Pithy Phrase

Empire Wars Blog

2006-01-31T23:44:00.000-08:00

Future Empire Wars Chronicles will be located at www.empirewars.blogspot.com

Empire Wars Chronicles

2006-01-31T23:35:00.000-08:00

Since my last post I have been very busy with work, but I have managed to do some work on Empire Wars. First I polished up the tutorial and rules for the revised game, and bundled it in a nice little presentation format, which I'm getting people to read and comment on. Second, the new combat system has led to a prettier version of the Damage Assessment Form which relies on colour-coded customized dice and little coloured wooden block, both of which I have been painting. It's Arts and Crafts! The torture never stops. But now the paint is dry and I'm itching to try them out.

In religious news, I found the Holy Grail in the Kamloops Staples. Yes, purple dry erase pens. The long search is over. As an extra bonus, the packs came with a fetching orange. Bic makes them. No more green vs. a different green!

I just wish I had time to play! I'll be making a point of that soon.

Empire Wars Chronicles

2005-12-22T23:49:00.000-08:00

After getting back from Wainwright in late October I got a full time position with the army (in Vancouver, thankfully) and moved into a new place. Work and settling in has kept me pretty busy and unfortunately away from EW.

Anyway, Christmas leave is upon me and today I managed to solve a significant impediment to the success of Empire Wars: I fixed the combat system.

Fixed is actually too strong a word, since there was nothing "broken", per se, about the original system. But it did involve a calculator and grade 11 math. The solution was to go back to an old design concept that I superceded very early in the development of the game. Basically, as a game unit, a large ship (dreadnought, battlecruiser, etc.) is no longer bigger (more "hit points", combat factors, cost, etc.) than a small ship (frigate, destroyer, etc.). In the new system every ship costs 10 resources. In combat there is no damage; a ship is either intact or destroyed. Combat is now based on rolling individual "hit or miss" attacks, and not summing combat factors assigned against an individual ship and rolling a defensive modifier. The "to hit" chart is a direct translation of the original system. Frigates have an advantageous roll (4 or less on a d6) against destroyers. Destroyers don't do so well against heavy cruisers (2 or less on a d6).

One direct effect of the new system is that the "bigger" ships (dreadnoughts, battlecruisers) will see more play because they won't take multiple turns to complete and can get in the game before it is about to end.

The original system isn't going away. Though it is daunting for new players, I think it will appeal to some experienced players (especially with computer play aids like the Empire Assistant). Learning the mechanics with the new basic game will make the transitition to the advanced system easier. I will need to playtest, of course. There is a possibility that this new system is better in all respects (simplicity and strategic depth), in which case the original system will quietly fade away.

It's amazing how inspiration strikes. I wasn't even looking for a solution to this problem. I was a passenger in a car yesterday and towards the end of a long ride it came to me as I daydreamed looking out the window. Since the new system is a simplification the writing of the rules was mostly deleting. I'm pleased that the "detailed turn order" document (the meat of the rules) is down to 7 pages of 12 point New Times Roman (6 pages if I eliminated white space from page breaks), about 2500 words.

So calculators are out and piles of dice are in. I'd like to reiterate that Empire Wars is currently free for testing purposes (materials at cost).

Empire Wars Chronicles

2005-09-24T07:50:00.000-07:00

I came home for 3 weeks and find myself back in Wainwright. It's currently the end of week 2 of 6.

In those 3 weeks I managed to get a game together with Ziggy and new player Kolja. We played half a game and were set to continue it but each time we tried something came up. Anyway, it was enjoyable enough and Ziggy has been talking about getting a game together in my absence.

The game marked the first time I used the Empire Assistant exclusively for my empire management and the system worked out quite well, reducing the administrative burden for me.

I've created a desktop image for my laptop that is essentially an Empire Wars board drawn in Paint. I have slowly been working on a similar image to adorn a custom t-shirt.

Empire Wars Chronicles

2005-07-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

I've got just under 4 weeks left in purgatory. While I've interested a few people in the game most seem more interested in the fact that I have created it than in actually playing the game itself. I haven't quite given up on getting a couple games before the end of the summer but it's been a bit disappointing. I never did figure out how to upload to my ISP so that will wait until my return to Vancouver.

Over the last couple of days I have produced a tutorial which will hopefully make the game a lot more approachable. It's illustrated with colour diagrams and photographs. It should be sufficient to introduce people to the game without my direct assistance and shows how to move units around in a way that the detailed turn order document never did.

So what I am looking for is people to take a couple minutes out of their day and try out the tutorial and give me feedback. If you are interested in actually playing, so much the better. What I want to know is if with the materials provided, does the game make sense to you? What, if anything, is unclear?

If you do actually want to play you'll need a whiteboard or a laminated white surface, as well as some dry erase markers and a few other minor items.

Send me a message if you are interested in helping me out and I'll send you the files including the Empire Assistant. All I ask is that you don't forward the files or copies of the material to anyone. If someone is interested, direct them to contact me. If you are in Vancouver we can get in touch and I can set up a game or get you materials (like system reports, etc.). And if you're not from Vancouver I can send stuff to you and can give support online.

For the indefinite time being Empire Wars will be free for testing purposes. If you find you are still playing it months from now we can work something out for payment (very reasonable rates at this early stage of development). Also for the time being the forms and such are at cost. The copy I sold Ziggy was under $40.

The tutorial is in Word format and is best viewed printed in colour. If you don't have a colour printer then I would recommend reading it on your computer. The tutorial can stand alone as an intro but is best as a companion to the other documentation.

Send me a message at gmonforton hotmail.com if interested.

Empire Wars Chronicles

2005-05-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this in exile from Wainwright, Alberta, where I'm working for the summer for the army. The pay is good and I've got plenty of time to think and hopefully play EW with other victims.

I finished the navigation assistants I mentioned in the last post, and more importantly, I sold my first copy! Ziggy from Drexoll is the first owner of the rare "1st Edition" Empire Wars. And what a bargain. I sold it to him for the cost of materials plus $1. This came out to $37.50. I'm a long way from profit, but somebody gave me money for something I made with my mind and hands.

I did a substantial cosmetic revision to my Empire Assistant excel program, which I'll post some pics of when I figure out how to upload to my ISP out here. It's much more user-friendly now.

Empire Wars Chronicles

2005-03-16T19:48:00.000-08:00

It has been 3 weeks since I last played, but I have managed to get a few things done in the meantime.

The last game was at Chris Q's place with Chris D and Richard. We played as 4 empires and by the ladder tournament rules. We only managed a partial game so scores were halved. Here are the very exciting results of the first Empire Wars ladder game:

Chris D: +1
Greg: +1
Richard: +1
Chris Q: 0

Same old reasons for a slow game: new player and lack of electronic support. Still, we had a good time and Richard said he enjoyed it.

Two days later I started a full time contract for work that ends at the end of this month. Working full time in the 8-4 paradigm (or 8am - 10pm like this job occasionally requires) is obviously for losers and is additional incentive to make a go of being a Famous Game Designer. Still, the pay is nice and helps keep the bill collectors away (thankfully my parents are patient bill collectors).

However these 3 weeks have not been completely unproductive. I bought and laminated three new full-sized boards and one small board. And I've designed navigation assistants (electronic versions of the customized rulers which I will print and laminate, no more fighting over the frigate ruler!) and post templates (circle templates for spherical range detection) using Microsoft Paint (there must be a harder way, right?). Today I also wrote the rules for "snapdrive", a kind of artificial wormhole transportation, and technology shipyards (techyards). Both concepts are very sexy, as I'm sure gold-digging women will tell me once I'm stinking rich.

Empire Wars Chronicles

2005-02-19T01:23:00.000-08:00

Two days ago I wrote up a short instruction for what will be the 2005 Empire Wars Ladder Tournament, which is a way of keeping score of all "official" games that happen this year. The scoring is a +/- scheme that encourages players even if they can't "win" a particular game... there are degrees of losing. Hopefully this will be a good way to get people interested in the game. I also wrote up an optional rule for a random starting bonus... essentially a racial trait system.

Tonight at Drexoll I played that "other" space empire game, the recently released third edition of Twilight Imperium. Believe it or not, this game takes longer to play than Empire Wars, which is heartening to see. TI gets a mixed review from me, though I'll definitely play it again at least once.

Empire Wars Chronicles

2005-02-13T02:23:00.000-08:00

I was supposed to play a game with Chris Q and Chris D today at Q's place but D managed to screw everything up by hosting a small party/game night at his place. Small but too big for me with plenty of girlfriends around to screw up any possibility of EW. I was going to go anyway but I had a commitment from Ziggy to play as well and I would have felt bad about abandoning it. So we decided to play at the armoury. Ziggy brought his friend Blake and I voluntold two troops to play (actually they were enthusiastic). So we had a 5 player game with 3 new players. I set it up with 4 regular empires and 1 freelancer (me), with a small amount of terrain. Teaching new players was slow as always but the guys caught on as quick as anyone. All in all we had a pretty awesome game. Joe and Pat formed an alliance right away and I didn't help things by working for them as a scout against Ziggy. Ziggy went for cruisers at the near-total expense of his escort capability so picketing was easy. At the end of the game he ended up losing two systems (one captured, one suicide-raided). Blake was left alone and was focusing on merchant capability. Aside from picketing I engaged in trade with several players. Comments were positive though identifying that combat was slow to resolve. Ziggy brought his laptop but it was too stupid to read my iPod so I couldn't show off/use the Empire Assistant, which everyone admitted would solve the difficult bits quite well. Blake was very enthusiastic about the game in general and talked about coding a purpose-built Empire Assistant. I'll be following up with him probably on Friday and I hope to keep in touch with everyone for future games.

I'm pretty close to the critical mass of experienced players I need to be able to guarantee a regular session. I figure I need 10+ to get 4-6 out on a given day and today was a big step towards that.

A Little Help?

2005-02-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

This afternoon was lovely near-summer weather so I went for a rucksack march (so I was in uniform with 50+ lbs on my back). As I was coming back home I was running through the local high school park and I saw 4 14-15 year old boys running in the field nearby. One of them pushed over the guy in the front and as I was watching them they started to punch him and then started to kick him.

Naturally I turned towards them and started yelling. Just as I was about to throw one of them they started laughing, including the boy being "roughed up".

As it turns out they were conducting a little social experiment. They told me they had been doing this for awhile and I was the first person to actually help the "victim". Everyone else ignored them while one guy apparently ran away. They intended to do all this again with video camera for an amateur documentary.

I was reminded of a study I was told about in 1st year psyche about experiments where they would record people's reactions to someone lying "unconscious" on a downtown sidewalk. Almost no one ever helped.

Not surprising. I end up doing first aid a little more than once a year but I don't think I've ever seen an accident in progress. Each time I have been the first responder even though the accident happened several minutes before.

I'm pretty much wired to react, possibly due to my training (though perhaps not). But I guess the facts of life are that most people would rather look at their shoes than try to help a stranger.

Empire Wars Chronicles

2005-01-22T01:39:00.000-08:00

I finally had the opportunity to show off EW to Drexoll owner Darcy and he appeared to easily grasp the game. We started late and only played one round but it did have a rousing battle and the major concepts got shown off. I used the Empire Assistant for all my empire management and it worked quite well. Excel has some quirky behaviour but despite a nice-to-have line getting erased on the Damage Assessment Form (my fault) Darcy managed to successfully assign his combat factors against my fleet.
Before EW we played a 4 player game of Camelot Legends. It was a quite enjoyable card game with beautiful art. It got a little complex and hard to follow when there were many characters and events in play. I really liked that the first knight character I put into play was essentially an abductor of women who hung out in the Perilous Forest. Unfortunately he was vanquished before he got to use his special ability! There were also a number of interesting interactions between knight characters and lady characters. I ended up winning, just barely.

Empire Wars Chronicles

2005-01-19T01:32:00.000-08:00

We did play again Sunday night in the Mess. Chris Q brought along Chris D, who also had played EW several years ago when it was first made. We played a good game until fatigue from a long day's work (and only a few short hours until Chris D had to get up again). The administration slowed things down and Chris Q doesn't have the same head for math that Chris D has (or my innate knowledge of the game). Chris Q suggested laptops running Excel to take over the administration which turned out to be an excellent idea.

After waking up at the crack of noon today I puttered around the house for a bit before going to Calhouns with a laptop and a mission. I ended up spending about 5.5 hours there, and produced a fully functional Empire Assistant beta. It's not the prettiest thing, but one excel workbook has all the system reports, damage assessment forms, master fleet reports, and intelligence forms an aspiring galactic ruler needs. All the math for the damage assessment forms is done internally by the spreadsheet, and includes predicted damage rates for all the possible die rolls. While it renders Chris D's ability to calculate faster than a calculator obselete the rest of us are going to be very greatful for it.

Happily, this Empire Assistant beta has everything I need to show a real computer programmer the features I want in a more advanced product. So while we aren't quite at networked Palm Pilots, Empire Wars has taken a major step forward today. I'm even able to call this an "honest day's work", and if I could always be this productive while drinking coffee and listening to my iPod I think I could make a go at being a Famous Game Designer *tm*.

Empire Wars Chronicles

2005-01-15T22:44:00.000-08:00

7 February at Drexoll I played a two player game of EW with Matt, back from holidays. Not much to note.

14 February at Drexoll I spent most of the night with Pierre, but playing his game which is an innovative global battle between two hemispherical superpowers fighting on land and in space. Supremacy meets Stratego, kinda. We spent some time talking about my game and brainstorming some ideas. Pierre is further along with his game than I am with mine, and is looking at publishing soon.

Darcy suggested that I get a table at Weathertop and I'm thinking about it but I'm at the cusp of being ready for such an event.

Tonight in the mess I spent a couple hours with my friend Chris who is one of the original players from a few years ago. We talked through the game to refresh him and bring him up to date and we'll probably sit down and play tomorrow with a few mutual friends that I haven't seen for awhile. Chris was very encouraging (thanks Chris!) and I hope he can find the time to play and support Empire Wars.

Empire Wars Chronicles

2004-12-27T01:02:00.000-08:00

We played in the mess tonight, but I had 2 flake-outs so it was just Al and I. The game still plays pretty good with 2. My tweaked-out safe passage rules didn't get tested, and it became obvious tonight that the procedures for taking over a system need to be revised and expanded. Do shipyards become property of the conquering player? Do ships under construction? I have some thinking to do.

We had a couple of sharp battles that gave Al a much better sense of the system, and the relatively new "guaranteed effect formula" got a workout.

As did my new iTrip that I picked up before the game! It's an iPod accessory that transmits the iPod to FM stereo, so we had good music while we played. I'm going to make a lot of use of it in the next few days as I'll be on the road for about 8 hours a day.

Empire Wars Chronicles

2004-12-17T23:46:00.000-08:00

- Empire Wars Chronicles are a journal of my experiences in playtesting and developing Empire Wars, my board game of strategic space conquest. You can read previous entries at VirtualDave here. You may want to also read the game background.

Space Amoebas will likely become Hyperspace Amoebas, and coloured pipe cleaners look to be the way ahead.

We played a 3-player intro game tonight. Ewan is someone who has played before (but I haven't seen him in several weeks) and Al was the newcomer. Things were slow to introduce a new player, and we played without any terrain or optional rules. While the game itself wasn't terribly exciting, both players are interested in playing a longer game in a non-Drexoll setting.

Getting a full-length game is the next step which I hope to play before Christmas in the mess. Failing that, after Christmas, and failing that, early in the new year. I'm pretty sure I can get 6 players out, and I can sit out and mentor.

I've found the game concept of "safe passage" to be ambiguous but I think I know how I'm going to tighten it up.

These are a few of my favourite things...

2004-12-16T04:15:00.000-08:00

A list of essential songs. If you don't like these songs then you are dumb and have a small pee-pee. You may be able to get them with something that rhymes with "Wazaa".

Ocean Pearl – 54-40
If I Ain’t Got You – Alicia Keys
32 Flavors – Ani Difranco
Lovers in a Dangerous Time – Barenaked Ladies
Song for the Dumped – Ben Folds Five
Dry the Rain – The Beta Band
Stolen Car – Beth Orton
King of New Orleans – Better Than Ezra
Ride Like Hell – Big Sugar
The Oaf – Big Wreck
That Song – Big Wreck
Blown Wide Open – Big Wreck
Isobel – Bjork
It’s Oh So Quiet – Bjork
5 Days In May – Blue Rodeo
Hasn’t Hit Me Yet – Blue Rodeo
Hook – Blues Traveller
Play Crack the Sky – Brand New
Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don’t – Brand New
The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows – Brand New
I Will Play My Game Beneath the Spin Light – Brand New
Empty Sky – Bruce Springsteen
The Distance – Cake
You’re Never There – Cake
My Favorite Game – The Cardigans
For What It’s Worth – The Cardigans
Believer – Chantal Kreviazuk
Clocks – Coldplay
In My Place – Coldplay
Politik – Coldplay
The Scientist – Coldplay
August and Everything After (album) - Counting Crowd
But especially: Sullivan Street, Omaha, Anna Begins
A Common Disaster – Cowboy Junkies
I’m So Open – Cowboy Junkies
Hard to Explain – Cowboy Junkies
Volcano – Damien Rice
Delicate – Damien Rice
Cheers Darlin’ – Damien Rice
My Love is Bold – Danko Jones
Fucked Up – Danko Jones
Screaming Infidelities – Dashboard Confessional
The Best Deceptions – Dashboard Confessional
Deny – Default
Live a Lie – Default
Silence – Delerium/Sarah McLachlan
Miserlou – Dick Dale
Souljacker Pt. 1 – The Eels
Half a World Away – Esthero
Your Lurking Shadow – The Fighting Jacks
Sleep to Dream – Fiona Apple
Criminal – Fiona Apple
Suddenly Everything Has Changed – The Flaming Lips
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots pt. 1 – The Flaming Lips
Fight Test – The Flaming Lips
Approaching Pavonis Mons By Balloon – The Flaming Lips
It’s Summertime – The Flaming Lips
Hammering in My Head – Garbage
Hey Jealousy – Gin Blossoms
The Night Pat Murphy Died – Great Big Sea
Longview – Green Day
What a Way to Run a Railroad – Huevos Rancheros
Get Outta Dodge – Huevos Rancheros
Closer to Fine – Indigo Girls
Right Hand Man – Joan Osborne
Clueless Wonder – Joel Plaskett Emergency
Break Down Here – Julie Roberts
12 Bellevue – Kathleen Edwards
National Steel – Kathleen Edwards
The Lone Wolf – Kathleen Edwards
Westby – Kathleen Edwards
One More Song the Radio Won’t Like – Kathleen Edwards (Failer is a really good album!)
6 O’Clock News – Kathleen Edwards
Vacation – Katy Rose
Below the Stars – King Cobb Steelie
Home – King Cobb Steelie
Hurricane – Lisa Loeb
I Alone – Live
Fuck and Run – Liz Phair
Divorce Song – Liz Phair
Fruits of My Labor – Lucinda Williams
Car Wheels On A Gravel Road – Lucinda Williams
Drunken Angel – Lucinda Williams
Ladyfingers – Luscious Jackson
Naked Eye – Luscious Jackson
Why Do I Lie – Luscious Jackson
Apparitions – Matthew Good Band
Rico – Matthew Good Band
Polar Opposites – Modest Mouse
Song Against Sex – Neutral Milk Honey
Letting Time Pass – The New Meanies
Underneath It All – No Doubt
Sixteen – No Doubt
Sunday Morning – No Doubt
Don’t Speak – No Doubt
Wonderwall – Oasis
Don’t Look Back in Anger – Oasis
Some Might Say – Oasis
Truth Untold – The Odds
The Kids Aren’t Alright – The Offspring
Into Your Hideout – Pilate
Melt Into the Walls – Pilate
Debaser – The Pixies
Gigantic – The Pixies
Where Is My Mind? – The Pixies
Dirty Old Town – The Pogues
Sour Times – Portishead
Such Great Heights – The Postal Service
Peaches – The Presidents of the United States of America
Common People – Pulp
No One Knows – Queens of the Stone Age
Paranoid Android – Radiohead
Bad Time To Be Poor – Rheostatics
Portions For Foxes – Rilo Kiley
I Never – Rilo Kiley
Plane Crash in C – Rilo Kiley
Wires and Waves – Rilo Kiley
Science vs. Romance – Rilo Kiley
Always – Rilo Kiley
Capturing Moods – Rilo Kiley
The Execution of All Things – Rilo Kiley
Spectacular Views – Rilo Kiley
Come Pick Me Up – Ryan Adams
Where Have All the Good People Gone – Sam Roberts
Hard Road – Sam Roberts
Brother Down – Sam Roberts
Lodestar – Sarah Harmer
Weakened State – Sarah Harmer
Possession – Sarah McLachlan
Elsewhere – Sarah McLachlan
Ice Cream – Sarah McLachlan
I Will Not Forget You – Sarah McLachlan (but “I Will Remember You” is tripe)
Objection (Tango) – Shakira
- Shawn Colvin
but especially… Polaroids, Shotgun Down the Avalanche, I Don’t Know Why, Trouble, Something to Believe In
My Favorite Mistake – Sheryl Crow
Anything But Down – Sheryl Crow
Youth Decay – Sleater-Kinney
Good Things – Sleater-Kinney
One More Hour – Sleater-Kinney
People of the Sky – Sloan
Coax Me – Sloan
If It Feels Good Do It – Sloan
The Good In Everyone – Sloan
Underwhelmed – Sloan
Home For a Rest – Spirit of the West
Save This House – Spirit of the West
Cold Shot – Stevie Ray Vaughn
What I Got – Sublime
Motivation – Sum 41
Temptation – The Tea Party
Fuck Her Gently – Tenacious D
Rock Your Socks – Tenacious D
Double Team – Tenacious D
City Hall – Tenacious D
The Day We Hit the Coast – Thrush Hermit
Mother Mother – Tracy Bonham
Grace, Too – The Tragically Hip
Nautical Disaster – The Tragically Hip
At the 100th Meridian – The Tragically Hip
Lake Fever – The Tragically Hip
Poets – The Tragically Hip
Something On – The Tragically Hip
Fireworks – The Tragically Hip
Ahead By A Century – The Tragically Hip
Highway Girl (especially the live story cut) – The Tragically Hip
New Orleans is Sinking (especially the Killerwhaletank live cut) – The Tragically Hip
Wheat Kings – The Tragically Hip
Blow at High Dough – The Tragically Hip
Scared – The Tragically Hip
Little Bones – The Tragically Hip
Drive – Treble Charger
More’s the Pity – Treble Charger
Signs of Life – Twinemen
Even Better Than the Real Thing – U2
One – U2
Until the End of the World – U2
The Fly – U2
Desire – U2
Bad – U2
Whiskey Bottle – Uncle Tupelo
Volcano Girls – Veruca Salt
Any Day Now – The Watchmen
Choked Up – Whiskeytown
Sixteen Days – Whiskeytown
Sister Sally – Wide Mouth Mason
Mary Mary – Wide Mouth Mason
Superstition (live) – Wide Mouth Mason
Outtasite (Outta Mind) – Wilco
Maps – Yeah Yeah Yeahs

If I had to cut the list down to essential essentials it would be:
Ocean Pearl, 5 Days In May, The Distance, Hard to Explain, Right Hand Man, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, Melt Into the Walls, Spectacular Views, Good Things, Nautical Disaster, and Superstion. If you haven't heard those songs then do whatever you need to do get them!

"Holy Macaroni!"

2004-12-15T17:09:00.000-08:00

- Homer Simpson

The Millau Viaduct, in France. See awesome photos here and here.

The best part? 100% capitalist.

Do You Realize...

2004-12-13T23:31:00.000-08:00

... both Wayne Coyne's first and last name end in "yne", and if you remove the "yne" and join the names together you get "WaCo"? Coincidence? I think not.

"Do you realize that everyone you know someday will die?"

2004-12-10T03:25:00.000-08:00

- Wayne Coyne, the Flaming Lips

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by the Flaming Lips (2002)
This is an outstanding Album (capital A). I'm not going to write a review, that's what Rolling Stone and the Onion A.V. Club are for. Questionable Content had some things to say about the Flaming Lips. Anyway, YBtPR has an Alan Parsons Project feel (only better) and has a super-high proportion of recommendable songs. Fight Test, One More Robot, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots pt. 1, Are You A Hypnotist, It's Summertime, Do You Realize?, and Approaching Pavonis Mons By Balloon are all winners, and there isn't an objectionable song on the album.

I recently invented Yoshimi ++ by adding the song Why Do I Lie? by Luscious Jackson to YBtPR. I think the best place to insert it is as track 3 after One More Robot and before Yoshimi Pt. 1. In a perfect world we could make Why Do I Lie? 20% more psychodelic to fit in even better. Anyway, try it some time!

Suddenly Everything Has Changed is a Flaming Lips song but not on YBtPR. It has a Strawberry Fields feel and also one of the best melodic bass lines I've heard (played once at the beginning and end of the song). The Postal Service cover is okay in its own right but dispenses with the bass melody.

“Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to up-armor our vehicles?”

2004-12-09T14:53:00.000-08:00

- Reporter Edward Lee Pitts through Spc. Thomas Wilson, to SecDef Donald Rumsfeld.

Froggy Ruminations comments a little about the media Rumsfeld set-up, but more importantly provides us with a great military anecdote. I have never seen a general do a mass question/answer session. They do tend to get amongst the troops to find out what's important to them, but usually they visit smaller groups while they work. Certainly nothing the cameras would be interested in.

"The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step."

2004-12-09T02:55:00.000-08:00

- Lao Zi, professional Chinese guy

I decided a week or two ago to start a blog, and excitedly went about setting it up, but got stumped for a title. It finally came to me tonight. I wanted something a little bit clever and memorable. Pithy Phrase will have to do.

I have about 10 months experience pseudo-blogging at the php forum Virtual Dave, and there is a lot of good stuff there (so check it out) but it has been less commentary and more great links. I plan on continuing to crosspost there.

As soon as I added the quote below the blog title I realized a problem with Pithy Phrase. I like pithy phrases! So let's be clear from the start that I'm not making fun of the quotes that appear from time to time here or the persons they originated with. Indeed, I may use this platform to comment on them, provide them some depth and context, or use them to illustrate concepts.

I also want to blog about books, music, current events, and whatever strikes my fancy. This will also be the place to read about the development and hopeful publication of my board game Empire Wars. More on that to follow.