EROTIKEA

This I thought was really funny...

EROTIKEA [link removed because, sadly, the original page appears to be dead]

"SEXY murals are among a wealth of Roman relics which have been uncovered on the site of a new Ikea store.

"The erotic paintings were found by workmen building a massive new outlet for the Swedish furniture giants." [via Jonny]

Vatican offers exorcism lessons

Vatican offers exorcism lessons

"The Vatican university is launching a new course for exorcists - Roman Catholic priests who cast out evil spirits from the possessed.

"Lessons at the prestigious Athenaeum Pontificium Regina Apostolorum will include the history of Satanism and its context in the Bible.

"Practical lessons in psychology and the law will also feature.

"Concern is high in Italy about the influence of Satanic cults - especially among the young and impressionable.

"And there will also be seminars at the Athenaeum, or Upra as it is known, on the spiritual, liturgical and pastoral work involved in being an exorcist." [via Jonny]

SPI Died for Your Sins

SPI Died for Your Sins

"The scene: Saturday morning at Origins [19]77, the national simulations gaming convention, hosted that year at a college on Staten Island by SPI. Inside the dealer's room, game companies feverishly prepare for the onslaught. Outside, beyond the locked doors, visible through the glass wall of the room, are the gamers, hundreds of them, pressed against the glass. At ten, the doors open, and the hordes pour through, charging into the dealer's room. Most make a beeline for the SPI table, where they stand, six deep, demanding copies of the new wargame releases, overwhelming the dozen staffers who stand behind the table to fulfill orders.

"The scene: GenCon 96, the largest adventure gaming convention, Saturday morning in the open gaming area. We browse around, moving from table to table, seeing what people are playing. D&D, of course; Magic; Vampire; GURPS. Perhaps a game of Civilization, or Rail Baron.

"Oh, here's someone playing a wargame. What's he playing?

"Why, an out-of-print SPI wargame. From the seventies."

A Refutation By The Author of FATAL of a Review

The RPG.net review (which is linked in this) is quite funny to read, if you haven't previously. I haven't fully read the author's refutation (my word not his...I wouldn't credit him the vocabulary) but having read FATAL (and taken the resulting Sanity loss) I am sure that it is amusing. All that I can say is, if you haven't read FATAL....it is in the best interests of your psyche to not be tempted.

Enjoy.

A Refutation By The Author of FATAL of a Review

"Although it is technically not a review, but mostly an attack against me, Byron Hall, I will demonstrate the fallacies of the authors, Darren MacLennan and Jason Sartin. Obviously, they hate F.A.T.A.L. and anyone involved with the game. Their hatred can be only the result of fear. They are fearful because they know it will be published. They are fearful because the material in the game is supported, and is dissimilar to anything that attracts them. People fear what is different to them, mostly out of cognitive laziness; it takes effort to explore what is different. Nonetheless, I appreciate the attention to the game, and inefficient effort."

Death of A Playwright

Death of a Playwright

"Arthur Miller, dramatist, was born on October 17, 1915. He died on February 10, 2005, aged 89.

"The American playwright who wrote Death of a Salesman, withstood the anti-communist witch-hunts and married Marilyn Monroe

"ARTHUR MILLER will be remembered by some as the intellectual who made a famously unsuitable marriage to Marilyn Monroe, and by others as the staunch liberal who risked imprisonment by defying the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities. But his main legacy is the series of plays — Death of a Salesman and The Crucible prime among them — that had established him as his nation’s leading dramatist by the mid-1950s and continue to be revived and studied throughout the world."

Jack Chalker Passed Away

Jack Chalker News

"As of 11:12AM Friday, February 11th, 2005, Jack Lawrence Chalker has now passed away and is now in a greater place. We thank all that have kept Jack in his thoughts and prayers."

My Hate of D02 Know No Limit

Does your hat of d02 know no limit? Then you should play d02 RIGHT NOW! When you go here you will learn to have a hat of d02 also.

D02: Know No Limit

"This game is serious! There are ninjas and crocodiles! IF you need a bonus on your role, you can give the D02 master some of you change and buy it. It KNOW NO LIMIT!"

Steven Shaviro's DOOM PATROLS

An old school Favorite of mine, I am suprised that I never got around to rebookmarking it through my blog. A postmodern novel/criticism of Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol comic, among other things. A reat source for the GM who wants so very deserately to be postmodern, but isn't sure where to start.

Steven Shaviro's DOOM PATROLS

The long shadow of Dracula

This must be a particularly strong meme, because every now and then you come across a story about people doing this. I'm sure that from time to time the ripping out of the heart of a corpse is required, but I am glad that it isn't my job. Not even for time and a half.

The long shadow of Dracula

"Last week, six men were jailed for ripping out the heart of a corpse they believed was 'undead'. As Monica Petrescu in Bucharest writes, to many Romanians, vampires are not legend but terrifying reality

"It was just before midnight as Gheorghe Marinescu and five of his relatives crept into the graveyard in the small Romanian village of Marotinul de Sus. They knew which plot they were looking for – a simple earth grave with a wooden cross bearing the name Petre Toma – and quickly, but quietly, set about digging."

When the zombies take over, how long till the electricity fails?

This is an important question that needs to be answered.

When the zombies take over, how long till the electricity fails?

"Dear Straight Dope:

"After watching Dawn of the Dead, I am left to wonder about one thing: If we were to suffer an apocalypse where most of the living became flesh-eating zombies, how long, assuming I survived, would I continue to receive hydroelectricity from my power company? Is it a mean-time-before-failure situation, or would the system automatically shut itself down after a few days? (I am assuming that most of the people who were supposed to be maintaining things at my hydro company would be out looking for brains, and that the surviving hydro employees would be busy digging shelters, etc.) Also, what's the outlook like for people whose chunk of the power grid is supplied by coal, nuclear, and other types of energy? Just wondering how many solar panels I should be putting on my roof! —Jason, Vancouver, BC, Canada"