Worldcon!

I'll be attending the World Science Fiction Convention in London, Loncon 3, next weekend. If anyone else is going to be there, please say hello!

The machine I look after at the university is now in its 5th week of servicing. We've replaced pretty much every component on it and it's still not quite back to full health. The downtime does mean I can get some writing done, but it's very frustrating!

This weekend I went to see Guardians of the Galaxy - great example of how to do a scifi blockbuster right. Packed full of character and wit, and edited extremely well - very few wasted moments. 

We also played another couple of games of Risk:Legacy. If you at all like narrative gaming or Risk, you have to play this game. Each time you play, you change the board by placing stickers and naming continents that change the gameplay for next time. In addition to this, there are six envelopes that you only open after certain events happen, which completely change the narrative of the game, even introducing new factions and sections of rulebook.

We've played six games now and what started as a fairly simple game of Risk has evolved into an insanely unique and customised board full of places named after me and my friends (Tomonto, Tomkyo, Olstralia, Jamazonia, Jennisburg, Dougsinki, Kashakstan...) The fact that each game takes around 2 hours instead of the usual day and a half (you need to claim 4 victory stars rather than take over the entire board, and the losers who survive also get to change the board for next time) makes it much more enjoyable too. There's even an envelope at the bottom of the box that simply says 'Do Not Open. Ever'. so far we've resisted the temptation...

Listening To: Spoon - Rent I Pay
Watching: Guardians of the Galaxy
Reading: The Screenwriter's Workbook - Syd Field