Another Father's Day in the Books

Howdy All!

So, a large part of last Sunday was spent fighting with Windows 10, trying to network mine and SLC's pc so we could play Minecraft over a LAN. I finally ended up admitting defeat a Minecraft Realms account so that we can play together.

Besides, that, there was also the ongoing struggle of getting the child up in the morning for activities, and balancing work with home life. The family unit also watched a lot of Hermitcraft and Obscutiy in Miniatures videos.

SLC had her first swim meet of the season. She beat most of her seed times, but was unable to take first in any events against Glen Eagles. Maybe if I can get her up in time for more practices.

I missed my DGM paint club on Tuesday, but made up for it painting Friday and Sturday.

Today sees me starting a new Deadzone project. Converting a Sphyr Dreadball team into a Deadzone strike team, using bits from Kromlech and Victoria miniatures.

But for now, SLC needs help with some pillagers

Memorial Day

Hey Y'all. Hope you are staying safe.

My previous weekend started with turmoil in my professional life and kind of threw last Sunday and a large part of the week off.

We adopted a dog named Rowdy, and he is living up to his name

I did manage to get my game of KOW: Vanguard in and got my butt kicked, but it was still fun.

YouTubers, WeightofFire, BlackJackLegacy, ClashofTheDice and MidWinterMinis further inspired my painting efforts. I was planning on having a post of my progression, but as I mentioned, things were a little unsettled.

Friday, we had a small neighborhood gathering for an out door concert. Not our normal Memorial Day shindig, but it was nice to get out of the house and enjoy our community.

Saturday saw me finally finish up my Deadzone Marauders and play Weight of Fire's new Covid scenario. Only got a draw. It gives me a purpose and mission though. A goal to do the mission with all of the factions.....

How are you and your family staying safe, but still celebrating Memorial Day? Take a minute and reflect on the 100k Americans that have lost their lives to COVID19.

Stay safe, stay healthy.

Is it Paranoia if it is True?

Hey Y'all

This past week has seen me following my usual routine.  Awaken, coffee & breakfast, catch the morning news and work. After work was followed by walks, virtual gaming, work on my virtual Vanguard campaign and lots of Hermitcraft with the fam.
 ( Goodtimeswithscar; Grian; Mumbo Jumbo)

But I noticed one glaring difference. Whereas the local news had been starting with updates on local Covid19 cases, they now seem to be omitting the info entirely. I know, from some other sites, that the Dallas County numbers are still trending upwards, so I found this lack of information disconcerting.

Maybe they realized everyone is tired of hearing about our shared misery, or maybe because the country has been ordered to reopen, it was something a bit more... ignorant? sinister? idiotic? Not sure of the way to best describe the motivations. Balancing Public Health versus Economic Health is certainly a tricky balance, but I feel we have swung the door open too fast. I was reminded of reports at the beginning of our trials, comparing Covid19 to the Spanish Influenza outbreak of last Millennia, and quickly found this piece:

According to [historian John] Barry, “Wilson created what was called the Committee for Public Information. The architect of that committee said, 'Truth and falsehood are arbitrary terms. The force of an idea lies in its inspirational value. It matters very little if it is true or false.'"

"In the United States, you had national public health leaders saying such things as ‘This is ordinary influenza by another name.’ At the local level the same kind of thing was occurring. With deadly consequences. ... No more so than in Philadelphia, which went ahead with a huge war bond parade in the fall of 1918 when the virus was at its most virulent. Newspapers killed stories quoting the medical community saying don’t do it. 

-- Excerpt from: Dayhoff: Government censorship made the 1918 Spanish flu even worse -- Carroll County Times, March 20, 2020

 Fake News anyone? Or is it just me that finds this parallels the thinking of our current administration?

But what really struck me, was on Saturday, a YouTube clip from NBC News popped up in our stream about Governor Coumo's press conference. (this video now seems to now have been edited to remove said intro). The video opened with pictures of different states and their case numbers and deaths. With the exception of California, all other states included the tagline "no new cases reported today"

Whoo Hoo! The crisis is over, we can all go out into the streets and celebrate with a mass parade and mosh pit at the end! Right?

And then the press conference started ... Governor Cuomo reporting numbers of new cases have dropped some, but still around 500 a day and then the bad news about the children. Most of my  friends are not so gullible as to think our situation is close to being over. And from what I saw in the grocery store yesterday, 90% of my mask wearing neighbors appear to agree.

Time will tell if censoring the information helps the Covid19 monster more or America's economic health more. After all, it's been over 100 years since the Spanish Influenza, and information seems to be just coming to light; like maybe it should have been called the "Kansas Flu". An interesting history (found here) and makes me wonder (paraphrasing Santayana here) if those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it

What to do to stay sane?

"Countin' flowers on the wall

That don't bother me at all

Playin' solitaire till dawn with a deck of fifty-one

Smokin' cigarettes and watchin' Captain Kangaroo

Now don't tell me I've nothin' to do"

-- Lewis Dewitt  "Counting Flowers on the Wall"-1965

Hey Y'all,
My family went into lockdown around the 3rd week of March. At first it was a nice break from our routine. But the novelty of not having extracurricular activities for my daughter, or being able to hang out at the game store, book store  or coffee shop began to take it's toll.

We played some epic boardgames on the weekends, like Massive Darkness and Core Space, or together on our Playstation. We also played individually on our PCs or smart phones and read books,  but that outside interaction was still missing...

My wife and I are fortunate to be considered essential and to have ability to work from home, otherwise our frustrations could have been a lot worse. Prior to the pandemic, I had started exploring the world of Twitch (as a viewer, not a caster) and that provided me other options. I began to paint more of my dolls, finding many useful tips and inspirations, as well as finding other sources of amusement.

I was approached by some friends about playing boardgames on line, using Tabletop Simulator, Vassal and similar platforms, but I miss the personal interactions of playing in person, so I demurred. My wife did take the opportunity to play some of the party games with some of our distant friends.

One of my friends hit upon reviving a blast from the past. Back before the internet, there was "play-by-mail" which upgraded to "play-by-email", in which players each have a copy of the game set up in their domicile and email their turns to each other. But, my friends and I wanted to play mini games, so we began to incorporate our smart phones and PCs.

One friend, would set up the table and the rest of us would draw up our forces from the sizeable pool he has available. The game proceeds using Google Hangouts joint video call and the host moving the dolls on the table. It's awesome!

This has led to many other video chat options, where groups of us can virtually meet up and paint dolls, game or just chat. Plus, it has the added bonus of giving me the opportunity to connect with remote friends on a more regular basis. 

Obviously, I am grateful for those people still working to keep us from falling into barbarity. People like restaurant workers, delivery people, postal employees, grocers, healthcare workers, law enforcement and newscasters, but I would like to give a shout out to those entertainers that have contributed to me maintaining my sanity during these troubling times:

YouTube

Lukes Aps

Mantic Games

Obscurities in Miniature

OnTableTop

Sword 'n' Steele

Weight of Fire

Twitch

artof MikeDisney

EenieMinis 

GigglingGeekette

Mocha_Minis

ReaperMiniatures

skydaddi

Stay healthy, stay safe, stay home

What keeps you sane?

Support your FLGS

Sword n Steele Canadian shop

Many businesses are struggling through this stressful time. Glad to see this one finding  a creative solution