Bill O'Rieley and Jon Stewart

The full interview. Damn good.

for those that missed them, or care.
It seems that most of the ones I liked were not industry ads, but created content, which I find interesting.

That is, of course, leaving out the newest Abe Vigoda sighting.

The Coke/Simpsons ad just confused me.

Enjoy each individually for a grin, play them at the same time for 12-14 hours with just enough time to pee (sometimes) to emulate stress level.

To say my life has been hectic of late is a pretty serious exercize in understatement. Aside from the Beer, Bourbon & BBQ Festival Saturday (and I did end up working about 15 mins satruday during the festival), I haven't had a clean day off this year.

Yesterday morning, I was running late, so I hopped a cab to a meeting I needed to make on time (and failed, despite the expense and effort). When I got out of the cab, the cabbie decided he was going to shoot across the street before I was totally out of his cab. It was a van cab, and I had one foot on the curb, the other was still in the cab, with the door open, before he decided to try and cut across Broadway to pick up a fare down the block. My foot hooked the door, and I was spun around like a paper mache dredel in a blender. I don't think he ever noticed.

My bag, which I had on one shoulder, caught on a streetsign before my face hit the sidewalk. The shoulder strap is the only thing that stopped me from totally wiping out into the middle of traffic. This makes twice in a year I almost died on Broadway.

I was in enough pain, and angry enough, that I didn't realize in the abrupt spinning crane kick I was thrown into had split the seam in the crotch of my pants. When I say I split the seam, I obliterated any rememberance of stitching from the base of my fly to halfway up my ass. I do not wear yoga/workout pants to work - these were dressy suit pants that were exposed to G forces and rapidity that they were never designed to withstand. I didn't hear the rip, but I am sure it was mighty.

Thanks to draft, I instantly realized (wearing white boxers, of course) that I was standing on a center island, on Broadway, essentially showing off my undies to all passers by (pedestrian and vehicular alike). This is a prelude to a recurrant nightmare for much of the population. All thoughts of rage and contemplations of charging across traffic to snag the cabbie and pull him out his window (he was stuck behind someone else who managed to snag the fare) evaporated.

I always carry a roll of gaffer tape on my bag. Aside from all the other impliments of destruction I keep handy in case of need, that tape has saved me in many a tight spot - yesterday was no different. I managed to fashion a fast double strip which I slapped over my crotch-area as serruptitiously as possible, so I could make my way across the street to the first restroom available. Thankfully, yesterday was a black-pants day. I hesitate to think what may have befallen me crossing Broadway, had it been a khaki day.

Once in the public restroom, I secured a booth, and managed to re-assemble the seam from the inside out, after creating a multi-strip reinforcement patch of gaffers tape on the _inside_ of my pants, where it was invisible. That patch held me until around 9 last night, when I managed to get out of the office. When I got home, I threw away the pants, but momentarily contemplated keeping the gaffer-tape undergarment they housed, in commemoration of the event. After about three seconds of contemplation, I tossed the tape in with the pants.

I usually pay cabs by card, and would, then, have a follow-up reciept, but, I was in a rush, and I paid cash, and had no reciept. I'm out a pair of pants, and a few minutes of dignity - but I managed to survive the day.

At least I still have my bag.

This is a Nerd post, skip it if you don't play d20 or Pathfinder.

One of my recent campiagn items was introducing an arcane college - one which offers classes and magisters who can offer training and insight. Obviously, there is a huge amont of backstory and plot that can be crammed into an overview of a class/professor's coursework.

However, from a mechanics standpoint, I've come up with a neat way to get some mileage out of knowledge skills. Classes have exams, which are a small battery of knowledge (representing memory) and spellcraft (representing applications) skills. Classes, which are how universities make thier monies, cost xxgp/class, after registration fee is paid. Each class has a Knowledge(Arcane) DC. If you make the class DC, you get a credit, a +2 Knowledge bonus (which stack with themselves) which can be applied to any roll on the exam. Exams are 3-5 Knowledge/Spellcraft checks, which can be taken at any point after the student has taken at least two classes. Failure can have whatever penalties you decide. Success indicates completion of the exam. Courses are several exams apiece.

Courses can provide flavor spells, feats, skill bonuses, languages, and/or trainer/training opportunities or discounts on future training.

It struck me as a neat mechanic, and not one I've read elsewhere. Thought I'd share.

I spent all weekend restoring data - I have mostly recovered the data, but I am far from recovered.

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

That is totally digitally rendered CG. Amazing.