Picture From Origins

www.flickr.com Cleveland Desolation's Origins 2008 photoset

Hello From Origins!

Hello everyone! Today brings us to the tail end of the "second" day of Origins. The Exhibition Hall didn't open until today, and a lot of the gamers did not open today but there were people and events that started last night, and I have to so that so far this Origins has shaped up to be better than last years.

Here are some random Origins-related notes:
1. A lot of women with blue hair. I'm not sure about the relationship, just something to mention.

2. Talked today for a little while with Shane Ivey of Arc Dream Publishing. We talked about the past and upcoming future of Delta Green. Good Stuff!! Plus, it was great to put a face to the name that I've seen posting both on the DG list and over at RPG.net.

3. Talked for a while with Jeff Combos and a couple of other guys at Exile Game Studio about Hollow Earth Expeditions. At Battlefield Press we are really looking forward to our HEX-powered conversion of Pulp Fantasy and after talking with Jeff I can see why. His enthusiasm is great and infectious for his games. Might be meeting up at Big Bar a little later.

4. Picked up True20 Revised edition from the folks at Green Ronin. What's a great thing about conventions? Steve Kenson (the designer of True20 and an all-around great guy) ran up our order! How cool is that? I am really thinking that it might be a good system for a Gatecrasher conversion too.

5. Picked up a few odds and ends. There really wasn't a lot that I wanted to buy and the only thing that I am really still looking for is a cheap copy of Mongoose's new edition of Traveller. I got the quick start at Free RPG Day, and it just confirmed that this is a game that I want to have. A copy of Runequest Deluxe would be nice too but I haven't seen that either.

Aren and Aaron have had pretty full schedules so far. Aaron had a great session of Stargate SG-1 last night and Aren had a fun game of HEX that featured death rays and baby seals. Who doesn't enjoy role-playing like that?

I didn't get to take so many pictures yet. Hopefully I will get around to some more over the weekend. This badge will actually update itself as I load more photos into this set so one link is all that you will need:

Internet access will be limited but I will try to post more tomorrow (or Saturday before we leave and I will definitely get more photos. More shopping (probably) and I will also be wandering around and/or getting to doing some actual work around here.

If you are around Origins tonight, stop by the Big Bar and say hello!

Wednesday...To Origins!!!

Early Wednesday afternoon I will be leaving for Origins. We'll be there until Saturday night.

I will be taking my computer and camera along with me, and will be blogging and photo posting from the convention while I am there. I'm going to try for a recap each night.

I will also be blogging this for the Cleveland Victus blog, provided they get me the posting privileges promised. I will probably try to do slightly different material for each blog, so that we can have a bit of variety.

Emails and other responses may be slow coming over the next few days.

George Carlin Dies

Outside of Richard Pryor, I cannot think of a comedian who has had as much of an impact on mainstream society.

This is a great loss but he is in a much better place.

Acerbic standup comedian and satirist George Carlin, whose staunch defense of free speech in his most famous routine 'Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television' led to a key Supreme Court ruling on obscenity, has died.

Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, went into St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica on Sunday afternoon complaining of chest pain and died later that evening, said his publicist, Jeff Abraham. He had performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. He was 71.

Mike Wieringo Scholarship "The 'Ringo" Announced

CHARLOTTE, NC (June 16, 2008) When Mike Wieringo abruptly passed away last August, the comics industry lost more than a great artist and creator – it lost a friend. Now, Mike’s family has teamed with the Savannah College of Art and Design to create The Mike Wieringo Scholarship or “The ‘Ringo” to help keep his spirit of generosity alive.

Created by Mike’s brother Matt and his sister-in-law Suzanne, the ‘Ringo is designed to help provide similar help to artists at the Savannah College of Art and Design or SCAD. Domestic and international students with have a minimum 3.0 grade point average who demonstrate financial need and display a serious interest in pursuing comics as a career are eligible. The scholarship will take effect in the artist’s second year of classes, and is renewable for up to two additional years, provided the student continues to meet the criteria.

The recipient will be chosen from three finalists determined by the college in a portfolio review by Matt and Suzanne Wieringo, along with a rotating group. The ultimate goal for the ‘Ringo is to raise enough funds so that it can cover a full year’s expenses at SCAD, approximately $30,000.

Toward this end, a table staffed by Mike’s family and friends will be set up in his traditional spot in Artists Alley at Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC. Heroes was a big part of Mike’s life and career, and was the industry event he most looked forward to every year.

The table will raise funds through donations and the sale of remaining copies of Mike’s sketchbooks, copies of comics featuring Mike’s work, selected pieces of Mike’s original artwork, sketches by Mike’s friends in the industry who will be appearing at the booth, and items donated by other comic professionals. Pros appearing include Jeff Parker, Rich Faber, Craig Rousseau, Todd Dezago, Mark Waid, Cully Hamner, Richard Case and more to be announced.

“SCAD is one of the most impressive programs in the world to focus on the medium of comics,” says Jeff Parker, creator of The Interman and Agents of Atlas, who worked with Mike at Artamus Studios. “I’m pretty sure Mike would have loved to have attended such a place in his student days. It would make an excellent legacy for him if we can grow the Ringo scholarship into a launch pad for the future greats of comics.”

Despite his success on such books as The Flash, Fantastic Four and his own creator-owned Tellos, Mike Wieringo never forgot what it was like to be a struggling creator. For many up-and-comers, Mike served as a mentor and friendly voice, whether it was providing free covers, advice, or just the encouragement to keep going.

With your help, the Mike Wieringo Scholarship can continue to grow and help a new generation of creators get the training and connections they need to start their careers. Mike’s talent, enthusiasm and generosity inspired many in the comics industry to be their best as both creators and as human beings. With your help, Mike will continue to be an inspiration for creators in decades to come.

Banksy

A great website by a political street artist in the UK.

Street Art

Boston find new lead singer - on MySpace

I didn't know that Boston was missing a singer. Of course it has been a very, very long time since I listened to a song by them.

File this one under Dreams Do Come True: Tommy DeCarlo, unknown singer from Charlotte, North Carolina, just joined his favorite group, Boston, and he has MySpace to thank for it.

DeCarlo, 43, who up until recently was working as a credit manager at his local Home Depot, put MP3's of himself singing Boston songs in tribute to original lead singer Brad Delp, who committed suicide last year, on his MySpace page. A fan contacted DeCarlo and suggested he send it to the band's management.

Just A Band!

And now I pass along the infection to you:

True20: D&D With a Twist

For a lot of gamers, Dungeons & Dragons serves as something of a default game system. Certainly, it is by far the most popular, though some would argue the system suffers in comparison to other RPGs. After all, there are countless systems out there, some of them very different than D&D. For instance, game designer Jonathan Tweet created Over The Edge, a system with no skills or attributes, as well as Everway, a game with no dice. Of course, fans of the White Wolf's World of Darkness series of games prefer their system, and GURPS-players like theirs.

However, in the end, D&D's ubiquity won out. Wisely, D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast licensed out the game system, calling it d20 and inviting small publishers to design products for it. The terms of the agreement, called the Open Gaming License (OGL) even allows publishers to tinker with the rules.

True20 started as a d20 variant designed for use in Blue Rose: The Roleplaying Game of Romantic Fantasy. In the True20 rulebook's introduction, developer Steve Kenson describes the game this way: 'The idea behind Blue Rose was to introduce new players to fantasy roleplaying with an untapped genre and a simpler, more self-contained system than is currently available under the Open Gaming License.'