I'm going to summarize last night's interview of Jim Cramer by Jon Stewart as follows:
Jon Stewart pwned Jim Cramer.
Now, I know that there are limitations to comparing Jon Stewart to David Frost. For starters, Cramer isn't nearly as important as Nixon, and of course, Stewart is a comedian, whereas Frost was a reporter. Actually, even within this fiasco, Cramer isn't as important as Nixon was with his administration, since Cramer isn't in charge of the others.
Now, Stewart didn't sit around interviewing Cramer several hours a day for about a week, but of course, Stewart didn't need to wear Cramer down and get him to say internally inconsistent things within the interview. Of course, he had a modern advantage. It has become easy - and in fact standard - for there to be several clips ready to be played at a moment's notice.
I found it particularly amusing when a clip was rolled where Cramer was explaining how to pull one of those tricks regarding hedge funds. Cramer tried to say that he was trying to out the bad guys and explain how it works. Then, of course, another clip was rolled, showing that Cramer was suggesting this as actual advice. Cramer was caught in a lie in the interview. Even if he didn't lie during the interview, however, it still would have shown him for what he is.
OK, I'm going to post this even though it's not polished yet, just to get it out there. I've got plans today and tomorrow, so I don't know when I'll finish this.
Also, FYI, I wasn't really planning to blog right now, but once I saw that interview, I knew that I just had to say something.
You can see the whole interview uncensored (i.e., unbleeped), at http://www.thedailyshow.com/index.jhtml .
EDIT 2009/Mar/20: OK, I know that I intended to flesh out that post more, but I've been too busy. I'm shooting for early next week. In the meantime, I figured that this is as good of a place as any to write down this quote that I've been meaning to grab for a few weeks now:
"Isn't the Dow Jones Industrial Average just a short-twitch numerical representation of a bunch of guesses about other people's assumptions about the financial well-being of an arbitrarily chosen group of thirty out of tens of thousands of possible companies?" -Jon Stewart
Friday, March 13, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Update: I'm Busy
OK, basically, I'm really busy right now. I'm trying to find a job. If I don't find a real job soon, then I'll have to go get a grunt job somewhere. That, of course, will take up even more time, since I'll still be looking for a real job.
Regarding my play by e-mail RPG, D. hasn't responded to my latest e-mail yet, so that's stuck. I have found a group with which to hang out once per week. Once I squeeze that in, though, there's not much time left for blogging.
Expect real blog posts about subjects that I actually want to discuss to appear after I get a real job.
Regarding my play by e-mail RPG, D. hasn't responded to my latest e-mail yet, so that's stuck. I have found a group with which to hang out once per week. Once I squeeze that in, though, there's not much time left for blogging.
Expect real blog posts about subjects that I actually want to discuss to appear after I get a real job.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Posts to Come: All-in-one List as of Xmas 2008
It's harder to track my list of posts to make when they're all spread about, so here's a consolidated list of what I still need to do, as of now:
Posts:
Was Serenity a Nail in Firefly's Coffin?
Things of a Literary Nature: Innate Timeline Branching in Fiction
Crisps, Chips, or Fries?
Centaur or Thri-Kreen?
something about Arkham Horror (mechanics, summer league, etc.)
some kind of game review
Edits:
Add to and update "RPGs for Me to Play".
http://games.yahoo.com/daily-games/sudokudaily for having found sudoku w/ green dots
I also intend to post a section of that story that I'm trying to write. I'm not doing it by chapter at this point. I am still trying to write, but I seem to have trouble getting the words to flow. Here's what else is going on in my life:
Basically, since commencement (Did I mention that I'm graduating? The bureaucracy still needs to do some stuff, but, as far as I know, I've got a diploma coming my way.), I've been taking a break. That won't last long, since I need to find a job.
I also want to get through the Arkham Horror Summer League (new URL: http://new.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm=6&esem=4 - and you have to log in for the text to turn into links). At this point, I'm doing it by myself, and I'm halfway through. The last scenario got released last week. I hope to get through the last of the scenarios that don't require Curse of the Dark Pharaoh by ... soon. Then, I need to get Curse of the Dark Pharaoh so that I can do the rest. I also got 4 books for Xmas, 3 of which I intend to read when I get the chance (the 4th is for either of two RPG systems that I don't use yet, so that will wait).
Of course, this is all aside from the stuff that I need to do, like looking for a job and working on getting some certifications. And losing weight. And practicing my martial arts. And cleaning my room.
That's all for now.
Posts:
Was Serenity a Nail in Firefly's Coffin?
Things of a Literary Nature: Innate Timeline Branching in Fiction
Crisps, Chips, or Fries?
Centaur or Thri-Kreen?
something about Arkham Horror (mechanics, summer league, etc.)
some kind of game review
Edits:
Add to and update "RPGs for Me to Play".
http://games.yahoo.com/daily-games/sudokudaily for having found sudoku w/ green dots
I also intend to post a section of that story that I'm trying to write. I'm not doing it by chapter at this point. I am still trying to write, but I seem to have trouble getting the words to flow. Here's what else is going on in my life:
Basically, since commencement (Did I mention that I'm graduating? The bureaucracy still needs to do some stuff, but, as far as I know, I've got a diploma coming my way.), I've been taking a break. That won't last long, since I need to find a job.
I also want to get through the Arkham Horror Summer League (new URL: http://new.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm=6&esem=4 - and you have to log in for the text to turn into links). At this point, I'm doing it by myself, and I'm halfway through. The last scenario got released last week. I hope to get through the last of the scenarios that don't require Curse of the Dark Pharaoh by ... soon. Then, I need to get Curse of the Dark Pharaoh so that I can do the rest. I also got 4 books for Xmas, 3 of which I intend to read when I get the chance (the 4th is for either of two RPG systems that I don't use yet, so that will wait).
Of course, this is all aside from the stuff that I need to do, like looking for a job and working on getting some certifications. And losing weight. And practicing my martial arts. And cleaning my room.
That's all for now.
Merry Xmas
Well, we've survived Robot Santa's attacks yet again, and I came out on top this time. I'm just posting this to say what I got.
I got a WristStrong bracelet and A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All.
I got Spirit of the Century and Don't Rest Your Head, each in both print and PDF form. DRYH also came with a free gift of Reality Storm: When Worlds Collide, which has Silver Age Sentinels stats for a bunch of Champions Universe characters and HERO System stats for a bunch of SAS characters, and complete, official rules for converting between the two. Of course, I don't have either system, so that'll be shelved for a while. I also got some Fudge dice to go with SotC.
I also got Steampunk, an anthology of steampunk stories.
More blog posts are coming soon.
I got a WristStrong bracelet and A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All.
I got Spirit of the Century and Don't Rest Your Head, each in both print and PDF form. DRYH also came with a free gift of Reality Storm: When Worlds Collide, which has Silver Age Sentinels stats for a bunch of Champions Universe characters and HERO System stats for a bunch of SAS characters, and complete, official rules for converting between the two. Of course, I don't have either system, so that'll be shelved for a while. I also got some Fudge dice to go with SotC.
I also got Steampunk, an anthology of steampunk stories.
More blog posts are coming soon.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Miscellaneous Updates
Well, life's been pretty hectic this term. I've got finals this week, but after that I should be able to post more.
Quick notes:
-My play-by-e-mail game now has a genre, and will probably get a system soon. Once I'm out of school, I should be able to get a regular schedule, so that I can update regularly.
-I would like to update this blog at least weekly.
-I would like to do that story thing that I was trying to do.
-"War is other people." -me; this results from that war is hell and that hell is other people
-I want to do some stuff on games, including some reviews and some mechanics analyses.
-There should be a site like boardgamegeek for RPGs.
-Reminder to self: There are several posts that I wanted to go back and edit, as mentioned in the posts themselves.
I'll try to post something more complete later on. If I don't do it before Friday, then I probably won't do it on Friday, either. Saturday or Sunday would be the likely times then, assuming that I remember. :P
That's all for now.
Quick notes:
-My play-by-e-mail game now has a genre, and will probably get a system soon. Once I'm out of school, I should be able to get a regular schedule, so that I can update regularly.
-I would like to update this blog at least weekly.
-I would like to do that story thing that I was trying to do.
-"War is other people." -me; this results from that war is hell and that hell is other people
-I want to do some stuff on games, including some reviews and some mechanics analyses.
-There should be a site like boardgamegeek for RPGs.
-Reminder to self: There are several posts that I wanted to go back and edit, as mentioned in the posts themselves.
I'll try to post something more complete later on. If I don't do it before Friday, then I probably won't do it on Friday, either. Saturday or Sunday would be the likely times then, assuming that I remember. :P
That's all for now.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Announcement: August and Arkham Horror
Alright, so, that stuff that I said that I would do doesn't look like it will happen soon. My previous summer classes really wore me out, and I need to use my current, lighter schedule to rest and recuperate. I just really don't feel like doing much of anything right now.
The RPG that I'm trying to run is currently completely stagnated, since C says that he's too busy to give me some genre decisions, and M ... I need to yell at him some more. Actually, if I get M's full input, I may have to use my power of ... being the GM ... to move on.
The main thing that I actually *do* for fun lately is Arkham Horror. I like it. Of course, it's not necessarily clear why. It's a cooperative game, a hard game to win, a complex game, and of course it has a Cthulhu Mythos theme. I've also seen it described as something like a light RPG, and I can see why. It has characters - though it takes away about a third of the rules compared to an RPG, since there are no character creation rules, since the characters are pre-generated. The characters even have back stories on the backs of their sheets, if you bother to read them. Random events also tend to come with descriptions around them, like when you get the chance to get Ruby Standish (an Ally). It involves bumping into her while she's sneaking around the Silver Twilight Lodge and ... I think that it's a Fight check to stop her. If you succeed but her Ally card isn't available, then you get an item - I think that the theme there is that she gives you something that she totally ganked from the lodge. This game has a good dose of atmosphere, all things considered.
Another fun aspect about these sorts of games (standalone tabletop fun times) is that they can be played with whomever, especially once they know the rules. For RPGs, assuming that we can somehow make character creation fast, the closest equivalent would be running all one-shots. An exception to this may be Spirit of the Century, due to its pulpy nature and the fact that character presence in adventures is pretty interchangeable. I've heard stuff to this effect around the internet, but right now, I don't know where to point anyone regarding that.
Actually, I'm looking to participate in the Summer League that Fantasy Flight Games is running. Ironically, I do have a couple of friends who should be regularly available (currently every Sunday), and we're not doing an RPG.
Here's the URL for the league: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ah_league.html
Normally, Arkham Horror is for 1-8 investigators, but for some reason, the league is for 2-8. It doesn't really matter, since one player could play two (or more) investigators. The league releases a scenario (on a fortnightly basis), which specifies the Ancient One to fight and adds special rules, including a list of cards to remove from the investigator decks (the items and such that investigators use). A common theme that I noticed in the first scenario is that they yanked everyting except Allies that help with evading monsters, including:
1. both Dark Cloaks (the only common items that boost Evade (none boost Sneak))
2. both copies of Sneak and both copies of Stealth (the two sneaky skills)
3. all copies of Mists of Releh (the only spell for Evading monsters)
So, the theme seems to be not sneaking past monsters. I think that I know why, but that's for more detail, perhaps in a coming post.
Well, I'm just rambling now. I'll try to get some more coherent AH thoughts (ironic, ain't it?) into a later post.
The RPG that I'm trying to run is currently completely stagnated, since C says that he's too busy to give me some genre decisions, and M ... I need to yell at him some more. Actually, if I get M's full input, I may have to use my power of ... being the GM ... to move on.
The main thing that I actually *do* for fun lately is Arkham Horror. I like it. Of course, it's not necessarily clear why. It's a cooperative game, a hard game to win, a complex game, and of course it has a Cthulhu Mythos theme. I've also seen it described as something like a light RPG, and I can see why. It has characters - though it takes away about a third of the rules compared to an RPG, since there are no character creation rules, since the characters are pre-generated. The characters even have back stories on the backs of their sheets, if you bother to read them. Random events also tend to come with descriptions around them, like when you get the chance to get Ruby Standish (an Ally). It involves bumping into her while she's sneaking around the Silver Twilight Lodge and ... I think that it's a Fight check to stop her. If you succeed but her Ally card isn't available, then you get an item - I think that the theme there is that she gives you something that she totally ganked from the lodge. This game has a good dose of atmosphere, all things considered.
Another fun aspect about these sorts of games (standalone tabletop fun times) is that they can be played with whomever, especially once they know the rules. For RPGs, assuming that we can somehow make character creation fast, the closest equivalent would be running all one-shots. An exception to this may be Spirit of the Century, due to its pulpy nature and the fact that character presence in adventures is pretty interchangeable. I've heard stuff to this effect around the internet, but right now, I don't know where to point anyone regarding that.
Actually, I'm looking to participate in the Summer League that Fantasy Flight Games is running. Ironically, I do have a couple of friends who should be regularly available (currently every Sunday), and we're not doing an RPG.
Here's the URL for the league: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ah_league.html
Normally, Arkham Horror is for 1-8 investigators, but for some reason, the league is for 2-8. It doesn't really matter, since one player could play two (or more) investigators. The league releases a scenario (on a fortnightly basis), which specifies the Ancient One to fight and adds special rules, including a list of cards to remove from the investigator decks (the items and such that investigators use). A common theme that I noticed in the first scenario is that they yanked everyting except Allies that help with evading monsters, including:
1. both Dark Cloaks (the only common items that boost Evade (none boost Sneak))
2. both copies of Sneak and both copies of Stealth (the two sneaky skills)
3. all copies of Mists of Releh (the only spell for Evading monsters)
So, the theme seems to be not sneaking past monsters. I think that I know why, but that's for more detail, perhaps in a coming post.
Well, I'm just rambling now. I'll try to get some more coherent AH thoughts (ironic, ain't it?) into a later post.
I must not be named!
Well, I just took a mythos-related quiz online, and here are the results:
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Which Cthulhu Mythos character/God are you? created with QuizFarm.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| You scored as Hastur You are Hastur! Thought to be Cthulu's half brother and rival or the king in yellow, Hastur comes from Carcossa on Hyades. You confuse people and often make those you meet crazy. No one really knows what to make of you and do you even really know what to make of yourself?
|
Yes, apparantly, I am him-who-must-not-be-named, though really it was close, as you can see from the scale thingies.
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