Yes, it's a little late for Netroots Nation diaries, but I've been out.

I've been putting off writing it as well, because people have written about it from a policy perspective, and a community perspective, and an action perspective, and a candidate's perspective, and about all I have is a "Moody didn't have a psychotic episode" perspective.

So be it. We write what we know.

Here's the schedule for game:

We'll start off with D&D 3.5E at Khereva and Tiger's place on Thursday, from noon to four.

If that goes over well, we'll have Grimm Friday afternoon/evening 4pm to 8pm. Khereva and Tiger's place unless they're sick of us, in which case we find another venue.

We'll wrap it up with AD&D on Sunday afternoon. Again, at Khereva and Tiger's unless they're sick of us or we can't fit.

Okay, we're coming down to the wire here - and we need to figure out when and where we're going to have game.

I was thinking of getting a table at the convention, but Mrs. and the Little don't have memberships and I don't know how to get one.

Texas Tiger and khereva have offered their place - a ten minute drive away in North Austin. We can carpool.

Plus, I don't know when would be a good time to run games - Thursday is caucusing all day - do we need to take all day for that? What is it? Can I even participate - you know, not actually being a Democrat and all?

I've been emailing my Senators and Representative pretty regularly regarding various topics of interest, including but not limited to impeachment.

This morning, I recieved something I never thought I'd get from dear Senator Feinstein...a response.

Guess her staffers figured out how the mail merge function works in Outlook.

The response, my response to her response, and her response to my response to her response, under the fold.

Or: I played Fourth Edition and all I got was my childhood back.

Aside to Daily Kos: I have been asked by the community (or, at least the part of the community that cares. I'm sure, if you don't care you can find a diary more to your liking) to review Fourth Edition "as soon as I have read and played it." Because I am who I am, we got it on Thursday, read it over the weekend during our camping trip, and played our first game on Sunday. Review (with explanation of the title) under the fold.

Look, I know I'm a hard sell. Your candidate and I have had some problems in the past.

But, for the past thirty years I've been a loyal supporter.

Still, although this week will mark the welcome end of a long, arduous campaign, and I will fully support the candidate that sees a Democratic victory in November, I have to vent.

I still have grave concerns about Fourth Edition.

I'm going to repost from FoundingFatherDAR's FrugalGranny's diary.  As we have Kossacks and their families in the area, it's good to keep the updates going.  

From her diary:

A wildfire in the Santa Cruz mountains has burned more than 1,000 acres, and has now been declared "out of control."  Some structures have been destroyed.
High, erratic winds are driving the flames and making it difficult to get fire suppression aircraft into the area.   This is in an area with dense forestation.  
Several local schools were closed.  One school first used as an evacuation site was subsequently evacuated.
Many people in the area have large livestock that need to be evacuated as well.

The fire started at about 5:30 a.m. Thursday off Summit Road near Loma Prieta Road in the Santa Cruz mountains.

NBC 11 Coverage

SF Chronicle

EVACUATION INFORMATION
Call any of these numbers:

831-335-5355

831-335-6717

831-335-6718

831-335-6719

Look, I know it's been a long primary.

I know passions are high, I know tempers are flared.

I know, also, that it's nearly over - and that things have been said by Obamatons and Hillbots that cannot be lightly put aside.

And yet, once again, it is time to do so.

This is for all of you. All of you, in both remaining campaigns, that find more value in loading rifles and standing in a circle than you do in arming and fortifying against your enemy.

You have forgotten the face of your enemy. And, like many others here, I'm going to try to remind you.

Everyone has one.

The relative that is the reason why you wished you hadn't given out your email address to your relatives.

My stepgrandmother, in the Southwest, was widowed after my grandfather died. As she had married him after my grandmother died, well into my teen angst period, we were obviously never close.

The only contact I get from her are forwarded spam emails. Normally, I don't take a look at them, but I was wondering if she, like the experience of many people here, was sending me winger spam - so this morning I checked.

And, oh God, was she ever.

Emails,in their entirety, below the fold.

WARNING: YouTubery and pictures await within.

WARNING: The pictures should be reasonably safe for work. If you want NSFW Moody-pics, you'll have to meet me inworld and ask. Nicely.

WARNING: Logorrheic. That means wordy to those of you with a California public-school education.

About a year ago, we were coming to the realization that I was just too broke to attend Yearly Kos 2007. But, on the site, they said that they were going to have the convention simultaneously in a virtual space called Second Life. I had heard of Second Life, in a "No thanks, I have a First Life" kind of way, but I wanted to meet people and help out, and the first Yearly Kos was history, and even Moody Loners want to make history sometimes.

The site urged me to set up a Second Life account early to register in-world.

So, I did.

(h/t to the good Dr. Seuss, who has more room in my subconscious than I thought)

Whoever we pick, it's all the same.
I will not vote for John McCain.

I will not vote for John McCain.
I fear the man has gone insane.

I will not vote to have more war
We can't afford it any more.

I will not vote to bomb Iran
I will stop him if I can.

I will not vote for a Bush-hugger
There must surely be anudder.

I won't vote for torture, or that kind of stuff,
Hell, isn't watching 24 enough?

I will not vote for "Straight-Talk" John
No matter what drugs they put him on.

Not out of fear, or if I'm pissed
Even if he swears off lobbyists

His beady eyes, his angry sneer
Does not make me want to share his beer.

His BBQ with his secret rub?
I will not vote for another Dub.

I won't support him here or there.
I won't support him anywhere.

Not because of your candidates' supporters
Not because he's nice to reporters
Not because of the primary race.
I just can't stand his angry face.

Whoever wins, it's all the same.
I cannot vote for John McCain.

Atlanta Kossacks, check in here.

Update [2008-3-15 0:20:39 by Moody Loner]:: Atlanta Red Cross Contact and Donation Information Here.

Update [2008-3-15 0:20:39 by Moody Loner]:: Fulton County SPCA  Donations and information here.

Thanks, noweasels.

News links:

Atlanta Constitution Journal
National Weather Service Loop
CNN report Friday Night

Thanks, SallyCat.

Careful with personal info - just enough to let people know you're safe.

People that know - see if we can get some helpful information here forpeople in Atlanta that need it.

And keep the candidate crap outside, please.

Well, thanks to recent events, here I am again with some tips on how to deal with trolls infesting your Blogger site. There are similar solutions for other blogging software, and I'm sure we can get some experts in to share.

Basically, we're going to go over some simple steps: comment moderation, site visit logger, and some utilities to track and ban trolls from your site.

Let's get this out of the way - yes, I do believe that everyone has the right to freedom of speech. This does not, however, confer upon me the obligation to listen, particularly to badly misspelled, capslocked, misogynistic threats.

I may also add that this is for your site - Daily Kos has a fine team of admins ready to assist you. However, if someone's harassing you at your site and here, this might help give the admins info that will help them get Darth Smacktard off your back and back to his mommy's basement where he belongs.

Gary Gygax, co-creator of the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game and the man widely regarded as the father of paper-and-pencil role-playing games, has died in his home at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, on the morning of March 4, 2008.

Further details are here.

Yeah, if you can use BREAKING: for your candidate hit pieces, I can use it for this.

Crossposted at Street Prophets.

I've been having problems with the tires going flat on my recently-purchased car. All four of them - had one blow out while I was trying to take my daughter somewhere for her birthday.

Even the spare didn't seem able to hold pressure - and I couldn't, with the limited means at my disposal, find any problems with the tires.

Finally, I was able to take it in to the dealership to see what the problem was and to scream at them about it.

Well, it's been yet another day in Primary Wars 2008, and I feel the need to post something besides Hillamentum or Obamamania.

And I have spent the last two days reflecting upon deep, valuable, and important insights I gleaned from the recent Knight Rider movie. Well, before I fell asleep.

I actually found the philosophical, moral, and political ramifications of the movie stunning - even the parts that my wife told me about the next morning while giggling.

Join me below the flip as I share the insights offered, and indulge in weighty philosophical debate.

Diary text shamelessly ripped off from previous liveblogs.

Welcome to the debacle.  Three cheers for Chris Dodd, Russ Feingold, and anyone else who stands with Dodd.  

DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS DIARY.  RECOMMEND THE Mothership

MOTHERSHIP II POSTED HERE

You can watch patriotism and bullshit on

C-Span 2

This is the second quick diary I'm posting about bringing paper-and-pencil RPGs to Netroots Nation, 2008 in Austin.

Here, in the first, we learn that most of the demand is AD&D and D&D 3.5, with a little Grimm thrown in.

Now, all we need to do is figure out how many games, and what times. Terrypinder has ST:TNG or 2300AD, and there are certainly a good number of DMs out there.

Plus, I hear there's going to be a political convention there, too.

So, this poll will be how many games, rough times, and who runs them. I may do a Part III once we know what the schedule for Netroots Nation will be, to lock in times and days.

Again, I urge you, if you want to run something else, play something else, or otherwise participate, to post a comment below. If you have not played and wish to learn, at least one session will be low-level and new person friendly. The new person friendly and the kid friendly games do not have to be the same game.