NaNoWriMo and Gaming, Philosophy Conference and New Zealand, Tap Dancing and Annual Unitarian Servic

[tcpip]

Finished the NaNoWriMo target with my DemonSpirits RPG reaching 54,469 words by Sunday midnight. The beauty of NaNoWriMo is, of course, not the sheer quantity of words (which some people reach with questionable ease) but rather the discipline to write consistently on one subject for a month. As part of the process I've managed to sort out most of the world background in some detail, the core resolution and character generation system, both the mundane and esoteric fauna, and some rather discomforting aspects of the magic system (which, like the rest of the game, derives heavily from historical source material), and technologies (including a Civilisation-derived technology tree). On a related note, on Friday night the Melbourne Role Playing Salon (normally dedicated to indie games) finished off our Middle Earth Role Playing scenario (Appearances II) and quickly followed by a game of the classic Dragon Warriors. On Sunday the Church of Gaming had a non-gaming day, instead watching two appropriately thematic movies, The Game and Existenz, both of which are certainly worth a watch - next Sunday Karl will be playtesting his "Gullivar's Trading Company".

Tomorrow I take the silver bird across the Tasman to the 2008 Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy Conference and will give my paper on "Lying in Politics Revisited: The Iraq War in the Age of the Internet". Current plan is to spend December 2nd to 5th in Auckland, the 6th to the 9th in Palmerston North and 10th to 13th in Wellington. I'm really looking forward to all aspects of this journey; the conference should be very educational, visiting family will be pleasant and catching up with people in Wellington will be fun. And, of course, New Zealand is beautiful.

Saturday evening went to see caseopaya engage in a tap-dancing performance at the National Theatre as part of the Legs Eleven show, which was largely in the "broadway style", which isn't really to my taste although I was impressed with some irreverant religious presentations (a "black gospel" style and a "angels and devils" romp) and the attention to detail in Edward Scissorhands set. On Sunday went to the 156th Anniversary Service of the Melbourne Unitarian Church; the speaker was Rev. Dr. David Sammons of the Starr King Unitarian Universalist Graduate School who, in fine U-U style, presented the need for religious-minded individuals not to treat books (any book, including you-know-what) as sacred or eternal and without criticism, but rather as historical contributions.

Comments

[mr-figgy.livejournal.com]

I am curious about your notion of the word "sacred", and I'm sure you've written extensively about it. I see the word having fanatical connotations in its most common usage; enough that I winced at the statement "A copy editor needs to believe in the sacredness of English." I was hoping there was more to that word.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Are you following me around on convert_me? I'm having a bit of discussion on that very issue!

Basically, I follow etymological and sociological definitions. Etymologically, it is tied to sacrum (of the Gods), sacer (interpreted by priests) and sanctum (set apart, either spatially or politically). Sociologically, I pretty much follow Durkheim's classic distinction between the Sacred and the Profane.

I'm not really much of a fan of justification through claims of sacredness; I have more interest in existential universals (e.g., a sense of wonder with nature, a sense of solidarity with others, a sense of reflection to the self).

[mr-figgy.livejournal.com]

I may yet be one of your stalkers, but not on that group as I am not interested in being converted, nor am I currently in a campaign to convert others to Figgism. Sadly, as a devilbunnies story shows, Figgy is dead; thus, I suspect it could only end in Nietzsche. Except for radical interpretations. :)

Just one of the thoughts I had.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

The words and deeds of Figgy will live on however.

In the future, DevilBunny archeologists will be investigation USENET archives, desperately trying to find tar files of the alt news hierarchy and following message IDs..

After all, google has not stored everything.

Hmm... There's another story idea.

[mr-figgy.livejournal.com]

Yes, I can picture Figgy, chuckling as he paws at keys for hours on end, with a dish of halved ripe figs sitting at the ready and a cloud of fruit flies to keep him company; diligently churning out enough material for his miraculous "usenet archive" to convince future DevilBunny archaeologists that it isn't just one individual writing it all. And he's crazy enough that they just might fall for it.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Hello from Auckland! (where the orcs come from)

I certainly hope you spoof an IP address and a message ID with that content.. Just because..

[mareth-redorb.livejournal.com]

Damn, if I'd known you were going to be at Legs Eleven I would have tried to find you. A friend of mine's sister and mother have been doing the tap dancing for years - I've been to four performances so far.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I quite enjoyed the show even if it isn't really my thing. Nevertheless, I insist that plot and meet up in the near future!

[mareth-redorb.livejournal.com]

The whole thing's so over the top that you can't help enjoy it :)

Will you be at Arc next year?

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

*nods* Pretty sure I will be. More Cthulhu? :)

[mareth-redorb.livejournal.com]

Shadowrun