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Well, I certainly didn't expect this! An assassination attempt, perhaps, or an odd plague... perhaps a forced loan or a comet sighting, but not this! Thank you, Storey - and thank the rest of you who are making your presence known here.
(I still think this is Storey's way of sticking me with his tab in the bAAR, but...)
The great part of this award is that it won't be hard to find another deserving recipient... there's a lot of good writing being committed in AARland these days. When we can actually log on, I mean... no disrespect intended.
Well, in the famous words of what's-her-name. "This ain't my first time at the Rodeo!" So I thought I'd dredge up that old bio and reprint it, just for grins.
I’m older than most everyone around here, so if you want the biography, this could take a paragraph or two. Or twelve – I’m notoriously long-winded. I was born in Arkansas in 1956 in an educated and fairly liberal household. I was a complete loner as a child, immersing myself in books – I read Heinlein’s ‘Rocketship Galileo’ and ‘Have Spacesuit Will Travel’ and have never lost my taste for science fiction. One summer I read the Encyclopedia Britannica cover to cover… Arkansas is dull.
I began wargaming around 1972 with the Avalon Hill line – I remember the first publication of PanzerBlitz – and naval miniatures. Then my friends and I discovered SPI, who were publishing more than one game a year – it was heaven. I still have a large collection of classic board games but I play them seldom – I have a 20-pound tomcat who has no respect for ‘my’ space (yes, I sleep every night with a big, black hairy… puddy-tat).
Went to the University of Southern Mississippi on a music education degree, and spent the next 12 years directing high-school bands, mostly in Mississippi (Okolona, Hernando, Oxford among others – for the trivia buffs). I burned out in a major way in 1990.
Funny story – my first computer was an Apple II. I bought THE first printer ever offered for a personal computer, a Paper Tiger. I remember arguing with the dealer because I wanted extra memory installed on the computer – he promised me no program would EVER be written for a personal computer that needed more than 48k. You read that right.
I had great fun programming on the Apple and on the machine at Southern, which was very advanced for the day (Xerox Sigma 9). There were no CRT terminals for students, though – all terminals were thermal paper. Wrote a killer StarTrek program that was a ‘death-duel’ between the player’s ship and a randomly-designed alien. I still fondly remember having the game banned because more than 50% of all CPU time was being spent by people playing ‘Beast.’ Now, of course, everyone has a PC that far exceeds the Sigma 9 in speed, memory and power. My last programming project was an American Civil War naval combat game with map editor, ship libraries, etc., all in VBasic. I still play it.
Went back to Southern Miss for a programming degree in ’90 and wound up working for the Alabama River Corporation (huge wood pulp operation), programming for wood delivery and, later, accounting. (Wood delivery doesn’t sound very sexy but we were taking in 1000 semi-truck loads of wood a day, plus railcars and barges). Got very tired of living in the middle of nowhere. It’s time to go when you have pet names for all the pine trees along the road… time to go when they slash your health insurance but plant rose bushes around the waste-treatment ponds instead.
So I took some investment money and went into the nightclub business. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time, is all I can say. Mobile, Alabama was trying to revamp its abandoned downtown into an entertainment district. So we renovated a 150-year-old building into a multi-story dance club, spent WAY too much money. Ran that for three years, had a big farewell party (landlords got greedy). Bought a smaller cozier place with a big patio and ran it as a pub/dance club on weekends. Did a lot of ‘theme’ parties – like Neon, with a local artist doing fluorescent face-and-body painting, beach party with two tons of sand on the patio, Halloween with a working electric chair…<grin>. All of the theme party money went to charities, so it was all in a good cause.
Burned out again – bars down here never have to close and 6am can get really old – and sold the business in September of 2001. I’ve been in semi-retirement since (anyone need a programmer? I’ll move! Tonight!).
EU2, I came on by accident. I’ve always opted more toward strategic games, and I was a huge Civ2 player. Bought Civ3 and… it’s like kissing your dog; if you enjoy it, you feel slimy later. But one of the posters on the Apolyton board, Velocyrix, recommended EU2 as a game and as a community. Wow, was he right. I discovered the AAR area while exploring one day, latched onto Ariel’s “For God, The King and St George” – hope I remembered the name right – and knew I was home.
From my long months of skulking to early posting to first timid attempts at writing, you people have been terrific. I’ve worked in the bar industry the last 8 years – and taken high school bands to contests - so I know how hard it is to be polite, professional, supportive and constructive when creativity is on the line. You people are special.
Hey, my works are listed in the sig. Whether you end up liking them or not, you ought to try ‘em. As Isaac Asimov said, if I didn’t like my own stuff I’d write something else. Regardless of whose stuff you read, people, post something! If not every time, then at least sometimes! It really does mean a lot to the author.
Since that time I've gotten back into computers more-or-less, working for a company here in Mobile, Alabama - the Big Oyster. I'm currently working on my next Gazette article and trying to write more on the second HistoryPark AAR. The links are in the sig... Work and Railroad Tycoon have eaten up a lot of the time I used to spend writing, and the Gazette takes a lot of time and energy, too.
Thank you all again! (even Storey, whose bar tab is now bigger than the GNP of some third-world countries).
(I still think this is Storey's way of sticking me with his tab in the bAAR, but...)
The great part of this award is that it won't be hard to find another deserving recipient... there's a lot of good writing being committed in AARland these days. When we can actually log on, I mean... no disrespect intended.
Well, in the famous words of what's-her-name. "This ain't my first time at the Rodeo!" So I thought I'd dredge up that old bio and reprint it, just for grins.
I’m older than most everyone around here, so if you want the biography, this could take a paragraph or two. Or twelve – I’m notoriously long-winded. I was born in Arkansas in 1956 in an educated and fairly liberal household. I was a complete loner as a child, immersing myself in books – I read Heinlein’s ‘Rocketship Galileo’ and ‘Have Spacesuit Will Travel’ and have never lost my taste for science fiction. One summer I read the Encyclopedia Britannica cover to cover… Arkansas is dull.
I began wargaming around 1972 with the Avalon Hill line – I remember the first publication of PanzerBlitz – and naval miniatures. Then my friends and I discovered SPI, who were publishing more than one game a year – it was heaven. I still have a large collection of classic board games but I play them seldom – I have a 20-pound tomcat who has no respect for ‘my’ space (yes, I sleep every night with a big, black hairy… puddy-tat).
Went to the University of Southern Mississippi on a music education degree, and spent the next 12 years directing high-school bands, mostly in Mississippi (Okolona, Hernando, Oxford among others – for the trivia buffs). I burned out in a major way in 1990.
Funny story – my first computer was an Apple II. I bought THE first printer ever offered for a personal computer, a Paper Tiger. I remember arguing with the dealer because I wanted extra memory installed on the computer – he promised me no program would EVER be written for a personal computer that needed more than 48k. You read that right.
I had great fun programming on the Apple and on the machine at Southern, which was very advanced for the day (Xerox Sigma 9). There were no CRT terminals for students, though – all terminals were thermal paper. Wrote a killer StarTrek program that was a ‘death-duel’ between the player’s ship and a randomly-designed alien. I still fondly remember having the game banned because more than 50% of all CPU time was being spent by people playing ‘Beast.’ Now, of course, everyone has a PC that far exceeds the Sigma 9 in speed, memory and power. My last programming project was an American Civil War naval combat game with map editor, ship libraries, etc., all in VBasic. I still play it.
Went back to Southern Miss for a programming degree in ’90 and wound up working for the Alabama River Corporation (huge wood pulp operation), programming for wood delivery and, later, accounting. (Wood delivery doesn’t sound very sexy but we were taking in 1000 semi-truck loads of wood a day, plus railcars and barges). Got very tired of living in the middle of nowhere. It’s time to go when you have pet names for all the pine trees along the road… time to go when they slash your health insurance but plant rose bushes around the waste-treatment ponds instead.
So I took some investment money and went into the nightclub business. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time, is all I can say. Mobile, Alabama was trying to revamp its abandoned downtown into an entertainment district. So we renovated a 150-year-old building into a multi-story dance club, spent WAY too much money. Ran that for three years, had a big farewell party (landlords got greedy). Bought a smaller cozier place with a big patio and ran it as a pub/dance club on weekends. Did a lot of ‘theme’ parties – like Neon, with a local artist doing fluorescent face-and-body painting, beach party with two tons of sand on the patio, Halloween with a working electric chair…<grin>. All of the theme party money went to charities, so it was all in a good cause.
Burned out again – bars down here never have to close and 6am can get really old – and sold the business in September of 2001. I’ve been in semi-retirement since (anyone need a programmer? I’ll move! Tonight!).
EU2, I came on by accident. I’ve always opted more toward strategic games, and I was a huge Civ2 player. Bought Civ3 and… it’s like kissing your dog; if you enjoy it, you feel slimy later. But one of the posters on the Apolyton board, Velocyrix, recommended EU2 as a game and as a community. Wow, was he right. I discovered the AAR area while exploring one day, latched onto Ariel’s “For God, The King and St George” – hope I remembered the name right – and knew I was home.
From my long months of skulking to early posting to first timid attempts at writing, you people have been terrific. I’ve worked in the bar industry the last 8 years – and taken high school bands to contests - so I know how hard it is to be polite, professional, supportive and constructive when creativity is on the line. You people are special.
Hey, my works are listed in the sig. Whether you end up liking them or not, you ought to try ‘em. As Isaac Asimov said, if I didn’t like my own stuff I’d write something else. Regardless of whose stuff you read, people, post something! If not every time, then at least sometimes! It really does mean a lot to the author.
Since that time I've gotten back into computers more-or-less, working for a company here in Mobile, Alabama - the Big Oyster. I'm currently working on my next Gazette article and trying to write more on the second HistoryPark AAR. The links are in the sig... Work and Railroad Tycoon have eaten up a lot of the time I used to spend writing, and the Gazette takes a lot of time and energy, too.
Thank you all again! (even Storey, whose bar tab is now bigger than the GNP of some third-world countries).
Well done! Interesting (and looooooong .... I'm a young moronic foooool ) life you have there! (See I used have, not had! I'm not that evil after all! )
No seriously, whenever you start a new AAR be sure to let me know (It's a lot to read if all your AARs started in 2003 and before)...
Oh, and congratz
.... I'm a young moronic foooool ) life you have there! (See I used have, not had! I'm not that evil after all! )No seriously, whenever you start a new AAR be sure to let me know (It's a lot to read if all your AARs started in 2003 and before
)...Oh, and congratz
Once again, I thank you all for the honor. And now that the forum has opened again, I'm going to go do some more writing!
But first, as my final decree as Lord of Misrule, Merriment and Frivolity, I give you my choice for the dreaded and beloved honor of Writer of the Week.
From deep within the HoI forum, I summon forth... cthulhu!
But first, as my final decree as Lord of Misrule, Merriment and Frivolity, I give you my choice for the dreaded and beloved honor of Writer of the Week.
From deep within the HoI forum, I summon forth... cthulhu!
I hope you remembered to learn the Bind Cthulhu spell as well...
.. Er, anyway... Let me be the first to say Congratulations Cthulhu, as you are an excellent choice for writer of the week. Come on in and take a bow.
.. Er, anyway... Let me be the first to say Congratulations Cthulhu, as you are an excellent choice for writer of the week. Come on in and take a bow.
You weren't elected President, cthulhu, but I congratulate you nonetheless. I've enjoyed your stories and your quality of writing.
This is definitely an unexpected honor. Thank you everyone and many thanks to Director! Indeed, this offering is so outstanding, that Great Cthulhu
has decided to spare your lives…for now. (btw Machivellian, there is no bind spell powerful enough for a great old one at least according to the Call of Cthulhu rulebook)
I have been playing role playing games since 1983 and started with war games 8 – 9 years later (mainly Third Reich, World in Flames and Empires in Arms). The first and most popular role playing game my friends and I were playing was “Drakar & Demoner” (Dragons & Demons), a Swedish Sword & Sorcery game created by a small Swedish company called “Äventyrsspel” (Adventure Games). Paradox has its origin in that company and when I learned that they were developing Europa Universalis I immediately applied to be a beta tester and was accepted. I then registered on this very forum to discuss the game with the other beta testers and that is how I ended up spending so much time here. I have had the notion to write an AAR for quite some time but didn’t have the courage until last summer when I started working on my story about an alternate reality where France is ruled by the House of Bonaparte in the 1930s and cosmic evil lurks in the shadows. I was highly inspired by Yogi’s Fu Manchu AAR but I never intended more than a hint of a Mythos presence, but it was simply too much fun writing about the main villain in my story, Oliver Haddo and the dire forces his reckless acts have unleashed upon an unsuspecting world.
Thanks again, now I’ll start looking for a suitable WoW candidate for next week.
Indeed, this offering is so outstanding, that Great Cthulhu
(btw Machivellian, there is no bind spell powerful enough for a great old one at least according to the Call of Cthulhu rulebook)I have been playing role playing games since 1983 and started with war games 8 – 9 years later (mainly Third Reich, World in Flames and Empires in Arms). The first and most popular role playing game my friends and I were playing was “Drakar & Demoner” (Dragons & Demons), a Swedish Sword & Sorcery game created by a small Swedish company called “Äventyrsspel” (Adventure Games). Paradox has its origin in that company and when I learned that they were developing Europa Universalis I immediately applied to be a beta tester and was accepted. I then registered on this very forum to discuss the game with the other beta testers and that is how I ended up spending so much time here
. I have had the notion to write an AAR for quite some time but didn’t have the courage until last summer when I started working on my story about an alternate reality where France is ruled by the House of Bonaparte in the 1930s and cosmic evil lurks in the shadows. I was highly inspired by Yogi’s Fu Manchu AAR but I never intended more than a hint of a Mythos presence, but it was simply too much fun writing about the main villain in my story, Oliver Haddo and the dire forces his reckless acts have unleashed upon an unsuspecting world.Thanks again, now I’ll start looking for a suitable WoW candidate for next week.
1930s Imperial France and Lovecraftian mayhem? That sounds like a great combination... I better go and check it out then.
And congratulations on being the WritAAR of the Week!
And congratulations on being the WritAAR of the Week!
Congrats Cthulhu! Very well deserved!
I suppose now would be a bad time to invoke Hastur?
I suppose now would be a bad time to invoke Hastur?
Hastur... Who's Hast... Actually. I know all about the King in Yellow and I am am not going to be the one to say .. that which must not be spoken, again.
I just read your AAR and think it's great. This is an honor truly deserved. Keep up the good work!
Thanks again everyone!
Well, my reign of terror as WoW is coming to an end and it's time to pass the torch. I must say it has been really hard choosing a WritAAR of the Week, because there is so much talent out there.
In the end, I have chosen an excellent writer whose broad repertoire ranges from an AAR about invading Aliens to a most fascinating and well written story about a balkanized North America where the reader gets to follow the destiny of an independent California .
Congratulations on being WritAAR of the Week Sir Humphrey! Come on up and introduce yourself!
Well, my reign of terror as WoW is coming to an end and it's time to pass the torch. I must say it has been really hard choosing a WritAAR of the Week, because there is so much talent out there.
In the end, I have chosen an excellent writer whose broad repertoire ranges from an AAR about invading Aliens to a most fascinating and well written story about a balkanized North America where the reader gets to follow the destiny of an independent California .
Congratulations on being WritAAR of the Week Sir Humphrey! Come on up and introduce yourself!
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Congratulations good sir. I too am enjoying your current work detailing the utter collapse of the USA.
Congratulations Humphrey! This is a well deserved honour. Your Califnornia AAR is brilliant, good show sir.