Bill Bodden's Blog, page 19

Keeping Body And Soul Together

Times are tough; we see it every day. The number of homeless people is increasing, and the percentage of children who go hungry is at an alarming level. One of the most common ways people in the United States deal with hunger is to hold food drives to round up non-perishable goods to help feed those in need.

I once worked at a food drive sponsored by a local business group. During the Christmas Holiday season, they sponsored a free movie at a local theater. When I say free, what I mean is the cost of admission was one non-perishable food item per person. The food collected was...
To read the rest of this post, please visit http://billbodden.com/2017/05/01/keep...

Timing Is Everything

Apologies for the lack of a blog post the week of April 17: I developed back spasms around April 12th that affected my left shoulder and elbow, enough so that sitting at the computer to type was painful at best. I seem to have recovered somewhat, so I'm back in the saddle with another post this week.

When I posted my blog on Monday April 10, I had only a vague idea of the storm that was brewing at the same time. My friend, colleague, and sometimes advisor MONICA VALENTINELLI bowed out of attending Odyssey Con in Madison, Wisconsin as a paid guest due to the very active presence of...

To read the rest of this post, please visit:
http://billbodden.com/2017/04/24/timi...

What the Hell Is Wrong With gamers?

Green Ronin Publishing recently put out an open call for female game designers for a specific project. I used to be one of the Ronin, and I was proud to see them doing something that everyone should have been doing years ago: forcing the issue to give women more of a chance to be game designers. Here's the LINK so you can read it.

The outcry was immediate and vitriolic. I refuse to link to any of the trolls involved, but cries of discrimination against white men were on all the major gaming discussion boards, some gamers even suggesting that Green Ronin was destroying their company, alienating their fan base by committing such a heinous act against men. It would have been hilarious had it not...

To read the rest of this essay, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2017/04/10/what...

Breaking Into the Gaming Biz

This is a question I get asked from time to time: "I'm a writer/artist/editor; how can I break into the gaming industry?"

The first piece of advice I give ANYONE looking for work in the gaming industry is this: Don't quit your day job. With your day job you have (one assumes) guaranteed income as long as you show up and do the work, right? Working freelance is a feast or famine existence, and the famine times tend to be longer and more frequent that the feasts. Then there are times when you don't get paid at all .

If you're a writer, the easiest thing to do is...
To view the rest of this post, please visit http://billbodden.com/2017/04/03/brea...

Trek of a Lifetime

Two things had me thinking of the classic, 1960s-era Star Trek television series. First BBC America is running mini-marathons every Friday starting late in the afternoon where they run four or five episodes, then loop them for a second showing, ending well after midnight. Second, famous gamer-dude John Wick has been talking on his Facebook page about viewing classic Star Trek episodes, many of them for the first time, under the hashtag #trekforthefirsttime. His reviews are brief, usually insightful, and often pretty amusing.



As I rewatch these episodes myself, I realize how much my world-view has changed since I was a youngster in small-town Wisconsin. Episodes that I LOVED as a kid seem more trite, less well-written, or poorly paced. Perhaps this is a function of greater patience, or of greater...

To read the rest of this post, please visit http://billbodden.com/2017/03/28/trek...

Trip Report: Geneva Steam

[caption id="attachment_1573" align="alignright" width="259"] Two steampunks who took the Magic and Mysticism theme seriously.[/caption]

I've attended EVERY SINGLE ONE of the Geneva Steam conventions!
Okay, that's only three so far, and since it's a mere hour's drive from my home, it's not really that much of an accomplishment. Even so, Geneva Steam is a small but growing steampunk convention, and I find I'm enjoying it more every year.

The theme of this year's Geneva Steam was "Magic and Mysticism"...

To read the rest of this blog post, please visit http://billbodden.com/2017/03/20/trip...

My Own Brush With Political Money

It's no secret that political campaigns aren't free. Whoever said that anyone (any native-born citizen of the United States, that is) can run for President of the United States is clearly delusional. No one could even consider running for US President without a substantial campaign fund -- hundreds of millions of dollars, in this case -- to finance such a campaign. Money is the grease that keeps the wheels of politics moving...

To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2017/03/13/my-o...

Geneva Steam Coming Up!

I'll be attending steampunk convention Geneva Steam Con the weekend of March 10-12. The convention is being held at the Lake Lawn Resort in Delavan, Wisconsin.

I'll be participating in two events at the convention, both on Saturday. At 3 PM...

To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2017/03/06/gene...

Working the Polls On Election Day

First thing that happens when you want to be a poll worker is you have to attend a mandatory training and swearing in session. The swearing in is important, as you are acting as a temporary government official when you work the polls. For each new election you work, you have to attend an additional 1-hour training session. Some of these are critical; the training deals with changes to election law or voting practices as handed down by the state government. Some are less important, but the refresher course on the (now) complicated rules regarding who is eligible and what is needed to prove eligibility is pretty useful...

To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2017/02/27/work...

Getting Animated!

I've been hooked by several animated TV shows recently, and I find them just the right mix of goofy, immature humor, clever plotting, interesting character development, and sly, understated humor.

The first one is Steven Universe, which I've written about before . The second is Gravity Falls, and the third is my most recent discovery, Star vs. the Forces of Evil...

To read the rest of this post, please visit http://billbodden.com/2017/02/20/gett...