Thursday, January 26, 2006 -- 10:15:26 PM

My parents have been asking for years when they'd get to see Alas's parents in the strip. Here they are, and it's a brief cameo unrelated to the storyline for the coming months. Sorry for the abstraction-- sort of a Charlie Brown cop-out, I know.

Thursday, January 26, 2006 -- 08:16:18 AM

Correction: I just discovered that it is in fact possible for the humans to win in the large simulator, just improbable. After two days of playing with this thing, I won for the first time ever just a moment ago. At the bell, the 7k+ humans had capped seven zombies, and without losing a single military guy (blue dot) to boot! Hurrah for the armed forces!

Thursday, January 26, 2006 -- 08:01:33 AM

I've discovered a neat little zombie infection simulator, and a larger simulator that keeps better score (and also allows the poor humans to use guns). These simulators are essentially particle-life programs, where each dot operates independently according to a set of behaviors. Zombies move slowly and cause infection, humans zip around quickly and panic. The zombies always win in these simulators; the population of the cities is always finite, and there's no cavalry a-comin'. What stunned me is how the programs made me empathize with dots, just by saying, "This red dot is a human. Watch him run! And now... oh, oops! It's green. Zombie!" Watching the infection spread, trapping simulated people in simulated little alleyways... it's George Romero at the touch of a key.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006 -- 09:37:55 PM

The strip for today is finally finished. I wasted even more time watching The Last Starfighter on DVD (a recent gift from a friend). Well, it wasn't so much wasted as redundant, since I know the script for that movie by heart.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006 -- 10:41:02 PM

The current strip is just a rough sketch-- I was in a hurry last night. Torrential rain, friends visiting from Istanbul, a sighting of Ben Andrews... I did get a chance to draw a strip; I just didn't get a chance to do all the necessary touch-ups. I'll do that later tonight. It'll be pretty, I swear.

Monday, January 23, 2006 -- 07:47:07 AM

I may have seen a large spider in my house this morning, but as I didn't have my glasses on I may have misidentified a less welcome guest. Even if it was a spider, that means there's multiple somethings-else sufficient to sustain it. A robust ecosystem, right under my floorboards. Nuts.

Friday, January 20, 2006 -- 08:44:29 AM

I've discovered that it is easier to drink an entire pot of coffee by myself if I brace for the impact with several doughnuts first.

Friday, January 20, 2006 -- 08:10:38 AM

I've been listening to The Hollies and The Animals a lot lately-- find me a modern singer who shouts like Eric Burdon did, and I'll buy it. The new Underworld sequel is opening this weekend-- why, Kate Beckinsdale, why? Maybe it was so she could say she's been in a movie with Derek Jacobi. But, why, Derek Jacobi, why?

In my younger, V:tM roleplaying days I would have been thrilled at the release of a movie like this. I still would have recognized it as a bad movie, but it would be a bad movie I and my coterie of Honors Floor vampires could enjoy. Now I just wonder, "Where's the innovation? Where's the bloodsucker flick I couldn't have written myself with the aid of some Mark Rein-Hagen sourcebooks?" The answers are obscure indeed.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006 -- 07:28:21 AM

Yesterday's numbing cold has been broken this morning by torrential rains. I watched it through the window of a Metro train while I listed to Come This Far by Cranes. Tunnels, darkness, rain, flickering lights, and Alision Shaw crooning on-- pretty much an ideal goth morning.

Sunday, January 15, 2006 -- 01:30:54 PM

I get to play in an RPG today. Haven't done that in a year and a half. Specifically, I get to play in a White Wolf game, and I haven't done that in four years. And when I did, I was in charge of the game. It'll be odd taking the passenger seat in a Storyteller game for once.

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