The Eldritch Mr. Shiny's page

That's the 'Downer' guy, right? Gratz!

That's the one.

He was one of my favorite Paizo/3PP illustrators from back in the day. These days, he's some kind of big-shot graphic designer.

[T]hey're strong so you don't need many. Absinthe knocks me on my ass.

weak

At this rate, I'm going to start looking more like my old avatar than my current one.

A punk rock fable. Also a true story:

Once upon a time, in the far-off land of 2009, a band called The Andrea Doria was on tour, driving down the highway outside of Savannah, Georgia. Suddenly, the van lurched to a halt on the roadside, black smoke billowing from under the hood. The bass player, who was also a mechanic, deduced that a magician had made all of the engine oil disappear. The guitar player began dialing the venue to tell them that they were not going to make the gig. The singer attempted to flag down a car who could take them to a towing service. The drummer, who was the youngest of the bunch, began to panic. "What are we going to do? We're stranded a thousand miles from home, and our van is on fire," cried the drummer, "what are we going to do?" Shutting the hood of the van, the bass player turned to the drummer, laying a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Nothing," said the bass player. "We live here now."

So... I've been gone a while, and I apologize to those of you whose PbPs I'm in. I finally found a job after 7 months of looking, and it's been eating up most of my waking hours in some way or another. Hopefully, I'll be adjusted to the hours and physical labor soon, and will be back to regular posting.

Coheed & Cambria - "A Favor House Atlantic"
Coheed & Cambria - "Junesong Provision (acoustic demo)"
Coheed & Cambria - "Junesong Provision"
Chuck Ragan - "Fixin' To Die" (cover)
Chuck Ragan - "Ole Diesel"
Chuck Ragan and Austin Lucas - "Sun Or Snow"
Austin Lucas - "Somebody Loves You"
Austin Lucas - "Go West"
Austin Lucas - "Shoulders"
Austin Lucas - "Darlin"
Austin Lucas - "Dead Factories"
Theoretical Girls - "Computer Dating"
Dave Hause - "C'mon Kid"
Dave Hause - "Time Will Tell"
Brian Fallon - "The Blues, Mary"
Brian Fallon, featuring Chuck Ragan - "Goodnight Irene"
Buddy Holly - "You've Got Love" (cover)
Chromatics - "Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)" (cover)
Brown Sugar - "Total F~$&ing Garbage"
Lana Del Rey - "Queen of the Gas Station"
Hamell On Trial - "Go F~%~ Yourself/Choochtown"
Hamell On Trial - "Civil Disobedience"
Hamell On Trial - "Oughta Go Around"
Hamell On Trial - "In A Bar"
Hamell On Trial - "No Delays"

Gin Blossoms - "Cajun Song"
Gin Blossoms - "Lost Horizons"
Gin Blossoms - "Follow You Down (live)"
Gin Blossoms - "Hey Jealousy (live)"
Shakey Graves - "Bully's Lament"
Shakey Graves - "Word Of Mouth"
Shakey Graves - "Daisy Chains"
Shakey Graves - "Halloween"
Shakey Graves - "Good Police"
The Clancy Brothers, with Robbie O'Connell - "The Parting Glass" (traditional)
Liam Clancy - "The Parting Glass" (traditional)
The Stanley Brothers - "Amazing Grace" (traditional)
The Dopamines - "Public Domain"
Chevelle - "Still Running (Punisher mix)"
Chevelle - "The Clincher"
Mychael & Jeff Danna - "The Blood of Cuchulainn"
Tony Sly - "Dark Corner"
The Loved Ones - "The Bridge"
Jets to Brazil - "Morning New Disease"
Jets to Brazil - "You're Having The Time Of My Life"
Songs To Wear Pants To - "The Hole Behind Midnight"
Weird Al Yankovic - "Party in the CIA"
Weird Al Yankovic - "Skipper Dan"
Cro-Mags - "World Peace"
Murray Perahia - "Chopin's Etude no. 3 in E major, 'Tristesse'"

I'm afraid of answering the telephone and opening mail. Oh, and the doorbell. And emails. >.>

I know that feel. Big time.

My goal is to run four concurrent games of it.

That's terrifying.

Managed to pick up a few more spoons. Should be back to regular posting now that I'm not afraid to use the internet or leave the house.

Roommate quote of the day:

"Jon Snow... you don't know stuff."

Destination to be determined. I am hoping for Upstate NY or perhaps somewhere along Appalachia

Where in upstate NY?

** spoiler omitted **

Seconded. I used to work shift work for a general presence contractor at a paper mill, so I know the drill, and frankly, I miss it.

The Eldritch Mr. Shiny wrote:

Dude, I live in New York State. If I tried that, I would be filling out paperwork for the next 20 years before I could actually start the business, and after that, I would be taxed into oblivion.

You know what the answer is, right?

Move to Texas! :-D

Y'all know my stances on politics and religion. I'd get eaten alive in Texas.

Shai Hulud - "Linoleum" (cover)
Slowdive - "Silver Screen (demo)"
Slowdive - "When The Sun Hits"
Bad Astronaut - "These Days"
Bad Astronaut - "Single"
Bad Astronaut - "You Deserve This"
Stick and Poke - "Teeth On A String"
Stick and Poke - "Corpse Grindin' Woman" (cover)
Stick and Poke - "Wagon Wheel" (cover)
Stick and Poke - "Thanks, Bastards!" (cover)
Stick and Poke - "Sink, Florida, Sink" (cover)
Stick and Poke - "Set Ourselves Free" (cover)
Pulp - "Babies"
Elliott Smith - "Pitseleh"
The Stone Roses - "I Am The Resurrection"
The Human Expression - "Calm Me Down"
The Dubliners - "In The Rare Old Times"
Hot Water Music - "Mainline"
Jets to Brazil - "All Things Good And Nice"
Jets to Brazil - "One Summer Last Fall"
Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer - "The Mountain"
The Misfits, featuring Henry Rollins - "We Are 138 (live)"
A Perfect Circle - "Judith"
Pavement - "Stop Breathin'"
The Ruts - "In A Rut"

Dude, I live in New York State. If I tried that, I would be filling out paperwork for the next 20 years before I could actually start the business, and after that, I would be taxed into oblivion.

I would just like to have any job, shift or 9-5.

I know that feeling. I've been looking since March, and I'd kill for shift work.

sorry for DM PCing you for a moment, Mr. Shiny, but since you had already stated an action that was easy to carry through to the next round and I was going to just shove you all on a train anyways, I figured it wouldn't matter too much either way. :)

That's totally cool. Again, I apologize for joining the PbP and then barely posting at all. I promise things on my end will normalize themselves enough for me to post regularly in the very near future.

Why are there never enough spoons for anything?

The Eldritch Mr. Shiny wrote:

The Byrds' Greatest Hits

So, Mr. Shiny, do you have a favorite Byrds period? (Period, in this case, this being the mid-sixties, once every year and a half.)

Not really. I tend to like them at their jangliest, but I really haven't done my research. I got into them mainly because a bunch of bands I like (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Buzzy Girl Flynn, the Gin Blossoms, Bruce Springsteen, The Gaslight Anthem, etc.) were influenced a by them.

I like the fact that I basically have a celestial healer PC in Jess's PbP.

It only dawned on me today that that's basically what I created.

I 100% thought you did that on purpose.

The Eldritch Mr. Shiny wrote:

That moment when you're talking with a friend on Facebook, you quote Star Wars, they completely miss the reference, and you realize just how old you are in comparison.

Since the original Star Wars movies are from before you were born, this is not a function of age, but a reflection of the fact that you were exposed to movies that were already old by the time you watched them. You are still a youngun.

True, but the guy I was talking to was a toddler when the prequels came out.

The Byrds' Greatest Hits

The Eldritch Mr. Shiny wrote:

That moment when you're talking with a friend on Facebook, you quote Star Wars, they completely miss the reference, and you realize just how old you are in comparison.

Star Wars transcends age limitations. I think your friends are simply not as cool as you. :-)

Considering the fact that the dude in question is a 19-year-old Goth keyboard player, it's a possibility.

That moment when you're talking with a friend on Facebook, you quote Star Wars, they completely miss the reference, and you realize just how old you are in comparison.

The Eldritch Mr. Shiny wrote:

LeechBlock is the best Firefox add-on that an ADHD guy like me could ever have. Sorry, rotten severed hooker head on a tripod, I think I've found someone new.

What's it do?

It allows you to block certain websites during specified hours of the day so that you can more easily budget your time.

LeechBlock is the best Firefox add-on that an ADHD guy like me could ever have. Sorry, rotten severed hooker head on a tripod, I think I've found someone new.

Oh dear god.

True love.

Some people have cats that bring home dead mice. I have a roommate that brings home decapitated zombie hookers.

Apologies for the massive delay in posting. I've been dealing with some mental health issues, and haven't had quite enough spoons to manage posting.

In any case, conventions that I use in my posts:
- present tense
- internal thoughts in italics
- dialog in quotes
- game mechanics and GM questions in OOC text

The first 18 seconds of Pulp's song Babies, on a loop.

+1000

Dar Williams - "Calling the Moon"
Richard Shindell - "Calling the Moon" (cover)
Anais Mitchell - "Old Fashioned Hat"
Tom Waits - "Long Way Home"
Tom Waits - "Martha"
Daniel Romano - "She Was Everything To Me"
Deadmau5 - "There Might Be Caoffee"
Jets to Brazil - "Autumn Walker"
No Use For A Name - "Why Doesn't Anybody Like Me"
The Cure - "Boys Don't Cry"
The Cure - "Us Or Them"
Death Cab For Cutie - "Earth Angel" (cover)
Oranger - "Mr. Sandman" (cover)
A Flock of Seagulls - "Space Age Love Song"
Down By Law - "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" (cover)
The Murderburgers - "Unemployment, Here I Come"
The Murderburgers - "(I'll Always Be A) Bottomfeeder"
The Smiths - "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want"
Clayhill - "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" (cover)
Harley Poe - "Corpse Grindin' Man"
Shakey Graves - "Bully's Lament"
Shakey Graves - "Chinatown"
A Radio With Guts - "Kiss The Bottle" (cover)
The Nondenoms - "Punk Rock Girl" (cover)
NOFX - "Linoleum"

The big question is, do you wish to have Vitalia do anything that morning during hte lead up to the festival? Otherwise I can just have you in the large family group, ready to go.

I'm guessing she'd probably just be with the large group.

Shiny, do you want me to just throw you into the mix?

Sure, though I don't mean to cause trouble. I've been slightly swamped on my end (illustration CFH, plus a giant stack of job applications), though that should be done in the next day or so, which will free up more of my mental capacity for game stuff.

I've got a question not relevant to the current situation, but may come up later: battle aspergillum + acid: is this feasible?

I didn't step on your toes, did I? I think our characters will work well together and we usually do well in RP interactions.

Not at all. This party seems like it's going to fit together well. Though, I'm a bit stuck as to how I'm going to introduce my character.

Doubly weird since I've been playing variations on this character for a couple years now.

Hmmm... Treppa and I seem to have independently made somewhat similar characters...

The Eldritch Mr. Shiny wrote:

I will never understand women. Or alcohol. Especially not both together.

You've not watched much bog bang theory then? They seem to believe they have it figured out.

They are so f@@&ing wrong, it isn't even funny.

Mr. Shiny, I thought Vitalia had been mentioned as beling related to Tasnim, but now I'm not seeing that anywhere. Am I missing it on someone's sheet? As both of you have the "Child of the Crusade" campaign trait, you have to be related, even if distantly.

I didn't mention anything--I've been holding off on writing my character's back-story, since that's a big factor in this AP, and I wanted to get more information from you and the other players.

I will never understand women. Or alcohol. Especially not both together.

The Horrible Crowes - "Ladykiller"
The Horrible Crowes - "Behold The Hurricane"
Brand New - "Sowing Season (Yeah)"
Brand New - "Millstone"
Brand New - "Jesus Christ"
Brand New - "Degausser"
Brand New - "You Won't Know"
Brand New - "Not the Sun"
Brand New - "Handcuffs"
Gin Blossoms - "As Long As It Matters"
Gin Blossoms - "29"
Jawbreaker - "Ache"
Jawbreaker - "Condition Oakland"
Avail - "Taken"
Stereolab - "Ronco Symphony"
Yuck - "Middle Sea"
Roy Orbison - "Leah (live)"
Coffin Draggers - "Love Song"
Dr. Know - "The Bars (live)" (cover)
Thee Oh Sees - "Putrifiers II"
Thor's Hammer - "Love Enough"
Modest Mouse - "Dramamine"
Bad Religion - "Big Bang"
Dos Gringos - "Jeremiah Weed"
Dos Gringos - "I Wish I Had A Gun Just Like The A-10"

If I get picked, I think I'm going to do a LG human fighter.

Wealth: 5d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 2, 6, 3) = 21 x 10 = 210

Mind if I join the party, or are you guys full?

Wu-Tang Clan - "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'"
Wu-Tang Clan - "Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off)"
KOMPRESSOR and MC Frontalot - "Rappers We Crush"
KOMPRESSOR - "K IS FOR KOMPRESSOR"
Extortion - "Degenerate"
Pulp - "Babies"
Pulp - "Do You Remember The First Time?"
Pulp - "Disco 2000"
Jets to Brazil - "You're the One I Want"
Roy Orbison - "In Dreams"
Lisa Hannigan - "A Sail (live)"
Jawbreaker - "Boxcar"
Jawbreaker - "Seethruskin"
Jawbreaker - "Sister"
Jawbreaker - "Sister (reissue)"
Jawbreaker - "Sea Foam Green"
Jawbreaker - "First Step"
Jawbreaker - "Fantastic Planet"
Jawbreaker - "Kiss the Bottle"
Down To Nothing - "Unbreakable"
Chuck Ragan - "For Broken Ears"
Chuck Ragan - "Right As Rain"
Black Flag - "Damaged 1"
Black Flag - "I've Had It"
Black Flag - "American Waste"

Jess Door wrote:

The Minis Maniac wrote:

Ugh I so look forward and dread my subscriptions arriving this month. I get to see all the awesomeness, but I have a huge amount of study ahead as I will be running Wrath of the Righteous in the near future which means I must understand both Mythic, and the Adventure Path and supporting materials.

I want to like this post more than once.

I *really* want to run this. I think it owuld be awesome to run it as a paladin only thing. although maybe Paladins, Clerics and Inquisitors would be fun. Run it as a troop from a religious order. That would be soooo cool.

PbP? ;)

If so, I'd totally go for it.

Rawr.

Rowr.

Just to clarify: here in New England, all set has a rather nebulous meaning of "I'm ready to progress to the next step in my dining experience." If you're looking at the menu, it can mean you're ready to order, but if you hand your server a twenty for a fifteen dollar check, it's synonymous with "Keep the change."

The times there's been confusion (which, funny stories about Canada aside, hasn't really been very often) people have taken it to mean "I am done for the evening and will be leaving immediately."

Is other regional usage similar? Yes, we're talking about the regional nuance of the phrase "all set": I love you, OTD forum friends. :)

My usage definitely fits your first definition, though I'm not sure if I picked that up from my mother or from living in NY along the border with Vermont. I'm kind of a dialect sponge.

Problem is Shiny no option of going cold turkey with these meds. They affect my whole brain chemistry, it takes 3 months to adapt to them in the first place. Withdrawal symptoms include brain shivers (complete hell if you ever experienced them), crippling disorientation, day long nausea, day long dizziness, and this would likely happen for weeks after I stop taking them.

Sounds like when I stopped taking the amphetamines I was proscribed for ADHD a few years back. I was on them for four months, and the withdrawals lasted for about another month, over the span of which I lost about 25 pounds from lack of food. Probably not the best decision on my part.

New England, Customer Service, and "All Set"

Urban Dictionary

There seems to be some controversy around this issue and whether it really is a New England thing (Link 1, Link 2), but I have personally dined out with non-New Englanders who were confounded by this usage about a half-dozen times.

I would argue against it being exclusively a New England thing. I use the phrase, which I picked up from my mother, who is a Wisconsin native.