Synchronicity, Dreamwidth, Many Essays, Esoterica and the Mid-East

[tcpip]

A couple of strange moments of synchronicity and coincidence this week. About a year ago, I started reading Salmun Rushdie's The Moor's Last Sigh at a cafe around the corner for work. I know the date I started because I used my ticket from when John Foxx did a movie presentation. Every few days when buying a bite to eat or a coffee I'd read a few pages. Just as I'm about to finish, I discover that John Foxx did the cover for the book.

The second moment of synchronicity was finishing Rolemaster Cyradon, which is almost due for the final draft. About fifteen years ago I did another book for Iron Crown Enterprises. Just as the final draft of this book was due to be sent to the publishes, my hard disk died. This time around, the USB key which I'd kept about nine days of work decided to go belly-up. Fortunately, I discovered a very handy program to recover such things.

I have a Dreamwidth account under the same moniker. This is good because it doesn't have the poor management decisions of Livejournal, but uses pretty much the same technology, plus one can crosspost (like this one). This is a good list of Livejournal features not in Dreamwidth and likewise a list of changes.

Conducted a Philosophy of Economics (Normative Economics) session at the Unitarian Philosophy Forum on Sunday. Have also put up notes for the session on Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast which looks at metaphysics, theology and philosophy. Both of these have been very well received and well attended. Submitted a proposed distance education programme for VPAC as part of my Cert IV in Workplace Training and Assessment.

Visited darviz on Sunday morning, whom I hadn't spent much time with for years. Talked about his band, Darkness Visible, and then apropos, Freemasonry, various forms of esoterica and the politics of the middle-east (he's has a Jewish heritage and a generally pro-Israeli position; I'm probably best described as a secular zionist in that regard). On a related topic, I have finished an essay for isocracy.org on National Self-Determination and Federal Internationalism; comments invited on this oft-tricky subject.

Comments

[blackgrrr.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. That's interesting. I never gave much thought to White Dwarf. Around the time I was buying Dragon WD was all Warhammer, which was never my thing.

Of course I also liked the White Wolf magazine (despite not being interested in VTM) and the late lamented GM (er.... Games Master International I think it became).

I used to read the latter for hours, pondering all the weird games that were advertised (like Reich Star), book reviews.... and their weird obsession with Joe Dever.

I still have them in a crate with my Dragons. *sigh*

I just did a Torrent search, and universally it seems WD's 100th issue was the beginning of the end.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

White Dwarf was a pretty good magazine before it became a house 'zine for GW; as you say it's was pretty much around issue 100 (I would say before that) when it started going downhill fast.

White Wolf magazine seems to be a largely forgotten product, which is a shame because they did a really good job and covered a lot of material imo.

[blackgrrr.livejournal.com]

I have WD 1-100 now, and I had no idea that Jackson/Livingston wrote the early issues. I knew they were behind GDW but I never made the connection.

Through it I found a game called Starfaring (by Ken St Andre) I'd not heard of.

I've half a mind to try and get a group together. I probably say it in every RPG thread, but I do miss the hobby.

[blackgrrr.livejournal.com]

I forgot to mention (not sure if you have ever seen WD#1) the ad on the back cover for Gamma World (A game that famously forgot to include rules for Armour Class in the 3rd Edition IIRC) that blew my mind.

The guy didn't mention it, but it seems to feature the Solid Gold Dancers.
It's quite something (and electric blue).