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gridloreThe official high in Livermore today was 108. They measure that in a downtown plaza with trees and fountains. I'm just saying, because my truck thermometer told me the air temp hit 114 degrees at one point.
This point would be the one where I had to unload 260 feet of all-thread (10 foot lengths, but 1 inch thick) by hand in a dusty lumber yard.
Yes, today was craptacular.
Kirsten and I ventured forth tochurch see the Giants play the Padres.
San Francisco Giants: 9
San Diego Padres: 3
Incredible game. We saw our rookie first baseman Chad Santos' first MLB homerun, a strong outing from Noah Lowry, and then came the eighth inning.
Moises Alou lead off with a walk. Then Bonds came up and sent a pop fly screaming straight up. Seriously, this thing went 400 feet straight up. Padres' catcher Mike "porn 'stache" Piazza barely had to move off home plate. Bonds was already walking back to the dugout when Piazza caught the ball. Then fell on his fat ass. And dropped the ball. E-2, and one impressive strike.
Bonds didn't waste his good fortune. His next swing sent the ball over the fences in left-center for his 722nd career homerun. We went nuts.
We had barely stopped cheering when Ray Durham stepped to the plate, and sent a ball into the arcade in right. Back-to-back shots.
We were all on our feet cheering for Bonds and Durham when Pedro Feliz came to the plate. And he decides that two is never enough, smashing a hanger into the left field bleachers.
Not even a near meltdown in the 9th could ruin our mood. No, that was left to CalTrain. There's an express train that is supposed to leave 15 minutes after the game. Because of the "Spare the Air" day free rides program, the train filled up almost as soon as the game ended. So we had to take a local. Which meant we didn't get home until almost 0100. I get up at 0500 for work.
So, massive heatwave, not enough sleep, and a crappy day combined to make me miserable. No need for details, just rest assured that I really disliked my chosen career at a few points today.
But the weekend is here, at last. Tomorrow is the Grand Social Event of the season, Kylie the Wonder Baby's First Birthday Party! We are also going to try to make![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
capplor's anniversary party before heading to see the San Jose Giants.
All this in what is promised to be record-setting heat.
Aside from that, I have some writing to do. I'm tearing the Concordat apart again (luckily I'm doing all this before trying to sell it.) and have an idea for a set of simple, fast brawling rules for Traveller.
The idea came from a post asking for rules for hand-to-hand combat. I've always disliked extensive martial arts rules; after all, when the end result is one body part striking another, what does it matter if the blow is thrown by a half-drunk biker or a Ninja Master using the dreaded "The Woodchuck Goes Off" technique. The only real questions are: did I hit? How hard did I hit him? Did her hit me?
So I'm doing a very abstract set of rules. Everything is handled by two rolls. One roll against the difficulty of the fight (I'm using the T4/BITS/T5 task system). You use the level of success or failure as a modifier on the effects roll. Your "hits" are the average of STR, DEX, and END. Higher modified rolls cause more hits on the opponent, plus optional effects (amusing ones, like lowered efficiency in the next round, he falls backward and hits an ally...) At the middle end of the scale, you both take damage, and at the low end, you take damage.
This cuts down on the dice rolling and record keeping.
Modifiers can come from things like improvised weapons ("I grab the barstool and smash him with it!") and my favorite, bonuses for good role-playing.
Brawls are not serious combat, they exist to advance plots. So they should be fun. Think of the great brawls from movies and television. So this system rewards imaginative descriptions and actions.
There will be rules for pie fights.
This point would be the one where I had to unload 260 feet of all-thread (10 foot lengths, but 1 inch thick) by hand in a dusty lumber yard.
Yes, today was craptacular.
Kirsten and I ventured forth to
San Francisco Giants: 9
San Diego Padres: 3
Incredible game. We saw our rookie first baseman Chad Santos' first MLB homerun, a strong outing from Noah Lowry, and then came the eighth inning.
Moises Alou lead off with a walk. Then Bonds came up and sent a pop fly screaming straight up. Seriously, this thing went 400 feet straight up. Padres' catcher Mike "porn 'stache" Piazza barely had to move off home plate. Bonds was already walking back to the dugout when Piazza caught the ball. Then fell on his fat ass. And dropped the ball. E-2, and one impressive strike.
Bonds didn't waste his good fortune. His next swing sent the ball over the fences in left-center for his 722nd career homerun. We went nuts.
We had barely stopped cheering when Ray Durham stepped to the plate, and sent a ball into the arcade in right. Back-to-back shots.
We were all on our feet cheering for Bonds and Durham when Pedro Feliz came to the plate. And he decides that two is never enough, smashing a hanger into the left field bleachers.
Not even a near meltdown in the 9th could ruin our mood. No, that was left to CalTrain. There's an express train that is supposed to leave 15 minutes after the game. Because of the "Spare the Air" day free rides program, the train filled up almost as soon as the game ended. So we had to take a local. Which meant we didn't get home until almost 0100. I get up at 0500 for work.
So, massive heatwave, not enough sleep, and a crappy day combined to make me miserable. No need for details, just rest assured that I really disliked my chosen career at a few points today.
But the weekend is here, at last. Tomorrow is the Grand Social Event of the season, Kylie the Wonder Baby's First Birthday Party! We are also going to try to make
capplor's anniversary party before heading to see the San Jose Giants.All this in what is promised to be record-setting heat.
Aside from that, I have some writing to do. I'm tearing the Concordat apart again (luckily I'm doing all this before trying to sell it.) and have an idea for a set of simple, fast brawling rules for Traveller.
The idea came from a post asking for rules for hand-to-hand combat. I've always disliked extensive martial arts rules; after all, when the end result is one body part striking another, what does it matter if the blow is thrown by a half-drunk biker or a Ninja Master using the dreaded "The Woodchuck Goes Off" technique. The only real questions are: did I hit? How hard did I hit him? Did her hit me?
So I'm doing a very abstract set of rules. Everything is handled by two rolls. One roll against the difficulty of the fight (I'm using the T4/BITS/T5 task system). You use the level of success or failure as a modifier on the effects roll. Your "hits" are the average of STR, DEX, and END. Higher modified rolls cause more hits on the opponent, plus optional effects (amusing ones, like lowered efficiency in the next round, he falls backward and hits an ally...) At the middle end of the scale, you both take damage, and at the low end, you take damage.
This cuts down on the dice rolling and record keeping.
Modifiers can come from things like improvised weapons ("I grab the barstool and smash him with it!") and my favorite, bonuses for good role-playing.
Brawls are not serious combat, they exist to advance plots. So they should be fun. Think of the great brawls from movies and television. So this system rewards imaginative descriptions and actions.
There will be rules for pie fights.
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no subject
Date: 22 Jul 2006 11:28 (UTC)Reminds me of the following from The Great Race (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059243/quotes):
[gets hit in the face with a pie]
Prince Hapnick: [tastes pie] umm... brandy! Throw more brandy, throw brandy! More brandy! Brandy!
[gets hit again with a pie]
Prince Hapnick: umm... rum! I never mix my pies!