tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post6654129765735982038..comments2024-03-19T07:48:54.021-06:00Comments on Gus Van Horn: Quick Roundup 237Gus Van Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-60615563624191280112007-10-25T21:36:00.000-06:002007-10-25T21:36:00.000-06:00Thanks for linking to my site!Thanks for linking to my site!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-33201017574402512242007-09-10T11:32:00.000-06:002007-09-10T11:32:00.000-06:00Adrian, I never really gave that much thought. I g...Adrian, I never really gave that much thought. I guess one could say that you're putting an "F" in fantasy role-playing! (That gets points for being a pun, initially unintended though it was!)<BR/><BR/>(And speaking of language gaffes, ever notice how people will usually write "a F" even though the a/an rule is phonetic rather than based solely on letter type?)Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-42188091928677624272007-09-10T11:14:00.000-06:002007-09-10T11:14:00.000-06:00Yo, Gus, you wrote: "It turned out to be a parent...Yo, Gus, you wrote: "It turned out to be a parenthesis. One lousy parenthesis." Then by sheer coincidence I stumbled across <A HREF="http://xkcd.com/312/" REL="nofollow">this</A>.<BR/><BR/>And, "As in Tolkien's novels, orcs could, in the AD&D 'multiverse', interbreed with humans." I was afraid of that. One wonders at the types who'd do so willingly. Who knows--perhaps when young enough orcs are quite fetching...<BR/><BR/>And Jim May wrote, "If I had a nickel for every time a producer or lead artist told me something like 'move those vertices, but not that verticee there', I could move out to the country and retire, with a Siberian Husky for company." Ugh. But regardless of the amount, would those be ill-(be)gotten gains or chump change?Adrian Hesterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13394227341130065130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-65256789694001591332007-09-10T06:11:00.000-06:002007-09-10T06:11:00.000-06:00"Vericee", eh? That's even more annoying since "ve..."Vericee", eh? That's even more annoying since "vertex" is a much more commonly-known singular, given that the word is not seen almost exclusively as a plural!Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-5931775333799524622007-09-10T02:02:00.000-06:002007-09-10T02:02:00.000-06:00Thank you ever so much for not saying "a parenthes...<I>Thank you ever so much for not saying "a parenthesee.</I><BR/><BR/>Adrian, you better stay out of anything related to computer graphics, then. If I had a nickel for every time a producer or lead artist told me something like "move those vertices, but not that verticee there", I could move out to the country and retire, with a Siberian Husky for company. ;)<BR/><BR/>As for the parenthesis, that is <I>precisely</I> the reason I got out of programming and got into visual effects. I never understood, and still dion't understand, how we can have software that parses human speech, but compilers and/or code editors can't figure out to close the damn parenthesis itself, or at least flag it (and let's not get into syntax design). <BR/><BR/>Funny thing about it, though, is that scripting & programming are in big demand in my profession, and I'll have to get into those if I don't want to stop at the level I'm at now...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-91841231025805175962007-09-09T22:23:00.000-06:002007-09-09T22:23:00.000-06:00As in Tolkien's novels, orcs could, in the AD&D "m...As in Tolkien's novels, orcs could, in the AD&D "multiverse", interbreed with humans. <BR/><BR/>The advantage of this character "race" was that, as with other non-humans, I was able to use skills from two classes (professions), the fighter and assassin I cited. <BR/><BR/>So: not magic. And his behavior was consonant with his unsavory background and profession. For example, I decided that he had the habit of licking his weapons clean after battle or other use. <BR/><BR/>Since he also used poison when he could get it, I simulated carelessness on his part by rolling a die to see whether, in such situations, he forgot about the poison and "cleaned" his weapons in the "usual" way, forcing him to also make another die role to "save vs. poison" or ingest enough poison to suffer from its effects himself.<BR/><BR/>But enough of that -- um -- colorful product of my adolescent imagination.... Suffice it to say that we were bored and decided to play evil characters for a few sessions one summer.Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-67699867421134051852007-09-09T20:28:00.000-06:002007-09-09T20:28:00.000-06:00Yo, Gus, you write: "The one at upper left would ...Yo, Gus, you write: "The one at upper left would have served well for a half-orc fighter-assassin I played in one D&D campaign back in the day." Umm, uh, half-orc half-<I>what?</I> How was your half-orc created? Please say magic, because I really don't care to think about the alternatives.Adrian Hesterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13394227341130065130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-86828589124565899602007-09-09T09:35:00.000-06:002007-09-09T09:35:00.000-06:00Good. Perhaps Comcast has better people up in KC.A...Good. Perhaps Comcast has better people up in KC.<BR/><BR/>Amusingly, I was thinking about AT&T's DSL. Your comments underscore the fact that the decision I made already -- to talk to people who have that DSL already -- is a good one that I should stick to.Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-34810897590064241482007-09-09T09:02:00.000-06:002007-09-09T09:02:00.000-06:00The cable installers arrived on Friday, and I'm ba...The cable installers arrived on Friday, and I'm back online with a solid cable connection.<BR/><BR/>The funny thing is, I went back to Comcast because of customer service. I had been a Comcast subscriber for almost two years, and my wife a couple years on top of that. When we planned to move to a new hour in the same general neighborhood, I was annoyed at the fees Comcast was going to charge me to transfer our services. I thought it would be a good opportunity to try something new, especially if it was cheaper, so I switched to AT&T DSL and Dish. After three weeks of higher costs, (after taxes and unmentioned fees), horrible upload speeds and AT&T's Monday-through-Friday 8-5 office hours, I swallowed my pride and called Comcast.Darrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15582845477209516725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-80487015161871858042007-09-08T05:39:00.000-06:002007-09-08T05:39:00.000-06:00Be glad you don't follow sports. Any time somethin...Be glad you don't follow sports. Any time something to do with <B>a</B> biceps, <B>a</B>triceps, or <B>a</B> quadriceps comes up, you'd have to brace yourself to hear "bicep", "tricep", or "quadricep" since we all know that a singular noun can <B>never</B> end in the letter "s".Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-34999647364820873862007-09-07T23:09:00.000-06:002007-09-07T23:09:00.000-06:00Yo, Gus, you write: "It turned out to be a parent...Yo, Gus, you write: "It turned out to be a parenthesis. One lousy parenthesis." Thank you ever so much for not saying "a parenthesee." I've also heard matricee. It's an indicee of the fact that some people should have a grammar editricee-dominatricee whip those various and varied plurals into their heads--and this thesee sure as hell shouldn't be shunted off into some appendicee. Leastwise, that's the basee of my analysee, but some might say I just have a neurosee on the subject.Adrian Hesterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13394227341130065130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-82613347530115388122007-09-07T15:15:00.000-06:002007-09-07T15:15:00.000-06:00My condolences.And, that reminds me....If our prev...My condolences.<BR/><BR/>And, that reminds me....<BR/><BR/>If our previous company (which had some sort of partnership with Comcast and is the same people anyway) is any indication, you will see nobody arrive today, and you will be at home without service and looking forward to another day-long wait a week later.<BR/><BR/>Their service is "Comcastic" from top to bottom.Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-44794564003597977572007-09-07T15:04:00.000-06:002007-09-07T15:04:00.000-06:00Don't tell me that, as I write this I'm currently ...Don't tell me that, as I write this I'm currently waiting for the Comcast installers to arrive!Darrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15582845477209516725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-76275178636681716492007-09-07T13:10:00.000-06:002007-09-07T13:10:00.000-06:00Sure!I thought that of the three, Barak was the be...Sure!<BR/><BR/>I thought that of the three, Barak was the best.Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-17035384128786980222007-09-07T13:00:00.000-06:002007-09-07T13:00:00.000-06:00Thanks for plugging my sketches. They're really n...Thanks for plugging my sketches. They're really nothing much, but I've been drawing for years and I think I got carried away when I realized I didn't have to go through that bizarre rigamorole with Hello! to post pictures on Google any more.<BR/><BR/>Yes, I realize it took me a while.Jennifer Snowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00039865566870992465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-25415827503661772302007-09-07T11:13:00.000-06:002007-09-07T11:13:00.000-06:00Groan!Groan!Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-74013228284439497912007-09-07T10:54:00.000-06:002007-09-07T10:54:00.000-06:00Yo, Gus, you write: "Try to read this post, which...Yo, Gus, you write: "Try to read this post, which quotes a lengthy passage by Sigmund Freud about controlling fire, without laughing out loud." You know, a few years ago I decided to try some Freud and <I>Civilization and Its Discontents</I> was the book I chose. I stuck with it to the end after reading that footnote, but I didn't even try to take him seriously. Trouble is, no one believes me when I tell them about that footnote! They think I'm slandering the guy. You know, trying to put out his flame, if you will, by proving him right.Adrian Hesterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13394227341130065130noreply@blogger.com