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BOW Award Time, And Then a Break
July 19, 2008
This will be my last BOW (Buffoon Of the Week) Award for a few weeks. I'm going on vacation and the BOW is going on hiatus. I'll get back to it eventually, but I have to admit to being a little burned out on the award right now. Why? A couple of reasons. I put a lot of work into the weekly posts and after a week of writing whatever book I happen to be working on the Saturday post can be a tough mountain to climb. Some weeks (like last week) are easier to write than others (like this week). I mean, between Jesse Jackson and Phil Gramm, last week was just flat out fun.
But it gets tiring and discouraging to hit the same points every week and see that nothing changes. John McCain flip-flopped this week on gay adoption and Afghanistan, he made disingenuous claims about the safety of offshore drilling, and he unleashed a barrage of unfounded attacks on Barack Obama, even going so far as to imply that Obama is a socialist (which, of course, is utterly ridiculous). And yet the so-called "liberal" press covered none of it. Just as they have covered none of McCain's previous flip-flops, of which there have been many. But Obama says that he'll be pulling out troops from Iraq over a 16 month period (which he has said since January 2007) and mentions that he will continue to refine his stance on Iraq withdrawals as he gets information from commanders on the ground (which he has said since January 2007), and the press runs story after story about how he has changed his position. It's enough to make a person crazy.
Anyway, I need a break.
But first, this week. Read the rest of this entry »
The Writer's Wall
July 18, 2008
You've heard of runners, marathoners in particular, "hitting the wall" — reaching a point in their run where they lose all their energy and feel like they can't go on. Usually experienced runners will get through "the wall" and will actually feel energized for the final part of their run. Others, I suppose, don't get through it. They just stop, unable to go farther.
Well sometimes writers hit their own kind of wall. I know that I do. What does this mean exactly? I have found with just about every book I've written, that when I get somewhere between 60% and 70% of the way through a book, I suddenly face some sort of crisis of confidence about the project. Sometimes (and this was particularly true with my early books) the crisis is pretty severe. I remember with my first book that I got to that point and suddenly thought, "Oh my God! There's no story here! I can't finish this! I have no idea where this book is going! I'm a hack! I'm hopeless! Why didn't I listen to my parents and go to law school?" Eventually, of course, I figured out what the problem was. The plot needed adjustment, and when I made the changes, the rest of the story just came to me.
It happened again with the second book, and again I questioned myself; I feared that I was a "one book wonder". The crisis passed a bit quicker the second time through, but it was still traumatic in its own way. During both of these crises, my wife was very sympathetic. She talked me through some of the issues and was a compassionate sounding board at all hours of the day and night. When it happened again with my third book, she started to recognize the pattern and decided that she wouldn't be my enabler.
"This book is a disaster!" I whined. "I have no business claiming to be an author."
"Uh huh," she said, not even looking up from the book she was reading. "Two-thirds of the way through again?"
"Ummm, yeah. Why do you ask….?"
With more recent books, I've been able to anticipate the problem. I don't panic anymore. I don't lose all faith in myself. But I do still find that I'll have dry spells around the 60% mark. Even if a book has been going well to that point, it will often stall a bit.
There's a reason for this, of course. The two-thirds mark is about where you have to start pulling things together. If you've been throwing crap at your lead character for three hundred pages or so, you now have to start giving him or her ways to dig out from under. You have to start leading your reader toward some sort of satisfying climax and resolution. It's not easy, and if the path to that resolution isn't immediately apparent, it can be downright scary, particularly if you haven't done it too many times before. This is the place where so many beginning writers get stuck.
"I have this great story that's more than halfway finished. I love the beginning, I love my lead character. I love where I've taken it so far. And I know just how it ends. But I can't seem to get from where I am now to that ending. So I recently started work on another book…."
Sound familiar?
I bring all of this up, because I happen to be at the two-thirds mark with the third book of my Blood of the Southlands series, and I have yet to figure out how to get from where I am in the book right now (a place I like very much, by the way) to the ending I have in mind (which I also like very much). And rather than grappling with the book, I'm thinking that I'm just going to punt for a while. I'm about to go on vacation for a few weeks, and I'm pretty certain that I won't figure out anything before we leave. So I'll put the book away and come back to it fresh in a couple of weeks. I've never tried this approach to getting past the crisis before. It'll be interesting to see if it works.
Advice for beginners on scaling the wall (without going on vacation….)? Hmmmm. Nothing really profound. As with so much in writing, it's simply a matter of putting one's butt in the chair and writing. I like to do stream of consciousness when I'm really stuck. I'll put myself in front of a blank computer screen (it would work long hand, too, if you prefer that) and I'll type a question. "Why am I stuck?" Or, "What does Character X have to do to reach the end point of the book?" Something like that. Then I'll type out a response — not in prose that I'd use for the book. I just let myself type without worrying about syntax or typos or anything like that. The key is getting past all of that to my thoughts and ideas. I'll pepper myself with questions, I'll argue with myself, I'll play devil's advocate. And more often than not, I'll wind up finding an answer that works. Those stream of consciousness sessions have gotten me past many a crisis — I recommend the approach.
Ultimately what I try to remember during these difficult stages is that I began the project with a good idea, I've written a good book to this point, and I like the ending I foresee for the story. Eventually I will find that bridge that links where I am to where I'm going. It might take some time. I might even need to do some repair work on the bridge when I find it in order to make it sturdy enough to support my characters and narrative. But it's out there. Yes, there's a leap of faith implied in this thinking. But I write fantasy for a living. I demand leaps of faith from my readers all the time. It's only fair that I should make some, too.
This Week So Far
July 17, 2008
Crazy week so far, which is why I never got around to posting yesterday. We're going on an extended trip out West early next week: New Mexico to see some friends, Canyonlands National Park in Utah to camp, and Idaho to see Nancy's family. I'll then go on to Denver for WorldCon while Nancy and the girls head home. Three weeks of travel for me. The day after I get back, my younger daughter starts school again. So we're trying to get ready for the trip, trying to get ready for school, trying to get in last minute work so that we can relax while traveling. Pretty typical pre-vacation stuff.
I'm excited for the time with friends and Nancy's family, and I'm looking forward to WorldCon. I'm totally jazzed about Canyonlands. Can't wait to look at birds and play with my camera and get some hiking in. The girls are less psyched. They don't particularly like the desert, which I suppose I can understand. I'm not sure I would have liked the desert when I was their age, that is, if it had ever even occurred to my parents to take us there….
Anyway, that's where I am right now. I've gotten some writing done this week and should reach 90k words on the WIP tomorrow. There's a new podcast up at Stephen Euin Cobb's "The Future and You" site of a panel I did at LibertyCon with Harry Turtledove and Toni Weisskopf. Visit the site and give it a listen.
Interview with David Louis Edelman
July 15, 2008
Today I post an interview with one of my SFNovelists buddies, David Louis Edelman. David has a couple of new science fiction releases out this month: One is a mass market paperback rerelease of of his critically acclaimed debut novel, Infoquake from Solaris. The other is the trade paperback release of the second book in his Jump 225 trilogy, MultiReal, from Pyr. As you'll see in the interview, David is articulate, passionate about his writing, and an all around good guy. Enjoy!
A Post About Life in the Midlist
July 14, 2008
Today's post, "'Middling' Through," can be found at both http://www.sfnovelists.com and http://magicalwords.net. So check out the sites (there's lots of interesting stuff to be found at both) and enjoy!
BOW Award Entry From LibertyCon
July 12, 2008
Greetings from LibertyCon 21 in Chattanooga! I'm a Special Guest at this year's con, which basically means that I get free food and free beer and people speak to me politely and pretend to be interested in what I have to say. I could get used to this.
The LibertyCon folks — those who run the con and those who attend — are terrific people. They've always been great to me. But they are pretty typical of Southern Fandom in that they are politically VERY conservative. So I'm writing today's BOW (Buffoon Of the Week) Award entry from the heart of enemy territory, as it were.
I had a whole list of this week's nominations that I began gathering on Monday. It's right there on my desk at home, next to my computer. Of course, I'm not there, but that list sure is…..
So this is going to be kind of a shorter entry than usual. Basically we had many of the usual nominees for the week, with John McCain topping the list. No matter what your criteria, McCain had a terrible campaign week. He called the Social Security system a disgrace because it requires younger taxpayers to pay into a system that then pays out benefits to retirees. He didn't seem to understand that this is the basic premise of the Social Security system and has been since it's inception in the 1930s. He was utterly unprepared for a question on health insurance that addressed the inequity of insurers covering Viagra but not women's birth control pills. This problem was compounded when reporters confronted McCain with his past votes in the Senate against requiring insurers to cover birth control and McCain countered that he didn't remember the votes. "It's something that I had not thought much about," he said. This from a candidate who is trying to a) attract women voters to his campaign, and b) convince voters that he is not too old and out of touch to be President. Not good.
We also had a nomination for Jesse Jackson, who was being interviewed on Fox News, and after the interview, when he thought the microphone was off, said that Barack Obama had been "talking down to black people." He added, "I'm going to cut his nuts off." First of all I'm not sure that telling absent fathers in the African American community that they need to step up and take responsibility for themselves and their families is "talking down to black people." Most African American political leaders seemed to feel that Jackson's remarks were out of line and revealed more about his feelings of being increasingly irrelevant as a political figure, than about any coherent critique of Obama's policies. But more to the point, Jackson is a professional. He's a political veteran who has been interviewed on television hundreds if not thousands of times. He should know that studio microphones will pick up anything. Makes you wonder if he did know….
But this week's BOW Award is going not to a Democratic Party operative, but to a Republican. Yeah, I know: Big surprise. But you've got to admit that Phil Gramm earned this one. In case you missed it, Gramm said that the country was not suffering from an economic recession, but rather a mental recession. He said that America had become a country of whiners and that basically all the economic woes written about in the papers and talked about on television were a figment of people's imaginations.
Where do we start with this one? Record home foreclosures, rising unemployment, inflation, energy costs for both gasoline and heating fuels that have become a true economic hardship for ordinary Americans, an economy that has ground nearly to a halt. This is not in anyone's imagination; this is real. Are we in a recession? Not according to the classic definition, no. But anyone who doesn't believe that middle class families in America are hurting is either in denial or totally out of touch. More to the point, though, Phil Gramm is one of John McCain's chief economic advisers. His candidate has been facing charges that he doesn't know much about the economy (something McCain himself has said and then denied saying) and that he doesn't understand the day to day lives of ordinary people. Can Gramm think his remarks are going to help?
Barack Obama was all over this, saying that America didn't need another "Dr. Phil" (great line) and making it clear that he understands the painful circumstances so many people are in. Gramm gave him an opening you could drive a truck through, and Obama took it. Lower income voters had been ready to look at McCain. They voted for Hillary Clinton in the primaries and weren't sure they could trust Obama. They trust him now, at least more than they do McCain.
Look, I'm delighted by Gramm's comments. I hope McCain takes the guy to all his campaign appearances (though I'm not holding my breath). But that doesn't mean that the remarks were smart. This week's BOW Award goes to former Texas Senator Phil Gramm, for being just about as stupid as he could be. Take a BOW there, Phil. You've earned it. And feel free to keep on talking.
Page Proofs — Bleh!
July 10, 2008
A couple of months ago I posted about copyediting. I'd just received the copyedited manuscript of The Horsemen's Gambit, book II of Blood of the Southlands and I was going through it, dealing with the copyeditor's queries and making some last minute changes.
Well, today I began my last task in the production process. I am proofreading the typeset version of the book, also known as the first-pass page proofs. What this means, basically, is that I'm looking at the book as it will appear in print, searching for typos, errors in formatting, and any lingering mistakes that I might have made. It's a rather tedious job, not least because I've already read this book through about five times, and frankly, I'm a little sick of it. Don't get me wrong: I like the book. I think it's one of my best. But it could be a masterpiece on the order of A Tale of Two Cities, and I still wouldn't want to read it five times through in less than a year.
As I find mistakes, I correct them in pencil and then lay those pages aside. When I'm done, I'll send those corrected pages — not the whole book — back to my editor. He'll pass them on to Tor, where the changes will be incorporated into the final version of the book. The goal, of course, is a book without any typos or mistakes of any kind. In practice, this is virtually impossible to achieve. Why? Let me explain it this way: The book is 140,000 words long, give or take a few thousand. Each word averages about five letters. (Really: next time you do a word check in Word check out the other document stats. You'll probably find that your average word length is about the same.) That comes out to approximately 700,000 characters. There are paragraph breaks, too, and also punctuation, spacing issues, etc. But let's keep the number round for the sake of simplicity. 700,000. Okay, now let's say that my editor, and the copy editor, and the proofreader, and I manage between us to make it 99.999% perfect. That would be pretty darn good, actually. And it would still leave us with seven typos.
So, in a way, I'm doomed to fail before I even begin. But I'm slogging through. I've caught a few things and will, no doubt, catch a few more, so I already feel that the work has been worthwhile. But I'd rather be working on book III.
By the way, a big birthday shout-out to one of my musical heroes, Bela Fleck, who turns 50 today. You still rock, Bela!
Today's music: Bela, Tales from the Acoustic Planet
A Post About Baseball; It's Been A While
July 9, 2008
The other day I was reading the New Yorker, which I do when I exercise, and I came across an amusing cartoon. It shows a pitcher and catcher talking on the pitcher's mound in the middle of a game in front of a stadium full of fans. The pitcher is saying, "I'm sure I could keep my slider down if they'd just fire the manager." Got me thinking.
I haven't posted anything about baseball pretty much all season long, mostly because I've been so disappointed in my Mets. The firing of their manager, Willie Randolph, a few weeks ago saddened me even more. Now before this becomes a big "thing", I'm not saying that I don't think they should have fired Willie. I'm not saying that I agree with the firing either. I'm not sure one way or the other. The team has played well for interim manager Jerry Manuel, a guy I've always thought was a decent coach and manager. And I think that Willie himself had become a distraction for the team, simply because after last season's September collapse and this year's poor start, he was a marked man. On the other hand, I think that the team played poorly at the end of last year and the first half of this season not because Willie managed them poorly, but because their starting pitching was shaky, their middle relief has never regained the form it showed in 2006, and Billy Wagner always seems to be one pitch away from disaster.
Randolph has always been a class act. He was a terrific second baseman for the Yankees during their late-seventies glory days. He was solid if not spectacular in the field, he could steal a base, he had great strike-zone judgment, and he came through with a good many clutch hits throughout his career. He has long been an intelligent and insightful student of the game and was a key member of Joe Torre's staff during the best years of Torre's tenure as Yankee manager. I'm sad for him, and I hope he finds a new position soon. He's too good a manager not to be running someone's team.
Here's hoping as well that the Mets perform to their full potential during the second half of the season. They're only a few games out of first, and with Reyes, Beltran, and Wright playing well, and Carlos Delgado poised for a big second half, they could make a run at the playoffs.
A Post About "Cassie's Story"
July 8, 2008
As promised, a longer post about "Cassie's Story" is now up at the blogsite of Edmund Schubert, editor of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show. "Cassie's Story" is my newest short story, and it can now be read at the IGMS website. Today's post tells a bit about how I came to write the story and what was involved in the editorial process. I hope you enjoy the post, and I hope you'll check out the story.
A Post About a Writer's Insecurities
July 7, 2008
Today's post, "The Fear Never Goes Away, So Face It,: can be found at http://magicalwords.net. Visit the site and check it out!


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First-principles Derivation of the AdS/CFT Y- and T-systems Speaker(s): Raphael Benichou
Abstract: I will present a first-principles derivation of the AdS5/CFT4 T-system up to first non-trivial order in the large 't Hooft coupling expansion. The proof relies on the computation of quantum effects in the fusion of some special line operators, namely the transfer matrices. This computation is done in the pure spinor formalism for the superstring in AdS5xS5. I will also discuss the generalization of this computation to other integrable 2D CFTs that define string theory in AdS backgrounds.
Date: 19/08/2011 - 11:40 am
Collection: Integrability in Gauge/String Theories

subset: commoncrawl


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Dungeon Master's Section
Below is a list of active DM's on the boards, they have all answered a series of questions to allow people to better understand how games work, are run, the motives behind them and to better the general community.
Dire Reverend
- Why do you like to DM?
Because I enjoy making stories.- How long have you been a DM, how long have you been a player of Dungeons and Dragons?
I have been Playing D&D for a couple of years, and I have recently started DMing last year.- What is your style of DMing?
- What are some key elements of your games? (and why)
- Do you like Hack & slash, puzzles, RP or a combo? (and why)
I prefer Roleplaying and Hack & Slash. Puzzles, especially in PbP get annoying.- Do you like High fantasy, Low fantasy, Magitech or something else? (and why)
If Magitech means Magic and Technology, then I prefer Magitech. This is mainly because I like technology and magic.- When you are a player what kind of character do you usually play?
I don't have a specific kind of character.- Describe your favorite NPC you made for a game.
A good half-vampire that had to convince the heroes that she was not evil.- What are some rules you live by when running a game?
- Do you have any expectations of players in your game, if so what are they?
- How do you handle a bored player?
Death. With an axe.- How do you handle creativity from players that is obviously not within the rules to allow?
Never really had to deal with that.- Psionics, transparent?
I really never looked into Psionics.- What is your favorite race?
Undead, mainly because I like the concept, and in addition I do not have to deal with the Con score.- Favorite alternate magic system? (psionics, Incarnum etc)
As stated above, I really have not looked into alternate magic.- What are some house rules you use and why?
I am especially homebrew friendly, because I make homebrew myself, and I enjoy user-made material when they are not overpowered.- How do you handle in game tension between players (ooc)?
Usually death by cat, but when the player has energy immunity (cat), I talk it over with the both of them.- How do you handle character death (beyond the normal)?
Low level: Make a new character.
High level: Do you want to make a new character or get somebody to resurrect him/her?- What medium do you use for battlemaps?
In play by post I use photoshop to make grids, in real life I use a giant grid sheet- Why do you like Pbp?
Because I have such a hard time finding people to play with IRL
PairO'Dice Lost
- Why do you like to DM?
Two reasons. First, I like the whole creative aspect of it--coming up with worlds and scenarios, playing as interesting NPCs, etc. Second, and slightly more selfishly, I rarely get to play rather than DM with my real-life group, so my DMing lots of games takes care of my D&D fix like other peoples' playing in several games at once.- How long have you been a DM, how long have you been a player of Dungeons and Dragons?
I first learned to play when I was 8; a friend's dad DMed a game of 1e for five of us for a year or so to teach us the ropes. We switched to 2e after that, since that was the game currently in print, and that's when I started DMing games myself, so it's been about 12-13 years now.- What is your style of DMing?
I'm very good with the mechanical aspect of the game and can stat up high-level NPCs and templated monsters in a few minutes if need be, and I'm also a good actor and improviser, so I rarely prepare more than the basic outline for a session/scenario (what are the plot-relevant things the PCs should learn here, how do I want the session/scenario to end up, etc.) and just improvise the details. This can be a disadvantage at times, as for instance I'm terrible at giving NPCs names and would be better served coming up with those beforehand, but it's much more of an advantage for most of my groups, who tend to be very mobile in-game and come up with crazy plans that would destroy most preparation.- What are some key elements of your games? (and why)
Here's a few I can think of off the top of my head:
--The world doesn't revolve around you. Things happen when the PCs aren't around, their actions have consequences, there is no plot railroad, and so forth. I find it makes the world a lot more realistic if you don't treat the PCs like the protagonists of a story and instead treat them like every other NPC until they do something to get noticed (and they will, don't worry).
--We're not telling a story, we're playing a game that can generate stories. I don't view playing RPGs as "telling a story," and I don't view the plot as something to be followed. Rather, the stories are told after the fact, and the plot is a set of points that can generate different stories if hit (or not hit) in certain orders. Thus, I don't fudge rolls for or against PCs, I don't employ narrative tropes as much as I can help it (e.g. you won't show up "just in time" to interrupt an evil necromancer's ritual regardless of your actions; if you're early, you have more time to deal with it, and if you're late...sucks to be you), and I follow the rules as strictly as I can for both PCs and NPCs. If the PCs don't get access to certain mechanics for plot reasons (e.g. there are no wizards or other arcane full casters for whatever reason) the NPCs don't get access to them either, and any rules tweaks or custom content I use are presented to the PCs upfront. Basically, NPCs don't special advantages just because they're "plot relevant."- Do you like Hack & slash, puzzles, RP or a combo? (and why)
Puzzles don't tend to work out very well in RPGs, I've found, as either you don't have rules for them (in which case it's a game of "guess what the DM is thinking") or you do use rules for them (in which case it's a game of "make a few rolls to bypass the puzzle"). So I tend to use puzzles sparingly if at all in my online games and only use them with my RL group who have a much better chance of "reading my mind" on those. Even the least-sociable members of my RL groups have had good roleplaying skills, so I like quite a bit of RP in my games, and many of my most recent group's members came to TTRPGs via cRPGs and MMORPGs, so I run plenty of combats as well. I try to split my games about 50/50 or 60/40 either way.- Do you like High fantasy, Low fantasy, Magitech or something else? (and why)
Magitech and high fantasy over low fantasy, definitely. Again, my groups are kind of crazy, and are the types of people who can wreck a bad guy's day with shape stone, silent image, half a dozen flasks of alchemist's fire, some rope, and a hammer. They come up with lots of off-the-wall uses of magic in high-magic games like D&D that people logically would have discovered if they lived in the world, so it makes no sense to run low magic or low fantasy in those systems. I try to make my casters as logical as possible, and whether things proceed to magitech or to high fantasy depends on the setting, really.
I haven't really like any of the low fantasy/low sci-fi systems I've played. d20 Modern, low fantasy GURPS, Conan d20, and so forth just don't hold my interest mechanically because characters can't do much individually. Characters accomplishing things without magic or technology only goes so far; my players and I have more fun with basic D&D illusions than with combat spells, and anything you can accomplish as a player regardless of your class (such as convincing NPCs to aid you or rely on items to get things done) gets old after a while.- When you are a player what kind of character do you usually play?
I've only had a chance to play (as opposed to run) 3e with my RL groups since 2000, and even then I can count the number of PCs I've played on one hand. I play high-Int types with several Knowledge skills without exception, since (A) that lets me use my knowledge of the game (IDing monsters, drawing on setting fluff, etc.) without metagaming, and (B) lots of diverse skills means lots of potential for the wacky plans we love so much (who knew Forgery and Craft could be so useful?). In my RL group, I've played two types: if we have new players learning the game, I've been the party-support/utility caster (using things like war weaver, bard, theurge PrCs, etc.) in order to shore up weaker party members while their players learn the ropes, and if we've had a party of experienced players I've played the arcane+skills type focusing on trickery and manipulation (using things like factotum, beguiler, eldritch disciple, etc.).- Describe your favorite NPC you made for a game.
It's hard to describe any of my favorite NPCs in just a few paragraphs, since a lot of the favoritism comes from fun and interesting things I did with them in game, but here's one example.
In one of my games, the NPCs were part of a secret society that tended to fight without items and carry no identification of any sort, the better to help them hide among the populace and be ready to ambush their enemies at any time. The PCs were having a hard time tracking them down and were annoyed at a lack of loot from this particular enemy. At one point, they fought a caster who wielded a staff of fire spells, and the party's resident pyromancer went to great trouble to disarm him of it. After the NPCs died and their bodies self-destructed as usual, the party wondered if the staff was a setup. Nah, couldn't be.
One night, the staff made itself known to the PC who took it with "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a staff of wealth and taste." Turns out the staff was an intelligent item sent by Mephistopheles to corrupt the party from within, since (as they later discovered) the society they were working against was a cult of his that was working towards a diabolical invasion of their home plane. The staff gradually granted the PC more and more benefits (mechanically, via becoming an Item Familiar and a legacy weapon and a legendary weapon and...) in exchange for him gradually becoming Lawful Evil and swearing allegiance to Mephistopheles. The player knew terrible things were happening, but the PC couldn't resist at all and was willing to do whatever the staff wanted, and that PC/player tension and the eventual reveal to the party made for some memorable sessions.- What are some rules you live by when running a game?
--As already mentioned, don't bend the rules for or against the players; you're empowered to tweak rules in order to make the game as a whole better, not to either "save" the PCs or to impose a railroad.
--Give the players maximum latitude in creating and playing their characters; you control a whole world, they have 1 PC, so they should be able to play what they want, how they want.
--Say "yes" to players as much as you can, even if it's a "yes, but..."; I'm not telling a story or dictating a plot to the players, this is a cooperative enterprise.- Do you have any expectations of players in your game, if so what are they?
I expect PCs to come up with creative solutions to problems, think outside the box, and otherwise avoid a straightforward, boring approach to things. You can fireball a bunch of goblins or scry-and-die a BBEG in any game. You can't always build a flying turtle fortress to assault your enemies in style, take out an assassination contract on yourself to frame your major political opponent, or set off a forgewraith invasion in Sharn to distract House Cannith in every campaign (and yes, those are examples of things that have happened in my campaigns).- How do you handle a bored player?
Honestly, I don't recall having had one in my RL games, and there's not much you can do in PbP since they just stop posting and don't respond to queries. If you have a bored player, it's probably due to one of two things. First, they're feeling overshadowed as a player--another PC in the same niche is better than theirs, another player is hogging the spotlight, etc. To solve that, you need to talk to the player and find out what's wrong, and then take steps to fix it (let them rebuild a character or ask the other player to tone it down, for instance), all out-of-game. Second, they're not engaged with the plot--they don't find the party's current objective interesting, they don't care about the BBEG, whatever. In that case, you can take suggestions from the player, but you should really talk to the party as a whole, as it's possible that others feel the same way but just don't want to tell you. Sometimes you'll have to drastically change your plot hooks/NPC styles, etc., and sometimes you can't really change much at this point, but you should always try to respect players' wishes.- How do you handle creativity from players that is obviously not within the rules to allow?
I don't subscribe to the view that designer intent trumps rules at all, so if by "not within the rules to allow" you mean "it's not fair to let PCs drop heavy things on enemies/use BoVD sacrifice rules/scry-and-die opponents/make SBG fortresses/whatever," I say tough noogies. They've found something cool and useful that gives them an advantage, congratulate them. Then keep in mind that NPCs can do the same things. I always tell my players that anything they can do NPCs can as well, so if they start abusing things, I remind them of this. Either they don't want an arms race and make a gentleman's agreement to stop, or they want to have fun with it and the NPCs start using it too. I'm willing to call it quits any time the PCs aren't having fun anymore, but it they are having fun and you can handle it, why stop them?
If you instead mean blatant rules abuse like bringing modern physics into things or the like, again, I tell players that anything they can do NPCs can do too, and they really don't want to pull physics abuses on a DM who's familiar with everything from quantum mechanics and particle physics to virology to computer programming and more. Stupid things like the commoner railgun get disallowed, but if they really want to try to, say, build a supercomputer and the internet in Eberron using animated objects and contingencies (again, real example from a campaign), they can certainly try.- Psionics, transparent?
Always. I've played and ran 1e, 2e, 3.0, and 3.5 psionics, so I know firsthand that nontransparency does not work.- What is your favorite race?
Tough choice. I love elans and illumians both flavor-wise and mechanically, but there are some close runners-up.- Favorite alternate magic system? (psionics, Incarnum etc)
Seriously, I allow them all in my games and have run NPCs who use all of them (including truenaming!). Psionics and binding are my top two, but the others are close behind.- What are some house rules you use and why?
I have 3 and only 3 rules (barring houserules for a specific campaign, of course, like "in this campaign there are no full divine casters" and such):
1) Anything you can do, the NPCs can do, and there are more of them. Don't abuse the rules.
2) This is a cooperative game. Do not try to overshadow other players mechanically or RP-wise; if you do, it is your responsibility to fix it.
3) This is a game first and foremost. Don't bring IC things OOC or vice versa, and don't take things too seriously.- How do you handle in game tension between players (ooc)?
Talk about it, as mentioned above. If both players are fine with it and can separate IC and OOC matters, they can go ahead. If one player doesn't like it or can't handle it, we'll take steps to fix things.- How do you handle character death (beyond the normal)?
Characters die. It happens. No fudging. Don't blame yourself, or the DM, or other players. Roll up a new character at average party level and come up with a way to work yourself into the party, and I'll take it from there.- What medium do you use for battlemaps?
For RL games, I have a large dry-erase board with squares on one side and hexes on the other for battles where exact position matters and a large blank dry-erase boards for those where it doesn't. Online, I make maps in a paint program and post those, updating the map each round.- Why do you like Pbp?
It lets me game with different groups of people to experience new and different party dynamics and themes, and it lets me easily run multiple games at once. Also, I find it helps players with their roleplaying because people can take the time to compose their posts and thus get more into character.
- Why do you like to DM?
It's an outlet for my creativity, and I like my creativity interactive, with other people contributing and joining in.- How long have you been a DM, how long have you been a player of Dungeons and Dragons?
25 years & 25 years- What is your style of DMing?
It's not a style I've encountered elsewhere. Hm..
It's Sandboxy, in the sense that PCs can go anywhere, do anything, and I dutifully fill in what happens. It's plot driven in the sense that there are things that happen in the game that will impact the PCs, it's event driven in the sense that these events will continue to happen whether the PCs investigate them or not. The PCs can stop or change events, or the actions of NPCs, but if they just ignore them, then they won't go away, they'll continue to have an effect on the game world.
That said, I tend to vary my style depending on the players I get, and on the style of the game. My BESM games tend towards commedy horror, my fantasy games tend towards epic low fantasy (sic).- What are some key elements of your games? (and why)
Metaphysics. I like it, and it's a way of making the players think about where they are as a different world with different mores.
NPCs with conflicted motives. Noone in my games is just a good guy, or just a bad guy, and I try and make sure they have real motives for what they do
Player trumps plot. Nothing gets a 'plot immunity' in my games, (unless the players want it to). The PCs are good at what they do, and if the foil a villain that I didn't want foiled I have rewriting to do. That has it's downsides as well as upsides, but it's worth it.
Prophecy/timetravel/twisted causality. Players like thinking about the sequence their characters have gone through. Turning it into a puzzle to solve is giving the PCs a RL puzzle that they all are qualified to solve.- Do you like Hack & slash, puzzles, RP or a combo? (and why)
Combination. It's too easy to get bored otherwise. Of the three, I have been known to drop combat entirely, (even playing D&D) if that's where the players want to go.- Do you like High fantasy, Low fantasy, Magitech or something else? (and why)
Low fantasy. Magitech doesn't interest me, and I believe that if someone comes up with a cool and practical combination, they deserve to have it unique to them as a character, rather than as a feature of the game world to showcase the DM. (I get to show off in other ways.) I like high fantasy, but it only works if everyone has the same sort of vision of the world and playstyle, and that's rarely the case in the groups I play with.- When you are a player what kind of character do you usually play?
Characters with unique abilities. I don't much care what kind of character I play so long as noone else can do what I can do. I hate having duplicate capabilities. Otherwise I go for characters with obscure special rules - generally odd or different uses of something familiar rather than customised characteres. Personality wise I like either boisterous characters with obvious flaws (desperately poor judgement is a favourite), or quiet characters with a secret to hide (that will come out in the game).- Describe your favorite NPC you made for a game.
A gothic japanese high school girl who filled her hair with coloured elasticated hair bands and bangles, and fiddled with them extensively. She had an obvious hook to make her memorable, until just by playing with a rubber band without saying anything, the players could tell who I was portraying. She had some interesting secrets. (she blamed herself for the death of a friend), some interesting things to discover about her (her father was local yakuza, and had no time for her, so she wanted to stay over a friends houses rather than go home), some interesting capabilities (she was really quite rich, for a high schooler, and knew all the seedy places in town).- What are some rules you live by when running a game?
Player trumps plot.
Plots and NPCs don't go away just because the PCs choose to ignore them
If the players get bored, the game needs to change
Players need to succeed when they do well, and fail when they do badly. To this end I've killed off major villains before their time, and invented new antagonists just to capitalise on major screw ups
Players should be balanced in their capabilities. If a PC is weak, the plot should make them more powerful.- Do you have any expectations of players in your game, if so what are they?
They play their characters in a manner consistent with the game they want to play. So if they don't want to be constantly screwed over, they shouldn't constantly screw people over. If they don't want a lot of combat, they shouldn't attack people. If they want intrigue, they need to not use brute force.
Don't split the party. I can't make more of me, so if you split up, the game will go more slowly for each character
Play characters who are roughly as powerful as the rest of the group. A variation on don't split the party. the whole group faces challenges together. If you're more powerful than everyone else, I have to split the challenges, and the game falls apart.- How do you handle a bored player?
Throw them events/characters that are aligned either at their interests or their own character's backstory. For example, in a BESM game one character kept on followed by a particular NPC. Another discovered that the illegal cloning lab was manufacturing clones of her. Another character, wanting more combat in an investigation game, ended up duelling an NPC to distract him while the the rest of the group raided the NPC's room for clues.- How do you handle creativity from players that is obviously not within the rules to allow?
Change the rules. If it's a major change, then poll the players first to make sure they don't object.- Psionics, transparent?
eh? Is this is a 3.5 question? In AD&D 3.5 I treat psionics as magic, and everything that effects one effects the other.- What is your favorite race?
... human. I find it's better not to play a race unless you have a firm idea of how you're going to play it.- Favorite alternate magic system? (psionics, Incarnum etc)
Expanded bardic song systems, like seeker of the song, or virtuoso. I generally prefer abilities to magic. In a pinch the divine crusader (spells from one domain only) works well for me.- What are some house rules you use and why?
Diplomacy is limited to things that could plausibly be accomplished by talking to someone.
Don't use the polymorph chain - I can abuse it better than most, and most of my players know this.
There are no shops for anything above 50 gp or so. You get these by going to the right places and making deals in person. This includes almost all magic items. Fantasy is not a retail experience.
Spells are not freely available. They're hard to come by. Some simply won't turn up in some games.
Anything non-core is subject to approval. I'm pretty generous, but I will limit things that would spoil the game world- How do you handle in game tension between players (ooc)?
Out of character. Get them to talk it out, either with me or without me.- How do you handle character death (beyond the normal)?
I try and avoid it. Generally the players are more keen on death than I am. If they all really want it, I let players with dead characters introduce a new character to replace the old one. I expect the players to expedite this process.- What medium do you use for battlemaps?
I generally avoid battlemaps entirely. If necessary, I use whatever the players are most familiar with.- Why do you like Pbp?
I don't particularly. It's just a lot easier to find the time if you don't have to get x people in the same room at the same time.
Silva Stormrage
- Why do you like to DM?
It gives me the option to actually build a story and a world. Also it allows me to use a lot of the interesting build ideas and homebrews I find and want to use.- How long have you been a DM, how long have you been a player of Dungeons and Dragons?
I have played the video game Neverwinter Nights which is based on DND for 6 years and have played DND for 2. I have DM'ed most of the time and only played as a player for three sessions.- What is your style of DMing?
I tend to like having a sandbox world but with multiple plots going on at a time. For example I will have the basic idea for something happening in each of the major kingdoms so that no matter where the players decide to go they have something to do. Play it by ear since players don't do the expected.- What are some key elements of your games? (and why)
Key elements of a game would be an open world, I never use pre existing settings, I tend to try and balance the tiers of classes somewhat but mostly tell the players not to try and outshine all the other players.- Do you like Hack & slash, puzzles, RP or a combo? (and why)
I prefer hack and slash and RP. Puzzles were never my forte at solving and they tend to eat too much game time to really be worth it IMO.- Do you like High fantasy, Low fantasy, Magitech or something else? (and why)
High Magic and High Fantasy.- When you are a player what kind of character do you usually play?
I almost always play necromantic characters, only now trying to branch out from that.- Describe your favorite NPC you made for a game.
Well he started out as a player but a Thrallherd named Grimgrol. A list of accomplishments made by this NPC would take the entire reply so I will shorten it.
Defeated the Party three times without taking damage
Ended up becoming a Lich and a dragon for the BBEG of a campaign.
Then ended up betraying the BBEG killing the players in the final showdown and then garnering enough strength to kill the gods
This one character has caused more fear in my players than any trap, monster, quest or experience I have sent at them.- What are some rules you live by when running a game?
Rule of Common Sense > Rule of Cool > Rule of Funny > RAI > RAW- Do you have any expectations of players in your game, if so what are they?
In a live game, make your turns quickly, don't bring phones or laptops and surf the web on them at the table, don't be a jerk- How do you handle a bored player?
Try and find out what is boring the player, usually asking the but some people won't respond truthfully. If I can change what is boring him (Lack of times to shine, too hard of encounters, not enough RP, etc) I will change it. If I can't change it without causing serious table issues, (The player hates me DMing, wants to just walkthrough all encounters, etc) I simply don't bother since I can't change anything.- How do you handle creativity from players that is obviously not within the rules to allow?
If the effect is obviously unbalanced (Major Creation to create antimatter) then I rule zero it down, if its creative and can be down repeatedly in combat I will let it work but at a lesser rate so he doesn't just use this creative tactic over and over again, if its creative and it can't be easily duplicated then I let it work.- Psionics, transparent?
Yes transparency in full effect- What is your favorite race?
Favorite race would be Ithilid no doubt. They make great BBEG, masterminds, and all around creepy opponents.- Favorite alternate magic system? (psionics, Incarnum etc)
Psionics. Its much more balanced then standard spell casting and has several cool tricks with it.- What are some house rules you use and why?
I tend to adjust my house rules based on the campaign and what went wrong in the last campaign. For example, in my last campaign the players never once used any form of resurrection since I allowed them to create a new character of equal level to come back as. In the current one a new character starts at 1 level lower. One thing I always do is allow max HP for PC's just to extend their survivability.- How do you handle in game tension between players (ooc)?
I can't answer truthfully because with my group I haven't had any OOC player conflicts.- How do you handle character death (beyond the normal)?
See house rules. I mostly just let it happen, I don't avoid player death and I let the dice fall.- What medium do you use for battlemaps?
I use a grid in a google doc or a battle map if a live game.- Why do you like Pbp?
In regular live games I need to have a decent chunk of material ready for the game. In pbp's I can improvise a lot more effectively. Also since I am not that great of an actor (Voice or otherwise), I find roleplaying in a PbP to be a lot easier than a live game.
- Why do you like to DM?
In the past it was because my friends plied me with beer and convinced me. Nowadays I prefer DMing to playing as it means I can play in a game where I can have some degree over the tone and the setting.
Plus I can try out all manner of class/ race combination to see if ideas I think "that may work" actually or or not.- How long have you been a DM, how long have you been a player of Dungeons and Dragons?
Been playing D&D/cyberpunk since ~1990 and then picked up WFRP and the 40K rpgs since and mixed in a few of others along the way.- What is your style of DMing?
Not sure I reall have a style. Try and run enjoyable games where the players are the stars. So no high power NPCs to overshadow you. In general also try and play it fairly gritty.- What are some key elements of your games? (and why)
Monsters get abilities I think they need and I sometimes play with bad guys number behdin the scenes.
In general I also do not use or like save of die effects. So I won't normally use them on a PC or allow my "main bad guy" to fail a save against them. PCs are heroic and if you've played from level 1 to the md teens its a bit harsh to kill you off with a single dice roll.
In settings I try and keep them slightly dark and grim and even in Sandbox I try and have an overarcing threat in the background that alters the world around them as time goes by.- Do you like Hack & slash, puzzles, RP or a combo? (and why)
In a RL game I like puzzles and RP with plenty of combat. But I've found that puzzles don't make the transition to PbP post well and neither does RP to a great extent as a 1 hour roleplayt can section in RL can take 2-3 weeks on a PbP to resolve. And its speaking in what are essentially text messages
So in Rl I like a 33% split
In PbP I lean towards about 60/30/10 Combat/RP/Puzzle- Do you like High fantasy, Low fantasy, Magitech or something else? (and why)
I quite like low fantasy. I'm not always that happy with spellcasters and their mass reality bending.
Save for Eberron which I think has done lowl level high fantsay very well.- When you are a player what kind of character do you usually play?
I normally play melee types. I'm not a huge fan of spellcasters and I like the visual associated with battling swrd Vs claw rather than pointing a finger and the bad guy is in a force cage and then magiked to death.- Describe your favorite NPC you made for a game.
"Jherath the B@stard": He was in an Eberron game and was an enemy of the group from level 4 to 19 where he wsa the big bad guy. He started as a minor bard assistant to a Dragon Below Cult and in the first battle was essentially a nameless mook with a human skull drum and silly hair.
He escaped the first battle as he fled and the players talked about so he started to become recurring- but a born coward would often run. He was good and fun and vexed the player often.- What are some rules you live by when running a game?
It should be fun for all the players
All the players deserve some time in the limelight
NPCs are expendable (thats a rule for me, I've met some GMs who are very protective of their NPCs)
Rules are guidelines in favour of the rule of cool- Do you have any expectations of players in your game, if so what are they?
In RL I expect players to put at least some effort into their PC. Such as levelling up between sessions and if I'm asking for info via email to reply.
In PbP I expect people to maintain a reasonable posting rate. And most importantly as PbP is a purely written medium to write a decent post.
Even in posts where nothing happens I try and keep a good flow of description to give the players a feel of the world. This is easily crushed by a player who writes "I attack" and then has info in the spoiler tag.
In PbP I really do expect the players to make an effort as in PbP the players and DM are essentially co-writing a story.- How do you handle a bored player?
Normally try to give their PC some spotlight time. Then quiet chat/PM to find out whats wrong and see if its a problem I can accomodate without chaging the game too much.
Though sometimes its a problem of a PC creating a very unsuitable PC for a game. Like a noncombat diplomancer in a dungeon crawl- How do you handle creativity from players that is obviously not within the rules to allow?
It depends if its using something within the existing rules or making up homebrew. I'm far more amenable to the former than the latter.
I'm always very suspicious of homebrew. But if a player goes for the "can I trade class ability X for class ability y" in the normal classes I'm more likley to say yes.- Psionics, transparent?
Always magic/psionic transparency. But depends on the game if I allow them in or not.- What is your favorite race?
The core ones.- Favorite alternate magic system? (psionics, Incarnum etc)
I really like incarnum, weak as it may be and I'm a massive fan of the binder and Vestiges- What are some house rules you use and why?
I modify power attack/combat expertise ratios so other melee styles can work.
Diplomancer cheese does not work
I tend to limit certain lines of silly spells.
Multi-classing stays in to avoid silly dipping- How do you handle in game tension between players (ooc)?
Its only been an issue since playing by PbP actually. But tried to calm things down with PM's and then in that case it didn't work so asked one player to leave.- How do you handle character death (beyond the normal)?
Well not using save or die the players normally have strong options for saving themselves by retrateating. But if they die they die.
But normally I'm soft on the difficulty of finding a suitable way of them coming back. If its been a long campaign I like the PCs as much as the players do.- What medium do you use for battlemaps?
Normally nothing but somtimes use Pyromancers if I have time.
In RL sometimes a map, othertimes just a pen and paper and rogh scribbles. Counting squares gets in the way of narrative combat.- Why do you like Pbp?
Its an easy way to play though results in a very different game. I started PbP because I moved to a different part of the country and so lost my RL game.
I can also run several different games with a moderate investement of time.
If you are a DM or have a DM and you think they/you should be here, answer the questions and PM me.


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Alternative Treatments I Did for First 10 Years Without HIV Meds and What I'm Doing NowA Video Blog
December 20, 2011 This article was cross-posted from "A Girl Like Me," a program of The Well Project. Please see my video blog about what alternative treatments I did for the first 10 years without HIV medicine, and what I have been doing for the past 11 years -- combining alternative treatment and HIV medicine: Get email notifications every time this blog is updated. This article was provided by The Well Project. Visit The Well Project's Web site to learn more about their resources and initiatives for women living with HIV. The Well Project shares its content with TheBody.com to ensure all people have access to the highest quality treatment information available. The Well Project receives no advertising revenue from TheBody.com or the advertisers on this site. No advertiser on this site has any editorial input into The Well Project's content.
Comment by: Vaughn Ripley
(Brunswick, MD)
Sun., Jan. 22, 2012 at 8:40 pm UTC Great video post. I have been taking Omega-3 for many years. I also take vitamins and other natural supplements along with my cocktail of drugs. I think that good nutrition and supplements are a key for me still being here. You can see more about my other life-balance tools at my personal blog http://hivlongevity.com Thank you for such a good post! Replies to this comment:
Comment by: Eric
(New York, NY)
Sun., Jan. 15, 2012 at 8:50 am UTC Be sure to have yur liver enzymes checked before beginning a regimen of supplements to either complement or substitute your drug therapy. You could cause your liver to enlarge, which is called drug-induced hepatitis. I was supplementing with green tea extract; brazil nuts for selenium; L-glutamine; NAC; Udo's Oil with Omega 3,6,9 oils; maitake mushroom; vitamin D; vitamin C; Stress B complex; carnitine; and CoQ20. My liver enzymes shot up to AST 120 and ALT 320. Normal is AST 40 and ALT 60! I've stopped the supplements, and so far, the numbers have dropped to AST 70 and ALT 188 within a month. Be careful. If I didn't get monitored as often as I do, it could have led to liver failure. Replies to this comment:
Comment by: Maria
Tue., Jan. 17, 2012 at 11:29 am UTC Hello Eric and Ty for your suggestions..actually when I recently changed regimen to Atripla my liver enzymes went up a little..I made a vlog about it and its here in Thebody.com ( when your labs are not normal) but as my body adapted they went back down...a few months later into this treatment my doctor and I realized that I had a bacterial infection and a real bad cold when I got tested...so this is what probably elevated them a little.what you say is very important and I always make sure I keep my eye on all my organs. Love and Light p.s I have started to juice now :)
Comment by: maria mejia
Mon., Jan. 9, 2012 at 10:42 pm UTC Ty for finding interesting..I just added some new natural supplements to my daily life today! love and light
Comment by: Anonymous
(Los Angeles, CA)
Thu., Jan. 5, 2012 at 5:55 pm UTC Interesting video. I take Omega 3's, eat brazil nuts daily, and vit c + d. Try to space these out a few hours away from my meds.
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Time to Show My Face and Take the Stigma Away Maria T. Mejia I am a Colombian female who lives in Miami, Florida. I've been positive for 20 years. Although almost all my life I've been in long-term relationships with HIV-negative men, I am happily married to a woman who is wonderful and caring. We have been together almost three years and she is HIV negative. I have no children but we will look into having! I am an activist, a peer educator, a caregiver. I volunteered for the Red Cross in education for the Hispanic HIV community and also the American community. I was a pre- and post-test counselor. I have spoken in many conferences and done a lot of outreach in the community, especially in the schools for prevention and education. It is part of my everyday life to educate everyone I can on this subject. Being HIV positive is nothing to be ashamed about! We are strong women, and we will take away all the stigmas slowly but we have to open up. Read more blogs by women living with HIV/AIDS at "A Girl Like Me" The Well Project shares its content with TheBody.com to ensure all people have access to the highest quality treatment information available. The Well Project receives no advertising revenue from TheBody.com or the advertisers on this site. No advertiser on this site has any editorial input into The Well Project's content. Subscribe to Maria's Blog:
Recent Posts:
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March 21, 2017 - If I Am Undetectable I Can't Transmit the HIV Virus: A Blog Entry by Maria T. Mejia 1 de agosto de 2016 - El #VIH y el #AMOR (Mi Historia de Amor y Divulgar) August 1, 2016 - #HIV and #LOVE (My Story of Love and Disclosure): A Blog Entry by Maria T. Mejia February 26, 2016 - Survivor's Guilt/PTSD/Anxiety/Depression: A Blog Entry by Maria T. Mejia A Brief Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by TheBody.com's bloggers are entirely their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of TheBody.com itself. |


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« back to LumberJocks.com Site Feedback forum
Forum topic by tinnman65 | posted 10-26-2009 03:20 AM | 1616 views | 0 times favorited | 13 replies |
I was telling my wife about the end of the new Yankee Workshop (and David Marks Woodwork's from what I hear) and she pointed out that all the so called "do it yourself" shows are on the decline. The same way MTV (music television) stopped playing music video's years ago DIY, HGTV,and the like are now all about having some pro's come in and do all the work on your house or yard, either that or shows about buying or selling a house. Even when the home owner is involved they usually never get into much detail about whats going on. What ever happened to all the do it yourself craft shows on woodworking, fabric arts, gardening,metal work,painting or even auto repair. I do on occasion find a woodworking show on the local PBS station but they are never on for any length of time. Is this true for anyone else or am I just in a bad TV market? -- Paul--- Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. — Scott Adams |
13 replies so far
#1 posted 10-26-2009 04:31 AM |
Yes I'd have to agree with you, the same thing here, about the only one left is The American Woodshop. I haven't seen that Father and Son router show or the Woodsmith Shop or the Woodwrights Shop on PBS in a while either. -- -Curt, Milwaukee, WI |
#2 posted 10-26-2009 04:42 AM |
They are hard to come by. I set up my Tivo to record anything related to woodworking and for a while there it didn't record anything. Lately it has recorded several episodes of The Woodsmith's Shop but they are reruns from last March. Other than that I watch The Wood Whisperer podcasts on iTunes. Bothus -- Jerry Boshear, Professional Kitchen Designer, amature woodworker. |
#3 posted 10-26-2009 05:11 AM |
Whoa. When Bothus said that I went and looked at my TiVo and sure enough there are 4 upcoming Woodsmith Shop shows. My Season Pass was set to record them on the 10-1 PBS channel but they moved them to the 36-4 PBS channel. (We've got 9 PBS channels here, 10-1 and 36-1 thru 36-8, only 10-1 is 1080i all the rest are 480p. So I left the 10-1 Season Pass to keep the better resolution and set up a Wishlist to grab any remaing. Had done that with the American Woodshop alreadly, now I'll do it with the Woodwrights Shop too. The Wood Whisperer had a good interview with David Marks and his wife a while back after the show had been canceled, interesting guy. I liked the story about how he invented the mortise and tenon and the clocks Montgomery Wards were going to sell. -- -Curt, Milwaukee, WI |
#4 posted 10-26-2009 05:15 AM |
I got the same problem. Last week I upgraded my cable so I could get DIY. What a mistake that was, Like you said Tinman it's either pros doing the work or people who are supposed to be pros doing crappy jobs and covering up mistakes. The other channels are no better. A lot of jackasses flipping houses and doing some really unethical things. I cant believe these broadcasters or show sponsors would promote this garbage. It's all about the reality shows now. No craftsmanship and not much entertainment. -- www.thepatriotwoodworker.com Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops |
#5 posted 10-26-2009 05:17 AM |
I only get The re runs of The new yankee woodshop and the woodright . The more interesting shows like David marks are long gone but now I'm watching Charles Neil Has a show he's broadcasting every Thursday. It's a subscription show but cheaper than buying DVDs and Charles has 30 years experience and his shows, DVDs, You tube videos are all on the mark and even a guy -- http://artisticwoodstudio.com Custom furniture |
#6 posted 10-26-2009 01:39 PM |
I, like Jim, only get an occasional rerun or maybe I get to see an occassional episode of New Yankee on PBS. This is quite the bummer. I guess its obviously going to be like everything else, all about the most audience and consequently the biggest bucks. How many "House Hunter" or "Landscaping" shows does it take to make a good woodworking show?......anyone know? -- Dave Haynes, Indiana, http://www.oldaveswoodshop.com |
#7 posted 10-26-2009 03:02 PM |
I really dislike the the DIY Shows that basically show the start and show the finish after the pros have finished. One had me screaming at the TV the other day. The people were hippies and they hired somebody to rip out out their 50 year wood old cabinets for environmentally friendly particle board cabinets that were distressed to look 50 years old. But…I end up watching them because there isn't anything else on but Law and Order repeats and the History channel trying to link JFK's, Nazi's and the Freemasons to a current blockbuster movie. -- Sometimes... At night... My router tells me to do things to wood. Bad Things. |
#8 posted 10-26-2009 03:44 PM |
About a year or two ago DIY or HGTV, I forget which one, advertized that they were going to start showing The New Yanky Workshop. I was looking forward to it because I can't get any local TV stations. When they finaly did start showing it, they played the same 5 or 6 episodes over and over and over and ….................. for about 6 months and then it disapered. -- Rick, Pa. Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. |
#9 posted 10-26-2009 03:51 PM |
History channel trying to link JFK's, Nazi's and the Freemasons to a current blockbuster movie. So I am NOT the only one who noticed that? Maybe it's a conspiracy. Gonna have to go tell the tin foil hat crowd about that… I guess it was about 2 years ago, HGTV and DIY network both seemed to shift toward pro updates instead of sweat equity. I quit watching. Likewise, The Sci Fi network became SyFy recently and started showing more stuff that would be a stretch to call science fiction, again I quit watching. MTV hasn't been MTV since the late 80's / early 90's. -- My workshop blog can be found at http://daves-workshop.blogspot.com, YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoa-AgyeFWqnQfGIJwdzkog |
#10 posted 10-26-2009 03:58 PM |
I still get the Old New Yankee, Woodsmith occasionally, and Woodturning workshop every sunday morning. I have started you tubing as well with the Wood WHisperer, The Woodsmith has some exellent videos on there site. I think this is the wave of the future. Which is nice cause you can watch it when you have time. -- ShawnH "In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock." Thomas Jefferson |
#11 posted 10-26-2009 05:41 PM |
Without a TV and with very limited internet the learning has to come from DVD's, videos, books and Lumberjocks. For those that have been able to watch the past DIY and How To shows I envy you… -- Never board, always knotty, lots of growth rings |
#12 posted 10-26-2009 06:02 PM |
I was lucky last November to catch John Sillaots at the Moncton (New Brunswick) Woodworking Exposition, and he was bemoaning the fact that his (and apparently, everyone elses) DIY show had gone the way of the dodo. However, less time spent in front of the TV (even if you are watching DIYs) is more time in the shop…... -- Gord M, Nova Scotia, Canada |
#13 posted 10-27-2009 02:39 AM |
i still have 16 episodes of wood works on my sat. receiver i watch them once and a while i did find that on the diy web site you can watch old wood works episodes -- self proclaimed copycat |
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text:
Results of the December 2013 Ifo Business Survey
Ifo Business Climate Index Rises
The Ifo business climate for industry and trade in Germany improved once again. Assessments of the current business situation were somewhat less favourable, but firms expressed greater optimism about future business developments. The German economy is in a festive mood.
The business climate in manufacturing continued to improve. Favourable assessments of the current business situation were scaled back somewhat, but manufacturers' optimism rose to its highest level since spring 2011. Although export expectations fell slightly, they nevertheless signal that firms reckon with positive impulses from abroad.
The business climate index fell in wholesaling. The current business situation was assessed significantly less positively by wholesalers, but they are nevertheless slightly more optimistic about future business developments. The index also fell slightly in retailing. Assessments of the current business situation rose to their highest value since spring of last year. Looking ahead to post-Christmas business, however, the mood among retailers deteriorated somewhat.
The business climate index in construction continued to rise. Assessments of the current business situation improved. Contractors are also very confident about their future business outlook.
Hans-Werner Sinn
President of the Ifo Institute
Results of the Ifo Business Survey in Germany in all details (in German)
"ifo Konjunkturperspektiven 12/2013", ifo Institut, München, 2013 | Details | PDF Download
Summary of the Results
Results of the Ifo Business Survey (Summary) of December 2013: Optimistic Outlook for the First Six Months of 2014 | Jan 14, 2014 | Information service | Details
Ifo Business Climate Germany (Index)
Business Situation and Expectations by Sector (Balances)
Ifo Business-Cycle Clock
Time series
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Explanatory note
The Ifo Business Climate Index is based on ca. 7,000 monthly survey responses from firms in manufacturing, construction, wholesaling and retailing. The firms are asked to give their assessments of the current business situation and their expectations for the next six months. They can characterise their situation as "good", "satisfactory" or "poor" and their business expectations for the next six months as "more favourable", "unchanged" or "more unfavourable". The balance value of the current business situation is the difference between the percentages of the responses "good" and "poor", the balance value of the expectations is the difference between the percentages of the responses "more favourable" and "more unfavourable". The business climate is a transformed mean of the balances of the business situation and the expectations. For the purpose of calculating the index values, the transformed balances are all normalized to the average of the year 2005.