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I watched a documentary called Death Metal: A Documentary yesterday, and I kept laughing at the absurdity of some of the death metal acts and their antics in music videos. Some of them try so hard to be scary that they come off as parodies of themselves.

Despite the silliness, as well as the really poor audio and video, the documentary offered some insight into the minds of death metal musicians and their reflections on the scene from the early years on. Even Peter Steele (of the death metal band Carnivore and now of Type O Negative) made an appearance to give his opinions.

Perhaps the thing that made me laugh the most is the inflated egos of some of these guys. They seem to think of death metal as this intelligent music for intelligent people. A couple of them even compared death metal to jazz. Huh?

Of course, maybe I'm just not the target audience for the music, so that's why I find some of it so funny. I have a handful of death metal tracks in my iTunes, but frankly, I think most of them all sound the same. There's not a lot of variation between the different music of the various bands.

Last night, the RPG group was supposed to be giving Capes a try, but a day-of cancellation and a no-show left Logan and I sitting around chatting for the evening instead of playing. I have to admit I was disappointed and somewhat frustrated -- even though there's nothing I could really do about it. I'd been really looking forward to the game for three weeks (and doing a shitload of prep work to make sure it went off without a hitch), and the fact that it didn't happen has taken a lot of the wind out of my sails regarding RPGs and the Sunday night group.

This entire thing is animated with dice. Creepy.

Despite the sneering and derision aimed in the direction of Munchkin, I enjoy playing the game once in awhile. Steve Jackson Games has uploaded some images of its in-production board game Munchkin Quest, and this looks potentially even more fun.

I never quite got around to writing about the long weekend yesterday, so here's a quick summary...

On Saturday, Logan and I helped Rawl move from Scarborough into his new house in Whitby. Thankfully, it was a relatively painless move. We were done by about 1:30, and then we munched on pizza and beer before fleeing the scene so Rawl and Linda could begin the hell that is unpacking.

The rest of the weekend was fairly quiet. I got in a little bit of gaming on Saturday and Sunday, but by Sunday night, I knew I was getting a cold.

Monday was spent in front of the TV, with Jacquie and I catching up on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. By the evening, we had finished Season 6. Now we just need to borrow a copy of Season 7 and finish it up.

I suppose after I've seen Season 7, I can start picking up the Season 8 comic books -- probably in trade if I actually do so, though. I doubt it would be worth picking up individual issues on a monthly basis. Considering my disappointment in the post-Season 3 Buffy seasons, I'm highly skeptical of the new comic book series.

Still, even thought I've been disappointed with Seasons 4 through 6, it's still pretty good TV compared to much of the crap out there.

Wooooo! A new Guitar Hero game for PS2 is coming this summer. :D

Until today, I had no idea that Disney's the Black Cauldron was based on a series of children's novels, The Chronicles of Prydain. I know they're a bit low for my reading level, but now I'm curious enough to read these. I'll have to see if I can find copies of the books.

I should probably be writing about the new puppy here, but pictures will be more appropriate (expect one or two later today).

Instead, I'm going to mention that Sean (my brother) and I got somewhat reacquainted with Magic: The Gathering on Saturday night while the rest of the people at Jacquie's parents' place played a card game called Pass The Ace.

Several months back, I bought a couple of pre-made decks and a two-player starter kit for M:tG, but I haven't got any use out of them. At least the starter kit has now gotten some use. We played four games of Magic before the evening ended. Afterwards, Sean mentioned that he'd be okay getting back into the game as long as we didn't get heavily into the collecting aspect.

That's just fine with me. I don't think Magic is a bad game. It can actually be a lot of fun (especially now that the rules are much clearer than when we played -- way back during the Revised Edition). Besides the rule ambiguities in the earlier editions of Magic, what made it a pain in the ass was the collectable nature. It seemed like every player was trying to one-up their opponents with purchases of hundreds of booster packs and singles. I seem to recall some of the guys I played Magic with in high school went so far as to drop upwards of $20 or $30 on a single card (a waste of money, if you ask me).

So yeah, I might be finally getting some more use out of my Magic cards. Now the trick will be keeping the collectable nature out of it.

The weekend was so busy that I barely felt like I had a weekend. Jacquie and I had dinner with my parents and my brother on Friday night, then dinner at her parents' place on Saturday. Sunday was a road trip to Woodstock and London, where we visited with my grandmother and adopted a new puppy.

Yeah, that's right. Loki now has a little sister -- a Dachshund.

Happy Whacking Day, everybody!

Okay, this is geeky, but I'm used to the nerd comments I get by now: Shrinky Dinks for inkjet printers.

With the Star Wars campaign not doing so well, my gaming group has booked March 27th for a session of Capes. I've been hearing of this game for a long time now, and after Logan gave it a try at Pandemonium, I've been itching to try it myself -- especially since it doesn't require a GM, thereby giving me a chance to actually play.

I printed up a bunch of Click and Lock modules from the Capes Website yesterday and then started to cut them out. By the time I gave up last night, my hands were starting to turn into arthritic claws. That's a lot of cutting. I'm sure it'll be worth it, though. I'm actually quite excited to be doing this prep work. Most of that excitement comes from the knowledge that I'll actually be playing an RPG for once, but some of it also comes from knowing that we'll be trying out an RPG that's truly unique in how it approaches gameplay.

For my main superhero, I think I'm going to give some new life to a Mutants & Masterminds character I played a couple of years back. Dr. Strong was a pretty cool character who never got to live up to his full potential, so I'm going to convert him over to Capes.

To my players: I suggest coming up with an idea for a superhero you'd like to play and bringing the concept with you to the game session. You could use the Hearts & Souls concepts if they're still of interest to you.

To Rawl: Dude, you should do EMF again, and we can re-create his and Dr. Strong's superhero mall brawl. :D

Jacquie and I saw Spider-Man 3 on Sunday, and I've been thinking about how to comment on it. Unfortunately, everything I want to write about it would be ridden with spoilers, so I'll just put it this way: It's a disappointment. While it has some neat characters and some great action scenes, the plot and character motivations are a real let-down when compared to the first two.

I can't believe I'm still reading Loveless. This comic has been going nowhere fast since about the seventh issue. To put things in perspective, the nineteenth issue is due out at the end of May. Unless something big happens in that issue, it'll be an entire year of a whole lotta nothin'.

I should have taken this off my file list months ago. Bah!

Where does gamer stink come from, and why is it so pervasive? It doesn't matter which con you go to, there's gamer stink somewhere.

In Baycon's case, I know why it happened, but I was a little surprised it started happening so early. By lunch time, Rose from Bayshore was walking through the vendor hall spraying orange-scented de-odorizer. It had only been opened a couple of hours. Were the unwashed masses truly unwashed? Ick.

Granted, some of the rooms the con was using could have used some full-blast air conditioning, but seriously -- shower, people!

To be fair, the room that doubled as open gaming and Settlers of Catan tournament playing was somewhat warm. Besides the Settlers crowd, most of members of TABS had huddled themselves in a corner and were playing games together, so there were quite a few people in a room with little to no air conditioning. By the afternoon, it had become uncomfortably warm.

At this point, I'm sounding pretty negative about The Great Canadian Baycon this year, but I honestly had a good time. It wasn't as much fun as last year, but it was easy to quickly point out what bit of fun was missing -- the Looney Labs crew, which really helped to make the con for Logan and I last year.

While there were a few demos being run by publishers (as well as simple salesman propganda), many of the publishers' representatives seemed to be a bit lazy. Logan had to bug the guy from Paizo to set up and teach Mike Selinker's game that will be included in the Stonehenge box. I should note that the game itself was fun, and the Paizo guy did confirm that Andy Looney will be contributing a game to the expansion (so I'm definitely sold now).

The guy from Asmodee was probably the worst company rep I've ever seen. When I first walked up to the booth to find out more about Fire & Axe, he was busy chatting with a woman -- not about Fire & Axe, Cash'n Guns or even Mall of Horror. Nope, he was chatting about World of Warcraft (the MMORPG, not the board game). Logan and I stood there for ten minutes as I stared at the Fire & Axe board.

He didn't even acknowledge my presence. Instead of doing his job and promoting the products in front of him, he was too busy chatting up one of the few gamer chicks.

I finally gave up and walked away. It wasn't until later that I returned to the booth and finally got some information. However, I had to grill him with questions just to get the gist of how the game works.

Again, I say, he wasn't very good at his job. On the other hand, though, it doesn't sound like Fire & Axe is my kind of game.

Thankfully, the Fantasy Flight Games guys were more on the ball. They had quick and succinct answers to my questions, and they were quite happy to run Logan and I through an introductory scenario of Tide of Iron (another game that is kind of neat that I won't buy -- it's like ASL uber-light with plastic pieces). However, I know it will be shipping in July, and I know the Wings of War miniatures will be in retail stores around the end of May.

To the FFG demo guys: Thanks for knowing your shit.

Perhaps the highlight of the day was the Bayshore booth. I'm sure it was a lot smaller than the one they had last year, and the store was busily trying to offload a lot of RPG stock -- d20 crap in addition to more obscure and bizarre RPGs. Logan and I loaded up. We walked away with some cool-looking stuff -- that will probably never hit the table.

By 2:00, Logan and I had exhausted our list of things we really wanted to do. The next event that was of interest -- Limeys & Slimeys -- wasn't starting until 7:00. We had a choice -- amuse ourselves with the few light games I brought or leave. We chose the latter. We cruised out around 2:30 with some souvenir Baycon dice.

Despite my complaints, my overall Baycon experience was positive. I think a few more interesting events are needed. More publishers doing demos would also be nice. Air conditioning in the open gaming room is a must (neither of us could tolerate the mid-afternoon temperature, so even if we had been cool with amusing ourselves for a few hours, there wasn't any place comfortable enough to do so).

It's still more fun and better run than Pandemonium, at least. I'd make the trip again next year.

Show off your inner geek with silver-plated dice tumbler cufflinks -- with itty-bitty dice. Not even I'm geeky enough to buy these. ;)

The Great Canadian Baycon is finally here, and I'm getting a bit antsy. Last year was way too much fun, even if my Shadows Over Camelot game ended up not happening. Logan and I spent a good portion of the afternoon wandering the vendors hall and playing games in the Looney Labs booth. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping the Looneys will be in attendance again this year, but they're not listed on the Baycon site.

However, there are other vendor demos being run this year that I'm really looking forward to. Paizo is supposed to be running Stonehenge demos in the afternoon -- and that's one game I have on my geek radar right now.

As for scheduled events, I haven't spotted many of interest yet. If we're going to be staying late enough, I'll check out the Limeys & Slimeys 28mm pirate game, and I'll probably poke my head in to watch the Flames of War tournament for a few minutes. Outside of those events, the day will likely be all about demos, opening gaming and perusing the vendors' stalls in hopes of finding a good deal.

EDIT: D'oh! I didn't make it clear we're going to Baycon tomorrow -- not today. :P

You learn something new every day. Apparently Runequest has a race of anthropomorphic ducks. That's awesome!

But then again, I'm the type who loves the giant space hamsters in Spelljammer -- so maybe I'm sick in the head.