Kiss Candies, Hallowe'en in Winnipeg

 IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIIIIIIIIME OF THE YEEEEAAAARRRRR!

I loved Hallowe'en as a kid.  I mean, when else can you get free candy without resorting to petty theft or being enticed into a stranger's van?  Never, that's when... and nothing says Hallowe'en to me quite like Kiss Candies!

 

You know what I mean... the orange-wrappered molasses candy everyone seems to hate.  Kiss Candies are my fondest memory of Hallowe'en.  They were the first thing I ate once all the little chocolate bars were gone, well before I dug into the suckers and weird European candies the people down the block gave out.

Seriously, I loved these things.  I used to squeeze a handful of them together and roll 'em into a big ball of molasses flavoured death, then take a huge bite out of the thing.  I found it was a great way to free loose baby teeth, second only to Mackintosh Toffee!

I really don't understand the hatred people hold for Kiss Candies.  If you're one of those godless heathens folks, I'm curious to know why you hate them so much.  Feel free to let me know in the comments (you'll need a Google account to do so).

Musical Interlude: Runaway

 I love Ladytron.  Heard Seventeen on Frequence Banane fifteen years ago and have been hooked ever since.

I was originally going to post a video of their song Deep Blue (one of my favourites), until I heard it was used as the theme song for some shitty show based on a comic book.  Thus Runaway, my second favourite song off their album, Velocifero, is our interlude today.

Enjoy!

Mira (the lady not singing in the video) is my favourite band member.

Subscription Box of the Month Club

 

I really have to stop educating the young 'uns.

We were bantering as usual, and someone brought up this new Subscription Box they'd, er, subscribed to.  Everyone gushed how it was such a cool, novel, innovative new idea.  Imagine, choosing a theme and getting random crap delivered to your home every month!  Imported and specially curated crap from around the world!

Being a bit of a jerk, and thus the (self-)designated bubble-burster, I told the assembled company that the "Subscription Box" was not a new idea.  Back when I was a kid in the late 70s/early 80s, we called them "of the Month Clubs", and it was an old idea even then.  The venerable Book of the Month Club, for example, began in 1926.  There may be older of the Month clubs, however I can't be bothered to research any further than I have... I'm a jerk, not an anti-vaxxer.

I never joined the Book of the Month club myself, although I was a member of Columbia House for a few years, and received music cassettes (and later, CDs) in the mail every month.  It was a positive experience for the most part, and I was exposed to music I wouldn't have otherwise heard... especially when I forgot to mail in my reply card to opt out of their curated monthly selection in favour of another tape or CD I did want...

 The first nine were only a penny, then they jacked up the price!

 

There were several, probably dozens of of the Month Clubs over the years, such as the Jelly of the Month Club, Wine of the Month Club, Assassination of the Month Club, Fruit of the Month Club, and so forth.

So, anyway, once the bubble was burst and they learned how often ideas and concepts are revived and given gritty reboots (how many fucking Batman or Spider-man movies do we need?!), I figured my job was done and smugly went back to my office to watch Russian car accidents on Youtube.

As one does.

Speaking of revivals and reboots, I'm not the first to riff on this concept.  Mad Magazine poked fun at of the Month Clubs way back in 1958, in Issue #40, an article I remember well from my collection of Mad paperbacks.

I could go on but, mercifully, I won't.  I have to finish queueing up the Musical Interludes for the rest of the year, then get back to work planning our GURPS Action: Autoduel! test session this weekend.

CJ's Note:  The preceding post was a revival in and of itself, a throwback to my old personality and posting style.  Don't worry, it's not going to stick around.  Just needed to have a little fun.

 

[RPGs] GURPS Action 6: Tricked-Out Rides Released

FINALLY!

GURPS Action 6: Tricked-Out Rides has been released to the general public!  It was originally one of the PDFs offered in last year's 2020 GURPS PDF Challenge Kickstarter, and then offered as an add-on for subsequent GURPS Kickstarters.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to contribute to any of the Kickstarters, and so I had to wait until today to get my grubby little paws on it.

 

Image copyright Steve Jackson Games

I'll happily take it down if SJG asks

 This is pretty important to me, as it gives me a cheap way to introduce GURPS to my Car Wars buddies.  Granted, the supplement is designed to add a bit of flavour to GURPS Action car chases and not meant to be an update of GURPS Autoduel to 4th Edition rules... but a bit of tweaking on my part and it'll be the next best thing.

Pretty excited about this!

 

I did find it odd, though, that the other ten PDFs from the 2020 Kickstarter were not also released.  Perhaps the release of GURPS Action 6 was meant to coincide with the newest edition of Car Wars that was also recently released..?  Hmmm...

CJ's note: Look at that, two updates on the same day!

 

 

Musical Interlude: Boulevard of Broken Dreams

I've often said that my martini years were an interesting time in my life.  My favourite cocktail turned my life upside down and took me down the dark, despicable paths of lounge music, Mid-Century Modern (and Space Age) decor, and led me to buy what can only be described as the most God-forsaken credenza known to man.

But it also turned me on to Esquivel, so that's something.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, here is Juan Garcia Esquivel and Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

 

Not that shitty Green Day song

 

 

 

Musical Interlude: Cop Out

One of my favourite musicians of all time, Richard H Kirk of Cabaret Voltaire, passed away last week.

I was devastated.  It's not often I legitimately mourn a musician's passing, even one I liked.  In RHK's case, I have good reason... his music, one song in particular, literally changed the direction of my life.

That song was Cop Out, from the album Hoodoo Talk, a collaboration with poet Peter Hope.

I'd hated the song at first, from its screechy, out-of-tune intro, to Hope's oddly intoned lyrical delivery (you can't call it singing).  It was off-putting.  The lyrics were weird.  It was too long.

But it grew on me.

Then I got it.

This song triggered a long period of self-reflection and, well, I won't get into the rest.  If you've been following my blog, my old website, or my local forum posts, you'll already know and have cringed.

I won't say more.

Thank you, Richard.

 

... I hung that love up in a tree and span it 'round...

 

 

 

[RPGs] GURPS Fantasy Folk: Elves Released

September's sole GURPS release, GURPS Fantasy Folk: Elves, came down the pipe today.

 

 Image copyright Steve Jackson Games

 

I wasn't overly excited for this release, to be honest, as I don't play in (or run) GURPS Fantasy or Dungeon Fantasy games very often... and when I do, it's rare for elves to feature prominently.

Despite my lack of excitement, I spent the $7.98 ($6 USD) on the PDF.

I'm glad I did, I enjoyed it immensely. 

 

I won't write a full review, but I will say it's a very well written book that gives a great overview of Elven culture and history, and amalgamates the many Elf character templates from many different GURPS books (adding a few new ones for good measure).

This was the first title in the Fantasy Folk series for GURPS Fourth Edition, and I can't wait to see what's coming next.

 

 

This Year's Year-End Roundup is Available for Curbside Pickup Only

Well, that was fun.

I usually do a year-end roundup this time of year, but I'm not doing so this year.  I could write about how much this year sucked, but I won't.

I don't have to.  You lived through it, too.  You went through it just like we did.

We survived, now let's put 2020 behind us and press on.

All the best to you in 2021 from Rachel, Astrid, and I.