A Sporting Event For Irfan's School

09 May 2009 | Hisham | | Family Pics
 

Irfan handed us the letter from school early this week saying that Friday morning is sports day! The pre-school and Years 1, 2 and 3 classes' sports day to be precise. The older primary kids will have theirs on Sunday.

Early Friday morning, Irfan's mom and dad was there, all eager to see Irfan in action on the field. His year only had one game, which was pulling a ball across the field with a hoop. Nothing much to talk about there, so here's a bunch of pictures with accompanying captions.

Above: Can you spot Irfan during the initial assembly of short humans?

 

I'm Just Gonna Title This Entry "A Star Trek Review" Okay?

08 May 2009 | Hisham | | Misc Sci-Fi, Movie Review
 

Doctor Who.

Yes. You always have at least one scene (and usually more) in every episode of the show. You know the kind of scene they have:

"Run!"

"Doctor?"

"I said, run!"

"Did you say..."

"RUN!!!"

And then present company goes tearing down a corridor or a hallway or an alien cave at top speed being chased by a monster or an alien or both, usually lethal.

That's the kind of energy I found in almost every other scene in the new Star Trek movie which is entitled, uh... Star Trek.

Together again for the first time?
 

A Bad Example In The Spacelanes, Part 2

05 May 2009 | Hisham | | Bad Example, GOKL Actual Play, RPG Actual Play, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

Continuing the adventures of the crew of the Bad Example on Sriluur...

III

Meanwhile, Aden, Ssssawar and Annie crossed a bridge over the river that led to the waterfall only several metres due west. Their destination, Spacer's Bistro, was on the other side of the river. Port Barrow had the expected large percentage of Weequay population in the streets, they saw. But there were also other species, including humans, several Rodians here, a few Duros over there. The Bistro was a domed building overlooking the cliff. There was a large window pane which allowed for spectacular view of the canyon and other mountains in the range.

It was still early, so there were not many patrons in the Bistro. A green and black clad human was drinking alone in a table. There was a Weequay passed out, presumably drunk at another table. A Rodian was at a table near the window downing shots of some kind of drink. The crewmates were largely ignored by the bartender who continued cleaning his glasses without skipping a beat when they walked through the door.

 

A Bad Example In The Spacelanes, Part 1

04 May 2009 | Hisham | | Bad Example, GOKL Actual Play, RPG Actual Play, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

This will be the title card on our movie adaptation! Last Sunday I ran my first face-to-face, over-the-table Star Wars RPG game since 1999, with the GoKL crew. It was a tramp freighter campaign, set in the Rebellion Era, using classic D6 rules. I was quite anxious about it seeing it's been a while since I was in practice - discounting the IRC chat-based Sabredart and Chronicles of the Wild Gundark campaigns I had several years ago.

There were seven of us. I was gamemaster and there were six players. We rolled 6-sided dice to detemine the outcome of our actions, and the players decided what to do based on the scenarios and encounters I described to them over the game. It was fantastic collaborative storytelling.

Ultimately, this was the story that came out at the end of the game:

Episode 1: Pilot, or Lack Thereof

Long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... the galaxy is in turmoil. An Empire tightens its iron grip upon a million worlds. A rebellion arises to topple the corrupt government. But for quadrillions of beings, life goes on as usual. Demand exists. Supply is required.

With their cargo of machine parts, the crew of the Bad Example, a converted star yacht, arrives at its destination: The planet Sriluur and the township of Port Barrow.