Jeff Grubb's Blog, page 57

GenCon Notes

So. GenCon.

It has been about 10 years (give or take) since I last attended a GenCon. I went to the first couple in Indy, but then got caught up in other things, like MMOs and found myself otherwise occupied in August. This year, through a convergence of events, I found myself back. Here are some notes:

1) Yes, Indiana is still in all sorts of hot water regarding its bonehead legislation against American citizens, many of whom attend GenCon. However, Indianapolis itself is a tad bit more progressive. On the way into town, I saw a billboard welcoming gamers to GenCon, with a pride flag in front of it. A nice start.

2) And to a great degree, I found the natives to be friendly and helpful and incredibly tolerant of the huge herd of nerds (nerds with money, but still nerds) that descended on them. "Good People", as they like to say.

3) The convention was big when I last saw it, and is huge now. 61k people (counting as unique hits).

4) It is so large that it is now not only is it important to get a hotel near the convention center, but to get one near the rooms where you have events.

5) I stayed at the Fairfield, in a block of Marriott-owned properties. It was nice. Good breakfast. Though I had to go through an underground parking garage to get to a skybridge. Sounds like something an old school DM would think up.

6) Strangest hotel rooms were at the Crown Plaza, a renovated railway station, where some of the rooms are converted railroad cars. And the place is littered with white statues of passengers, newboys, and nuns. Sort of like what would happen if Pompeii had gone off during a Call of Cthulhu adventure.

7) I was there for the Writer's Symposium and would be taking some brief shifts in the Kobold Press/TPK/Legendary booth. Kobold just launched its Southlands product and the Southlands Bestiary. Both were selling very well.

8) The Writer's Symposium, put together by Marc Tassin, was pretty damned impressive. I got to sit on panels with Terri Brooks, Elizabeth Bear, and fellow TSR Veteran Jim Lowder. The conversations were interesting and diverse. Kudos to Marc, Matt, Molly, and the others who worked so hard to put everything together. This is an ongoing thing, so if you're at GenCon, go there. Seriously, well worth it.

9) In fact, GenCon is made up, now as then, in dozens of small conventions. People are there for the RPGs, or just one RPG. For the card games, or just one card game. For miniatures. For board games. For the writing. For the crafting. For the costumes. In addition, everyone spills over into everyone else's fandoms. It's pretty cool.

10) But here's an idea of the hugeness. The area for the Puffing Billy games (Train games) is larger than the Horticulture building in Lake Geneva, where the FIRST GenCon was held.

11) The dealer's area is large enough to be physically exhausting. Huge hall, filled with companies large and small.

12) One thing that was different that made me happy - the dealers were prominent about their awards. Many had their nominations and previous awards from the ENnies posted, and a lot had their statues from the Origins Awards on display. I like that a lot, and am reminded that it was the efforts of Nichole Lindroos and Charles Ryan who brought physical awards to the Origins. Good job, and yes, it has paid off.

13) My personal haul was limited by what I would pack into my carry-on. Alas, that put most board games out of reach. But I did pick up a lot of Cthulhiana that I have been unable to find locally. Several recent issues of the Unspeakable Oath, a handful of out-of-print monographs, an autographed copy of Robin Laws' Book of Ants for Trail of Cthulhu. I bought some battle mats for Sails of Glory, a great ship-to-ship combat game. And I snagged an autographed copy of A Red and Pleasant Land, purchased before it won any ENnies, so that makes me still young and hip, right?

13a) I also bought a fez. Fezzes are cool.

14) I did not pick up a copy of Cubicle 7's Curse of Nineveh, even though the London Boxed Set where it is set looks beautiful (I have a copy from the Kickstarter). Curse of Nineveh was hardback and heavy and I hope to find it from my FLGS. I also whiffed on getting a copy of Mummy, the Curse from Onyx Path, which was also hardback and heavy but would complete my WoD Mummy trifecta. And I didn't see any Tekumel/EPT material, which may just be because it was overwhelmed by everything else.

15) Palomino's is a good place for a steak. Steak 'n Shake is everything people say it is.

16) I made it to the Diana Jones and was delighted to see that Guide to Glorantha won. Skipped the ENnies although I had a minor credit in one of the winners. Made it to the Monte Cook Games party where Monte and Bruce were bedecked in their medallions and looked like a pair of French diplomats. More importantly, the MCG party shifted over to a surprise 50th birthday party for Charles Ryan. I am incredibly pleased that all those gamers managed to keep a secret.

17) Saw a lot of friends from the industry, played some demos, signed a lot of books, sat on some panels, huckstered for Kobold Press. A lot of people thanked me for Marvel, Spelljammer, Al-Qadim, FR and other stuff I've done over the years, which is encouraging me to actually get back to some RPG design. But the best event for me was getting together with some members of my old dungeon crew from Purdue University, many of whom still live in Indiana. We are all older and greyer, but it was great to see the gang from "The Swamp".

18) So it was a good trip, but it is good to be back.

More later,

Political Desk: Primary Wrap-Up

So the dust is settling, the brackets are mostly set, and we can forget about local politics for another few months and go back to complaining about the lack of rain and playing Frisbee golf. While other sites are going to engage in a lot of chin-wagging and beard-stroking in determining what it all means, here's what we have for our secret aerie on Grubb Street:

King County Director of Elections will be Julie Wise versus Zack Hudgins.  Ms. Wise got the majority of the votes, which is amusing since we were so happy to turn this into an elected office, then everyone recommends we vote for the unelected incumbent anyway.

Port Position 2  will have Courtney Gregroire crushing Goodspaceguy, who is running against her because someone has to. Seriously, with over 80% of the vote for Gregoire, nothing short of a major scandal or zombie apocalypse will change this result.

Port Position 5 is a surprise: Fred Fellemen, endorsed by the Stranger,is up against Marion Yoshino, who this blog endorsed (well, with another guy, but hey, our of 9 candidates that was pretty darn good). Both Mr. Fellemen and Ms. Yoshino are pro-environmental types, which may indicate in part the pushback from the Port's recent secret shenanigans regarding that Shell drilling rig.

Kent City Council Position 1 will have Hira Singh Bhullar against Tina Budrell. Third-place candidate's Bailey Stober's campaign was likely hurt in no small part by the announcement of a $2,000 fine from the PDC involving his LAST couple runs for office.

Public Hospital District 1 Commissioner Position 4  surprised me, in that it will be Savannah Clifford-Visker vs. Lawton Montgomery. Both candidates are of the "outsider" group, and the incumbent did not even place (though he could still be appointed to larger board that the elected board is part of). That's an interesting development.

Congratulations to the winners, solace to the losers, and the Political Desk is going to close up before the Republican Presidential candidates start talking.

More later,

Meanwhile, 70 Years Ago ...

More later,

Political Desk: The Last Minute Nudging

I've been out of town for the last week, so have not banged the drum as relentlessly as usual on the upcoming primary. Recommendations and discussions for the stuff I can vote on can be found deeper within this blog, along with a list of endorsements and recommendations from others.

Now, it is a hot summer and the presence of the primaries is far from anyone's mind, but as always, democracy is important. Indeed, in these low-level, low-voting total primaries, your vote can count just a smidge more than it will in the fall.

You have until 8 PM today (Tuesday) to dig you your ballot and vote. And if you don't want to spring for a stamp, here's a listing of drop boxes around the region.

Go vote. You know you want to.

More later,

The GenCon News

So the big news for me is that I will attending GenCon for the first time in many, many years. I understand it has grown a bit, and I'm looking forward to it. I'll be doing some panels with the Writer's Symposium this year, and helping out at the Kobold Press/Legendary Games/TPK Booth, which, from the map of the exhibit floor its so far from the entrance as to almost be the Region (Indiana joke).

Here's my current schedule (removing all notes for dinners, award shows, and personal stuff)

Thursday 4-6 PM, Booth #2639, shilling for Kobold Press, Legendary Games, and TPK Games
Friday 11 AM Book Signing – Exhibit hall (Bring your copies of old stuff - I'm not selling there).Friday 5 PM  – Beyond Books – Other Writing Opportunities – Room 224Friday 6 PM – Worldbuilding: Mythology – Room 224
Saturday 10 AM – Worldbuilding: Creating Magic Systems – Room 224Saturday 11 AM – Worldbuilding: Flora, Fauna the Natural World – Room 224Saturday 12 PM – Worldbuilding: Writing the World’s History  – Room 224Saturday 4-6 PM Booth #2639, shilling for Kobold Press, Legendary Games, and TPK Games
Can't make it to GenCon this year? Still in Seattle? Well, I'd like to point out that fellow Alliterate Will McDermott is having a book signing at the MOX Boarding House in Bellevue to celebrate his most recent novel: Mage Wars:Nature of the Beast, based on the board game. 2-6 PM on Sunday, August 2nd.
Oh, and finally, this is not GenCon related, but I came across this video that we made about nine(ish) years ago when we were about to launch Guild Wars: Nightfall. I look at it now, and think "My, we were all so YOUNG back then."
More later.

Political Desk: Hospital Rounds

Public Hospital District Position 1 - You would think that when you get this far down the ballot you'd see a diminishing of passion. This is where we are seeing positive-messaged first-timers, good-government wonks, knowledgeable and/or retired professionals and the occasional guy who says "How hard can it be?" But here in this smallest of elections is a tempest that makes even the shenanigans of Bill Bryant's Port Commission look like student government.

At the heart of all this is Valley Medical Center, which is a well-run, well administered, highly professional hospital right at the bottom of the hill.I have no probs with day-to-day operation, and number of my specialists are there. At its very top it has been for years run by a superintendent who is in turn overseen by an elected board. And there has been fireworks since about the time I moved to the neighborhood, between a reform wing that is trying to reign in the power of the administrator (who is, admittedly, done very well for himself). and the supporters of the admin.

So, the insurgents get some traction, and the admin's favored candidates lost. About this time, Valley Medical merges with University of Washington Medical Center. As a result of  this merger, the former superintendent becomes the CEO, and the five elected members of the board are now watered down by a majority group of seven additional appointed UW Trustrees on a board of directors.The lists of the two boards are here.

And among those trustees? The supporters of the current admin who had just LOST previous elections. I swear, I saw pols from Chicago fly in just to take notes for their own ward elections.

So, we have three candidates, and one of them is supportive of the administration (having been appointed to that position to fill a vacancy), and the other two are trying to shake things up, though how up things can be shaken at this point is an open question. The elected part of the board is the part we can affect, so I'm going to push all the chips in on Savannah Clifford-Visker and Lawton Montgomery because it sounds like we're going to have the inevitable flurry of last-minute revelations about how things are being run (and as I research this, the nurses are currently working without a contract, over staffing levels).

More later,

Political Desk: Kent

Here's where we get serious. I am more than willing to be glib about other positions, from the standpoint that there are other news sources that will give countering opinions. However, when we get down to the granular nature of local city positions, it stops being a joke. For some people, this blog may be the only mention these candidates get. The Times recommendations stop at the southern border of Renton. I don't think the Stranger recognizes that the world exists south of Georgetown. The Muni league will get down to Federal Way but nary a word on Kent or Renton. And the Kent Reporter doesn't even get up to our neck of the woods near Panther Lake. So I need to be a little more responsible, quote outside sources a bit more, and a little less of a wise-ass than usual.

Just a little.

Position 1 is the only position on the Kent City council with more than two candidates, so it will be the only one to speak of here. There are three candidates for the position, - Bailey Stober, Tina Burdell, and Hira Singh Bhullar. You can find the vimeo of their statements here. A fourth candidate is on the ballot, but has dropped out.

Bailey Stober has run before, and has been recommended by this blog, particularly in the face of the disastrous previous election where Kent elected a guy who ended up serving two weeks of his term before resigning to serve 43 months in jail for stealing from his own mother. Mr. Stober comes from a strong background working with the state, and to be frank, he was robbed in the last election, and Stober's election would have saved the City Council a lot of egg-spattered faces.

But, there is another piece of the puzzle here. Mr. Stober has been plagued with PDC (Public Disclosure Commission) Violations in his last two runs. Compared to stealing from your own mother, this is small potatoes, but it is SOME potatoes, and the eye for details is something you need for running a local government. Mr. Stober comes heavily endorsed, but I have reservations

Tina Budrell is a Microsoftie who has established herself as a community activist with the North Park Neighborhood Council (which is just north of downtown Kent and the Commons). She has been extremely active in the community, and has a number of credits under her belt at the local level. The Lovely Bride got a robocall, but could not repeat anything that was said. Sigh.

Hira Singh Bhullar works for Starbucks as a software developer. Most of what I see from him is pretty much the "I appreciate the community and want to give back to it" that makes up a lot of local politics at this level. And I will be honest, that is really cool, and he has a good history of local volunteer work.. This is the place where people get their taste of retail politics and local concerns, and I appreciate his contribution. In addition, he sent me a mailer. We don't get a lot of mailers up here any more.

I appreciate both Mr. Bhullar's and Ms. Budrell's local commitment, but if backed into a corner, I will recommend Tina Budrell, if only for previous experience with local government. Now watch, the day after I post this, she'll be connected with an Emu-smuggling syndicate down in Puyallup.

More later,

Political Desk: Taking the Ports

Ah, the Port Authority, Seattle's resident hive of scum and villainy. Scandals and impropriety are rare in Seattle, where we bog down in process to the point of no return, but the Port always delivers. Whether it is denying a living wage to the workers at the Airport, encouraging coal and oil trains through the center of town, or pitting our largest domestic airline against our largest oversees carrier in an airport expansion, they will always be there to carry the freight (as it were) for industry over the rest of us.

Most recently, this manifested itself with a secretive set of meetings that allowed the port to let a Shell drilling rig moor here before heading off to despoil deepwater trenches in the search for oil that we don't need (we're exporting it these days, yaknow). The relevant bit of this is not whether a large multinational has the right to go to the ends of the earth to pour exploration dollars literally into a hole in the ground, but rather why all the negotiations happened in secret in a town than is often transparent to the point of immobility.

As a result, having "Port Commissioner" on your resume is sort of like having "President of the Local Chamber of Commerce" on your CV - it actually can count against you, and required further questions. An incumbent already has a foot in the hole.

So let's look at Position 2. The incumbent, Courtney Gregiore, has a lot going against her: She didn't blow the whistle on this chicanery. She is the daughter of a previous governor (always ticking off the politics-as-family-business box for me). And she's named Courtney, which makes me feel really, really old. Like having a minister named Scooter. On the plus side, she normally is a strong environmentalist, and is often a counterbalance to the oil and coal side of the equation.

Annnnnd... her opponents really aren't much opposition. One is a perennial candidate who was amusing when he declared that the answer to our woes is Space, but became much less so when he decided that the answer to our woes is to eliminate the minimum wage. The other, to quote the Seattle Times "is a self-described communist who said he would not support the Port's role as an engine of the capitalist system." (I think that's the Port's main job). His Voter's Guide statement speaks of the importance of electrification.

So yeah, Courtney.

Position 5, on the other hand, is an open position, since Bill Bodden is stepping down to run for governor. Bodden promises to bring the same style of backroom shenanigans to the  Governor's Mansion, so congrats on re-election to governor Inslee. But in his wake, no less than nine candidates are vying for the support. They are (deep breath):

Mark Hennon, Activist, lists himself as an author and computer consultant. His site is still under construction. This is not a good sign.
Herb Krohn, Former conductor and labor lobbyist. who the Seattle Times likes. Promises transparency. Declares himself as pro-business, pro-environment, pro-taxpayer. Pitches as a centrist.
Fred Fellemen - Enviro, whale biologist, supported by The Stranger and a LOT of local politicians. 
Marion Yoshino - Neighborhood activist, whose neighborhood includes the airport. Jobs and environment platform.
Richard Pope - Runs for everything. Does not win, but has been invaluable at digging up problems on the other candidates.
Norman Sigler - Has the best-written website of the group. Has worked for both airlines currently feuding with each other. Running as an outsider.
Daniel Reandeau - I got nothing on this guy. No web site. A linked-in search says there is a Daniel Reandeu who lives in Port Townsend. Port Townsend is a port, right?
Darrell Byran - Co-owner Victoria Clipper, which docks at our port. I've been on it. It's a pretty cool boat.
Ken Rogers -Not Kenny Rogers, sadly. Former Board of Directors, Delta Airlines

Going over the websites (where available) and their statements, I agree with Ms. Yoshino's note that the airport needs better representation among the Port Commissioners, But I also really like Mr. Sigler's website - he mixes personal notes with an ability to handle the complexities of port trade. So for the initial round, I would recommend you consider either Marion Yoshino or Norman Sigler.

Nine candidates? Well, at least I don't have to consider all the Republicans running for President. That's something.

More later,

Political Desk: The Elections Election

I honestly think we're getting dumber about our electoral process all the time. Part of this feeling is my own grognardly nature, in that I remember back to the days when you had to WALK to the Polling Place to vote. Uphill. Both ways. But part of it is when we pass a law that makes the head of the elections board an elected position itself, and then freak out that actual politicians are running for the office. I swear, the Times is getting a serious case of the vapors over it.

But here we are. What should be a regular civil service position - Director of Elections, is now an elected position, with all the sturm und dross that comes with it. Fortunately, for this election we have the recently appointed deputy director, Julie Wise, running for the position. You know, the person with 13 years of experience in the operation who would have the inside track if this still was an appointed position. Stranger likes her. Times likes her. I like her.

If you don't think you want a career electoral bureaucrat in charge of an electoral bureaucracy, let me give you an option. Zack Hudgins comes out of my district, the 11th, and has served well and admirably. The guy has solid chops. But when I look through my notes, I say nice things about the guy, then always choose the other candidate when he has one. Well, I'm not one to argue with tradition.

More later,

Political Desk: What, Me Primary?

It is not yet August, and I've just received my primary ballot. Yeah, it doesn't make much sense to me, either.

Here's what passes for the thinking on this: The candidates and parties felt that a primary in the more temperate regions of September doesn't leave enough time to spend gobs of money on swaying your vote. Nor would it be enough to make you sick of campaigning, mailers, and robo-calls. So as a result they shuffled the primary forward into the realm of summer vacations and picnics. Yeah, that's going to work out real well.

The good news, such as it is, is that the ballot is pretty light for the primary. No initiatives. No judges. No state offices. A lot of contests are one or two candidates to start with (this is a top-two primary, which means for a lot of urban contests you see two democrats punching it out in November, and in more rural precincts two republicans). Still, this is the hand we've been dealt, and is a chance to get in on the early decision making, such as it is.

I will be dispensing my traditional blather in this space. I shan't be going into the big local event, the Seattle City Council, since I don't vote on it. So there. King County has the full listing of candidates and their statements here. The Seattle Times editorial board has cut its three-martini lunch short and put its blather here (it hasn't aggregated it yet). The Stranger got off its pot-fogged butts and has their blather here. The Municipal League ratings (which don't include Kent or Renton - thanks guys) are here. And as an added bonus, here's a slate presented by a group of CEOs in hopes of motivating their tech minions into voting for candidates that won't punish large corporations by making them take out the garbage or at least clean out the cat litters every once and a while, for Pete's sake.

So stay tuned and we'll try to make this as painless as possible. Well, for me at least.

Sadly, more later.