednesday, the whole family travelled up to Royston and saw Royston Museum, again followed by lunch. Both were small, run by enthusiastic volunteers and could be seen within an hour.

The Brunel Museum is tiny and is mainly about watching the video. I suspect a visit is best combined with either one of the Guided Walks to the Thames Tunnel or the Midnight Apothecary (cocktails with herbs), but what I did see was very interesting. It tells the story of father (Sir Marc Brunel) and son (Isambard Kingdom Brunel) and the various things they constructed (including the Thames Tunnel and Paddington Station). I particularly liked the small reproduction of the construct used to dig the tunnel. We went on from there for what was probably a 20-30 minute walk to The Anchor Tap. It was a beautiful pub with lots of different little rooms, but the food was a bit meh and had that mass-produced-and-then-reheat feel to it.

Royston Museum is slightly larger than the Brunel Museum and on two floors. The ground floor contains pieces from Royston's history (including a rather marvellous printing press) while the upper floor displays private collections and the Royston tapestry (which is not as exciting as it sounds). Whilst a town museum, it was a good place to take Ryan and Bea as there was an "exhibit hunt" designed for children which they both got to solve (and were given little stickers for completing). Again, I suspect Royston Museum is best combined with a visit to Royston cave, but worth a look if you are ever in the town. We went from there to the nearby Thai which did wonderful food and a cheap lunchtime menu.

Yesterday we had a new sofa delivered. This means that our lounge has more seating space than it used to, particularly until we bin the red chair. Reeve sniffed around the arrival and then settled on the window sill. However his new snooze spot was disturbed by a fly - which I assume came in with the delivery - and so a very angry cat could be seen chasing a winged insect around the room. Reeve lost the chase - which did not improve his mood (the fly cheated by using "up" a lot). bateleur and I sat on the new sofa last night to watch Iron Man (from LoveFilms) and are agreed that it was better than the black sofa as it did not shed cushions so easily.

I meant to write about this a long time ago, when I first came across it. However, I didn't, and now Mark Kermode has reminded me -
here - I'll do so now. Mark is talking about the Bechdel Test (2m 23s). In other words - how to tell if a film includes a proper female role.

I like reading Kermode's blog; his attitude towards women in movies is one of the reasons why.

It was Bea's school fair today. Bea wandered around with her friends while bateleur and I walked around with Ryan. He tried out various rides, we all ate hamburgers and I thought the bubble machine (blowing bubbles in one area) was great. It was also rather nice weather - much better than I remember the rest of the month being.

Reeve has more or less recovered from whatever it was that happened to him on Monday. He came home very late that night with a wound in one of his rear legs, he was subdued and limping around slowly. He also seemed much keener on us and on being fussed over than he usually is. However, he proceeded to recover over the next few days and now seems back to his usual speedy, grumpy self.

I bought myself a second-hand copy of the omnibus of the first five Carré books and I've now read the first three stories on the train.

• Call for the Dead - In many ways this was rather more murder mystery than spy story. It introduces Smiley and I found him an instantly engaging protagonist. I liked the plot, the atmosphere and other characters and headed straight on to book two.
• A Murder of Quality - This one isn't a spy story at all. It's a straightforward murder mystery set around an elitist school. Smiley plays detective and I thought it was all rather well done. It helps that I really like murder mysteries.
• The Spy who came in from the Cold - Smiley is barely in this one, instead a colleague, Alec Leamas, takes centre stage and it starts with him waiting to extract the last of his agents from East Germany. It's difficult to say much about this one without spoilering everywhere, but it's definitely a spy story and I can see why it won awards. I'm not a huge fan of the ending, but there you go.

After having to send back the first copy of North by Northwest to LoveFilms because it wouldn't play, bateleur and I watched three films in fairly quick succession.

• Skyfall - Loved Judi Dench. The rest of the cast were pretty good as well. It was gripping and enjoyable... but didn't really feel like Bond.
• North by Northwest - Ancient, but still very watchable. The three things that aged it the most were the sexism, the lighting and the car scenes. It's a lovely concept, although I suspect I was less taken with Cary Grant than I was supposed to be.
• The Hunger Games - Enjoyable, atmospheric and it seemed nicely done (although I haven't read the book). The film was obviously the first of a set. I wasn't entirely convinced by Jennifer Lawerence (although not the easiest part to act), but I liked Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz and Donald Sutherland.

The month has been very light on role-playing, but we did have the second session of Alistair's Star Wars game. It was a huge combat in a space station, followed by a huge space combat outside said station. Lots of dice rolling and damage. We also now have most of our character sheets.

Friday morning, about half-past eight.

The trains have been quieter this week because it's half-term. Passengers in the morning are more likely to read and less likely to use phones. The man next to me was middle-aged (OK, only slightly older than me), wearing a fairly traditional-looking suit and reading the paper (possible the Metro). After about ten minutes he carefully tore one of the stories out of it. Peeking over, I saw it was a horse-racing event - I didn't catch much of the text, but I assume predictions for the Epsom Derby.

About five minutes later, I realised he had torn another, much smaller, bit out of the paper and was intently focussed on it. Glancing across, this turned out to be his horoscope - Aries. I've seen people reading horoscopes before, but never seen anyone so keen as to remove it from the paper. I was intrigued - maybe he was using it to figure out whether he should bet on the horses?

I think I last wrote an update post back in early March. Since then the weather has improved, although not as much as I would like, and I've finally reached the end of busy period.

We have seen a few films, including a couple of my favourites so far this year.

• The Box - Nice concept, pity that the film was twice as long as it needed to be. Cameron Diaz and James Marsden were OK, although I felt Diaz was miscast and the film went further into sci-fi territory than it needed to.( Spoilers )
• End Of Watch - This was a very watchable story about the pair of police officers (Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña) shot in a documentary style. It seemed to be true to life (not that I know anything about the LAPD) and the acting was good.( Spoilers )
  Overall I liked it a lot, but I didn't love it.
• Dredd - This I did love. I've never read any of the comics, but it's pretty clear what the style and atmosphere is supposed to be.( Spoilers )
  If they make the other two-thirds of the planned trilogy, then I'd be keen to see them. Sadly, this wasn't a commercial hit so I doubt they will.
• The Lives Of Others - If you can handle subtitles, then I would recommend this highly. It's set in the 80s in East Germany and it's about an agent spying on a writer. It's beautifully acted with a good story and believable characters.( Spoilers )
• Heat (1995) - This is the 1995 version with Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer (not the Burt Reynolds one which they are remaking with Jason Statham and Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes)). Having been impressed with the previous two films, this didn't do anything for me. It looks fantastic on paper - excellent cast, excellent reviews, good theme - and yet just didn't grab me. I thinkbateleur put his finger on it when he said it wanted to be Pulp Fiction and so tried to do half a dozen different genres.( Spoilers )
  Anyhow, it's a good film, the critics loved it. Just lost on me.

I've read two new books on the train - both the next in a series I've been following for a while.

• Death Masks (Dresden Files) - I didn't like this as much as Summer Knight, but still enjoyed it.( Spoilers )
• Sir Thursday (Keys to the Kingdom) - I quite liked this. This series is starting to have a bit of a formula to it, although Nix isn't too bad for it.( Spoilers )

I'm playing a number of computer games, but I think the only one I've finished is Haunted Halls (Fears from Childhood). This was a game where I knew what I was getting. Big Fish horror (ie. not much horror). It's sort of like Sudoku - you know what the puzzles will be.

What else? Ah yes, Alistair has now launched his roleplaying game and it turns out to be Star Wars. Which fortunately we all love and can quote. We're trying not to play Sith.

Today I was on leave and Ryan had an Inset day. So we pottered off to take pictures and eat cake. It was bit chilly when the sun was in, but otherwise good.

( Five photos under the cut. )

I spotted a huge ginger cat sleeping on Reeve's shed roof. Then it looked up.

I had a meeting in Belfast last week which meant staying overnight away from home and flights in and out of Heathrow (security checks and things). Although my hotel was based out in the East, I didn't see any of the protests. I stayed in the same place as last time and collected yet another suited rubber duck for Ryan. Confusingly, despite the duck, there was no bath. However, my room did have a wonderful shower.

The long journeys provided plenty of reading time and I finished the last part of Cryoburn before moving on to Summer Knight (Dresden).

• Cryoburn - Lois McMaster Bujold - A readable, solid entry to the Miles series, although not as good as Memory or Diplomatic Immunity.The main plot is interesting, but I felt it wasn't as good as some of the previous ones. Too few of the characters are fully described and it's hard to care about them. Miles solves it with his usual skill, but I would have appreciated fewer (or no) references to the fact he does it in a hyperactive way, it seemed that someone was commenting on Miles' approach in every other paragraph (bored now!). In part, this was because less of the book is told from his point of view than usual as both Roic and a new character take centre stage. I'm not a great Mark fan, so I was somewhat disappointed that he showed up (and unconvinced it was necessary). Finally, I didn't enjoy the ending, but accept that it was about time.
• Summer Knight - Jim Butcher - Enjoyable, solid Dresden which I liked better than Fool Moon. After the depressing ending to the previous book, I particularly liked this one for finally stopping the trend of ending Harry in a worse place than where he had started from. Also, I liked the hints at grand plot for the series and Harry's destiny. I wish they had resolved some of the loose ends from the start though.

On Friday night, bateleur and I watched Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. I enjoyed it and liked the comic book bits and also the computer fights bits. The main character was rather unlikeable (I hope deliberately!), but his room-mate was awesome and the whole thing was light and fun.

Tonight there may be snow - although the Met Office appears to be backing away from this for our bit of the country.