I went to yet another awesome Inheritance game over the weekend. We had another huge rush of new players, which meant that there were enough players to make even the Ed. lounge feel comfortably full. There wasn't nearly enough time for Mahalia to bustle around and talk to everyone she needed to, but she did manage to sit all of the new Reckons down at once and give them her patented "Convictions: What do YOU think about God?" speech. After having given it nearly every game, I've really got it down pat. I can explain embodiment, historical details, and how to choose a conviction in ten minutes or less. Now that's good ol' Deistical efficiency for you.

One of the new players played, Diana, Mahalia's Affection, and she did an amazing job. She knew enough about the game that she was able to help me fill in the new people, much to Mahalia's relief. She's already made another character, but I think she's going to come back and play Diana once more. I'm looking forward to it. They have a very interesting relationship, and it's nice to be able to present how close Mahalia is to her human Affections, after she's been labelled by some of the new Fallen as the one to talk to about Affections, mortal affairs, and anything else that Manahem won't tell them about. ;)

But, the highlight of the game for me didn't come until coffee. The scene in question came quite by suprise, since it was based on something that Zachael had called back to Mahalia on his way out the door, but that didn't mean that it wasn't intensely interesting. I won't spoil the fun for anyone who doesn't know what's going on, beccause I'm sure it'll become readily apparent by the next game, but I will say that I'm ecstatic to see where this current storyline will take Mahalia. It's going to be one hell of a bumpy ride, and I think it'll make Mahalia, if not others, re-evaluate what she wants from this life. Glee!

That's a wrap!

It's a big day here at work. Not only is today the last day of shooting, but it's also media/open house day. It's now impossible to get in or out of my office, since the edititing suite has been set up for interviews, and the lounge has been set up as the waiting room for the tours groups that come through. They've got Episode 1 on loop to keep people entertained, which is almost certain to drive me completely bonkers by 5:00, since there's no door between my office and the lounge.

On the other hand, it's going to be very quiet around here come Monday. The animators and production staff will be gone until Season Two starts filming, and only the editors, directors, and VFX staff will be left. The studio will feel pretty empty, and I won't be able to bitch at the animators in person. Instead, I'll be wandering the empty animation bays, shaking my fists and yelling, "Why? WHY didn't you take two minutes to clean the dirt off of the puppet's face? Now it will take me hours to go through and paint it all out! Khaaaaaaaan!"

Tonight's the wrap party. Apparently, it's going to be held in some sort of arcade, where we'll have a steak dinner, watch the director's cuts of various episodes, and drink to a job well done. I'm sure there'll be other things as well, but that's all I know for sure. Nobody tells me anything. Like this morning, when they neglected to mention that call time wasn't until 11:00, and I was locked out of the building for an hour. The production directors tend to forget about post-production. A lot...

Steak dinner and drinks at an arcade? Wierd... But somehow a fitting send-off for the production staff.

You scored as XIX: The Sun. This is the happiest card in the deck. It is full of joy and optimism, everything is right with the world. We are as innocent children playing in the fields without care. The Sun brings success, well-being and happiness in all spheres - material, emotional, spiritual -wherever our desires lay.When this card appears in a Tarot spread it indicates success, joy and happiness. Obstacles will be overcome, goals achieved.When badly aspected, it can indicate a stagnation through over-indulgence, too much of a good thing.

There's something entirely satisfying about being able to spend one's morning blowing things up. All that would have made it better would have been to be able to hear the deafening 'ka-thoooom!!' every time the (small, plastic) car was launched (centi)meters into the air... (That, and if Combustion hadn't insisted on crashing every five minutes. Grr....)

I love my job. Even if the constant deadlines loom over me like some sort of tattered, sickly bird of prey, and more and more shot orders pile up in my bin by the day. Luckily, I'm not the only VFX person working here any more. We held interviews all last week, and after I finished cringing inwardly at some of the candidates, they had the sense to hired a good friend of mine to help out in the evenings and weekends. We likely -still- won't get things finished in the timelines they've set out for us, but hey, at least it's not all up to me anymore. Whew...

It was a busy weekend as well. I went down to Regina to visit my family before they all left for the summer. (Had we any forethought, Layne and I might have coordinated our trips, but it still worked out well.) My mom picked me up early on Saturday, and we eschewed the regular highway in favor of the much more scenic route through Moose Jaw. We spent the trip down talking and admiring the beautiful summertime scenery. In some places, both sides of the road were so thick with sage and flowers that they hid the ditches..

We picked up my brother and sister from the airport, and then spent the rest of the evening just hanging around. My brother showed off all the new songs he's learned for guitar, and my sister showed me the comics she's been drawing. I was both a) intensely proud that she's drawing comics, and b) intensely aware of how long it's been since I've drawn a comic. Guilt is a wonderful motivator.

I got back earlier than I had expected to on Sunday, which left enough time for Layne and I to go on a hike down by the river. We walked north from campus along the riverbank, and went nearly out to the bank across from Wanuskewin before we finally turned back. I love hiking, but most times I go for a hike, I'm alone. It was different to be hiking with someone. It's nice being able to talk to someone while you walk, but the trade-off is that you're less focused on your surroundings. I didn't see near as many birds as I might have on my own. Which was probably a good thing, because it's hard to carry on a conversation with someone who keeps interrupting to point out field markings on that little, brown bird over there that looks just like all the other little, brown birds you've seen.

We had planned to do a little foraging while on our hike, in order to prepare for a longer camping trip that we're hoping to take at the end of the summer, but it now looks like that trip is in jeopardy as well. We were planning on camping up north in between the end of production here at work, but before I started school, but it seems that neither are an option. For one, I've been asked to stay on longer at my job to finish off this season of work. Normally, it'd overlap with the starting of school, but since my band screwed up my funding for fall, it looks like I'll have to put off my degree for a bit longer. I'd probably be more pissed off, except that getting another season's worth of job experience is probably going to be far more useful to me than getting my BFA. So, meh. Both the camping trip and my degree can wait another year.

Where's the posts?

No, I haven't hidden myself under a rock. (Though, it rather feels that way.) It's just crunch time at work, and after staring at the screen for hours a day, writing a blog post in the evenings doesn't feel like a big priority.

Not that there's not lots to write about... I mean, I haven't mentioned the trip to the cabin, my week with the house to myself, meeting up with old friends, or finished writing my thoughts on the latest Pirates movie. (Yarr!!) I'm working on it. Expect some new posts up by Monday of next week.

And if you are terribly bored without my soothing words to keep you company, then go amuse yourself by reading Narbonic. It's one of my new favorite webcomics, and now that it's moved from Modern Tales to Webcomics Nation, the archives are free to read!! It's got mad science and mutant gerbils! What more do you need??