I’ve been playing a ridiculous amount of World of Warcraft lately. I’m sure if a cyber-cop pulled me over on the Information Superhighway and gave me a virtual breathalyzer test I’d be several points over the legal WoW limit. Why am I so captivated? What is it about this game that’s got me wondering if I need to join a 12-step program? My troll fighter Gorbirian, who enjoys knocking back and fishing when the mood strikes him. Is it the Immersion? Have I begun to slip heedlessly into a fantasy wo...
Mar 06, 2011
I was going through the contents of an old disk and stumbled across some answering machine messages that I’d recorded and done some audio editing on back in the 90’s – sort of an early example of me playing around with audio from some of the earlier strata of my life. And I thought it would be amusing to play them for you. I’ve got two answering machine messages. The first one used samples from Young Frankenstein and the second used samples from Return of the Jedi . And I know I have a couple of...
Nov 07, 2010
(The audio of this interview is available at the bottom of this post!) When I went to ConCarolinas this year I got a chance to sit down and talk to Joel Kinstle, VP of Pinnacle Entertainment Group , the makers of Deadlands and Savage Worlds . The interview was for one of the shows I do on War Pig Radio and we talked mostly about the Savage Worlds Showdown rules – and tapioca ! Here’s the interview in full. JR: I’m here at ConCarolinas and I’m talking to Joel Kinstle, who is Vice President of Pin...
Sep 01, 2010
I think I’ve just figured out why Doctor Who is so important to me these days. I know, it’s shocking – a geek like myself being a fan of Doctor Who . I’ve been one since I was about seven years old. I’d been hearing for years about that odd, British, science fiction show about a dimensionally transcendent police box and a guy who can travel in time and change his appearance, and at that time I’d never been interested enough to look at it. But then, one day back in the early 1980’s, I happened to...
Jul 22, 2010
Hey, folks! Just wanted to let you know about a few things of mine that are seeing the light of day. A couple of my monologues were recently published in Main Street Rag , which is a local magazine. It’s the first time any of my monologues have seen print and I am very excited about that! Also, the From the Dark Side anthology has just come out. It’s a charity anthology benefiting Letters and Light – that’s the organization involved with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). So if you’re int...
Jul 11, 2010
(The audio of this interview is available at the bottom of this post!) JR: Welcome to jimyesthatjim.com, the blog that continues to exist in spite of itself. For those who are listening or reading this I am online with Jennifer Hudock, who is the author of Goblin Market . The thing that I find most interesting actually that I wanted to just sort of address first is that you are a full-time writer, and that is something that is incredibly impressive to someone like me. And, I just was wondering, ...
May 14, 2010
I’m about to get into a topic that might tick a few folks off. You see, this is going to be about something that is fairly commonly done on the internet (in fact, a number of my friends do it) but that I’m not too fond of myself. Just know that if you happen to be one of those folks who follow this practice, I’m not meaning to single you out or hurt your feelings. I also don’t think any less of you as a person. But yes, this IS about you. I’m talking about taking a picture of yourself and anothe...
Apr 23, 2010
It’s time for everyone’s favorite game show, Living or Dead?! Here’s how the rules work: I’m going to name some celebrities and it’s up to you to tell me if they’re still living or if they’re dead! Ready? Here we go! Rodney Dangerfield (Answer: Dead. Though he may still be moving around a bit.) Andy Rooney picture courtesy of Stephenson Brown (Answer: Living. Despite everyone’s best efforts. The man is still putting out content, though, so I have to give him props for that.) Frank Sinatra (Answe...
Mar 31, 2010
So, you might have noticed that I haven’t posted an entry in a little while. Don’t worry, folks. I still love you. I am not seeing other blogs behind your backs. But unfortunately I got buried under what I can only characterize as a Mountain of Year-End Work. And so, some of my ongoing projects got pushed back a little bit. Doing more entries for the blog got pushed back a bit. The Great Debate! got pushed back a bit. The other things that I do for War Pig also got pushed back a bit, unfortunate...
Dec 27, 2009
Here’s a little suggestion I have for writers of fantasy and horror: fairies should be terrifying. They are not your friends. They will not whisk you away to a wondrous magical land where you’ll never grow old and you can play happily in golden fields and under the lollipop trees for eternity. What they’re more likely to do is snatch you away to a horrifying, twisted nightmare realm where the flow of time and the continuity of space are utterly subjective. There’s been a trend lately, you see, t...
Dec 05, 2009
What with Christmahannukwanzaayuladanivus coming up, people have begun scrambling about like ants in a recently-stomped sandbox searching for original-looking gifts to buy. As it happens, I have a suggestion on that front. Not too long ago I got the opportunity to try out a very interesting game called Mad Scientist University. It’s been available from Atlas Games for a couple of years now, but with the influx of independent card games we’ve been seeing lately, many folks might have lost it in t...
Dec 01, 2009
I discovered the board game Talisman back in the 90’s, when it was just coming out with its 3rd edition. I had a bunch of friends – henceforth known as “pushers” – who initiated me into the ways of that game with its 2nd edition. We only played once or twice but that was enough to engender a deep and sometimes disturbing addiction. I eventually got a hold of the 3rd Edition of Talisman, which most of my friends had never seen before. It wasn’t long before we were having regular games of it over ...
Nov 20, 2009
(The audio of this interview is available at the bottom of this post!) JR: Welcome to the experience that is Jim – Yes, THAT Jim, the blog that is constantly stumbling over itself trying to figure out what it is. JCH: I’m just glad I actually know who “that Jim” actually is now! JR: I’m still figuring it out, really! (laughs) So, first off, I guess for anyone who might not be fully familiar, tell us a bit about the whole 7th Son thing. JCH: Sure! I started writing 7th Son way back in 2002. I beg...
Nov 11, 2009
Howdy, partners. I expect some of y’all are curious about the art o’ Personal Brandin’. Step on up to the fire-pit and grab a hot iron, if you think you’re ready. It takes a brave one to do it, but once everybody sees that there emblem on you, the folks’ll flock to you like a flight o’ rabid condors! It’ll only be a few seconds before you pass out from the pain, so come on! Who’s first? Okay, okay, tempted as I am to finish this whole article in character, I’ll drop the accent and get a tad more...
Nov 05, 2009
Hey, folks! Just in case anyone might still be wondering, no, I was NOT really hacked! That last blog entry was a promo. So, no need to worry about that! Just wanted to record a quick update and let you know that I shall be conspicuously absent for the next few days because I am going to ICC. What’s ICC? Why, the International Camarilla Conclave ! (Or, in layman’s terms, “the big meeting of all of the people who are in that pretending-to-be-vampires club that I’m in.”) So, I’m afraid no new jour...
Oct 29, 2009
Something has been seriously bugging me lately. I’m not sure how long this has been going on, but have you noticed something peculiar that’s started to happen when they stick an animated character into a film? I thought I was imagining it at first, but after the most recent batch of summer blockbusters, I realized I was seeing the same thing over and over. It hasn’t been very noticeable but I’m pretty sure I’ve finally worked out what’s actually going on. Here’s the deal. >>> [ WARNING ...
Oct 27, 2009
So, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last month or so I’m sure you heard that Disney purchased Marvel Comics. For the most part this doesn’t bother me too much. These kinds of things happen all the time. I understand that Disney has many departments and isn’t necessarily the evil empire a lot of folks make it out to be. I realize they’ve been taking a hands-off approach to a lot of things and will likely do so with Marvel for the most part (maybe getting more involved with the Marv...
Oct 23, 2009
Here’s a question that comes up from time to time when I’m playing role-playing games. Is it better for your character to have a mechanical advantage on its character sheet or to have a non-mechanical advantage gained through role-playing with NPCs and interacting with the plot? I realize that with a question of that level of complexity the immediate reaction is probably, “Wha… huh?” So, let’s break this down and analyze it a bit. There are a couple of types of gamers that personify the extreme ...
Oct 19, 2009
Whenever I talk about my own thought process, I feel as though I’m about to attempt an impossible task. After all, it’s not possible to talk about what a maze looks like from the outside when you’ve never been outside the maze, is it? It’s like trying to see the top of your own head – without the aid of mirrors. Nevertheless, let’s give it a shot. I have a little issue with getting tasks done. “But Jim,” I hear someone saying, “you’re writing an article for your blog right now, aren’t you? Isn’t...
Oct 12, 2009
Do you do a lot of texting? E-mailing? Tweeting? Facebooking? Livejournaling? Other web-related things? I do a fair amount of all that and more and I freely admit that I make use of emoticons. You know, those little symbols people make out of their keystrokes to show that they’re smiling :), winking ;), frowning or that they’re Abraham Lincoln ==):-)= or Cthulhu (:€. I’ve noticed that for the most part people tend to be divided into two camps over the use of emoticons. Either they love them or t...
Oct 08, 2009
The amount of vitriol being spewed all over the place over the most recent edition wars going on with Dungeons & Dragons – even more than a year after 4th Edition’s premier – is mind-boggling, but I try not to let it affect me. I’ve heard a lot of people say, “4th Edition ISN’T Dungeons & Dragons!” I kind of find this analogous to saying “The current Volkswagen Beetle ISN’T a Volkswagen Beetle!” But what exactly does it mean? My basic assumption is that they’re saying the new version doe...
Oct 05, 2009
Okay, I know it’s been about a month since Dragon*Con, but I figured that since I actually DID get to go this year, it would be a good idea to talk about it. Back when I was living in Atlanta, Dragon*Con was something that I always tried to attend every year without fail. To be fair, it was pretty much the law that if you were a geek and a resident of Georgia, you were required to attend or suffer the loss of your Geek Membership Card, but I enjoyed it anyway. I would get insanely excited about ...
Oct 01, 2009
Hello, my name is Jim and I’m a podaholic. “Hi, Jim!” I’ve been addicted to podcasts since some time in 2008. I’m not sure exactly when I started. It’s all become a kind of blur, really. I still remember that fateful day when that guy on the street corner waved an iPod at me and offered the first hit for free. “Come on, you know you want to. Everybody’s doing it.” And from the moment I first plugged that rich, direct podcast feed into my veins, I started a horrifying downward spiral from which t...
Sep 28, 2009
“There’s a large group of people in the park all wearing black. They must be dangerous!” No, we’re not. We’re just playing a game. Thankfully, the stigma associated with live-action role playing looks to have diminished a bit over the years. I play in a Vampire: the Requiem LARP with about thirty to fifty people every other weekend and I can tell as new people keep coming in that our player base is becoming much more diverse. Which is a really good thing. But not everyone has decided to embrace ...
Sep 25, 2009
A very good question! Don’t I already have TWO other blogs and a couple of podcasts to do? It’s not as though I’m exactly overflowing with free time. And why on Earth should I want to add a new blog to the millions already out there — surely it’ll have even less impact than pouring a thimbleful of water into the Atlantic Ocean! Hey, I’ve got my reasons. Here are a few of them: 1. Personal Branding. No, I’m not talking about scouring my flesh with a heated, iron emblem. I mean that as my various ...
Sep 22, 2009
