Howdy, Rizznites!
Alright, I'm sipping on a beer, responding to emails, and returning the 78 voicemails I received over the weekend, and it's close to 4:30 in the afternoon. Hopefully this whole week won't be shot to snot completely. It's almost end of day to humpday and I've not got any money making work done yet. :-/ Thank goodness for retainer checks!
Project News
As for general project news, I do have a number of interesting things to report. It looks as if the plans are in place to launch a brand new blogging network. Yes yes, I know in today's age of whatever, Yet Another Blogging Network sounds like a load of useless tripe - but this one is different. It isn't going to be an open invitation type deal... only hand-picked bloggers will be on this network. Hand-picked by me! Because, as we all know, I am the arbitor of cool. I'm not sure of the network name. I would call it the rizzn network, like back in the day - but unfortunately someone scooped rizzn.net out from under me, so that's out for an idea.
Maybe I'll give $10 to the person to come up with the coolest name for the new blogging network. Payable through paypal. It needs to not be genre specific, reflect prolific writing style, and make me want to go to a site named that.
I'm also cooking up some super-secret business plans again - the following people in the RIC need to email me: Jeffman, and Jonboy.
The LP Convention
Thos and I had a great time in Houston this weekend at the Libertarian Party State Convention. I met, as I mentioned yesterday, a great number of influential Libertarians, including Michael Badnarik (former presidential candidate), Wes Benedict (LPTexas Exec. Director), Ron Paul (Republican House Member), James Werner (State LP Gubernatorial candidate), and many others. This is the first official Texan LP event I've ever attended, outside of our own campaign functions, and I must admit that I was concerned that the stereotypes I've accrued in my head over the years that Libertarians were going to be a bunch of kooks would turn out to be true.
Maybe it came from living in zany South Florida, or perhaps dealing with internet kooks who claimed Libertarianism as their philosophy of choice. As it turns out, though, it seemed to be a well put together, largely up-and-coming in appearance, and decently well organised, especially for the stage of development the party is in.
As to the convention organisation - I hope to get on the convention committee for the next one. It was organised well attendance and speaker-wise, but unfortunately the order in which things occurred scared off what little media that was there. The platform meeting took place on the second day, and the nominations and bylaws meeting took place on the first. Essentially the press stuck around for the nominations, and left, greatly hurting our press coverage.
As for what Thos and I did, I'll give you the informal version here - look for an update on the campaign website later this week with more details on who sponsored what and so forth. I drove down to Houston early Saturday morning - I left around 5:30 AM, as my buddy Jeff told me it would only take a couple hours to get down there if I went 69 > 59 into Houston. As it turns out, this is not the case. It's especially not the case once you get into Lufkin and ask a gas station attendant for directions, and she ends up sending you to Nacodoches instead.
I was about an hour late to the convention (missing Badnarik's commencement), but I checked into the Doubletree with relative ease - and I must say it's a very swank joint, the Doubletree. I joined the bylaws convention as soon as I got down there, just barely missing a lively debate in which Thos tried to amend the non-discrimination clause to include the words "sexual orientation." The delegates eventually settled on language that simply said that they do not discriminate, without mentioning any particular verbage containing special interest groups.
The luncheon speech was interesting - a speaker who ill-advised candidates to run on the issue of ending the drug war gave a really long speech. I then went to go sit in on an immigration issue panel. Interestingly enough, LPers seem to be just as divided on the immigration issue and how to handle it as the general populace. It will be some time before we all come to a concensus on this, I believe.
Then the nominations took place. The most notable of the nominations were the gubernatorial candidates of James Werner and leutenant govenernor candidate Judy Baker.
James is quite a charismatic guy. Thos's fiance was quoted as saying "I'd buy anything he was selling." He has a disarming personality - very gracious and at the same time confident. If we can get him the press coverage he deserves, he'll make a fine candidate, and even give Kinky a run for his money.
I've still got more to talk about - I need to mention our involvement in the platform plank selection process, and the position I was elected to within the party, but I'm running out of time for the day. Poke me tomorrow and I'll inform everyone on the rest of the story, as Brother Harvey would say.
/rizzn
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Friday, June 9, 2006
Tired Rizzn Update
Hey there everyone. I've got two quick things to talk about... I'll go into more detail later this week. First of all, I want to say that I had a great time this weekend, if not an exhausting time. I attended the Texas Libertarian Party Convention down in Houston, and enjoyed meeting Ron Paul, Michael Badnarik, James Werner and Rock Howard - all very important politicians and members of the Libertarian Party. Thos and I got a whole lot accomplished while we were there, and I'll be detailing that here and on the campaign website, but I just wanted to check in with everyone and let you know I'm alive and back in town now (although I spent most of today in Dallas recouperating and wrapping up campaign business with Thos).
In other news, my landlord and I had a raucous argument over the phone today. When I got back to the apartment in Tyler, there was an eviction notice on my door. This ain't no Orlando Vacation Home Rental, this is my castle - so as you might imagine, I was a little miffed.
The landlord has been targeting for eviction people who live in the complex for no other reason other than I think he really likes evicting people - and then complains that he has too difficult of a time keeping tenants. I'm the latest target, and the whole tiff seems to be mostly over the fact that I put my cigarettes in glass containers on my porch. Last week some time, he brought the owner over to my apartment and tried to force his way in to inspect the house.
As most of you know, I watch my Matlock, so I know my rights. I've actually had too many run-ins with bad landlords to count, so I know how to deal with them when they start getting pushy... you simply don't back down, make a big deal out of his request, threaten legal action, and then make a concession on what was probably a simple request in the first place, but make it seem like a big deal.
Well, I'm such a nice guy, I'm going to provide you with the recording of the conversation he and I had for educational purposes. If you've subscribed to my RSS feed, it'll automatically download by your podcast client. Otherwise, click here.
As you notice, in the recording, Burt makes several mentions of how unattractive the receptical is. I was playing this for my old neighbor Jarred, who said that I should have responded with how unattractive my landlord is. He's the sort of guy you send flowers to his wife just because you feel sorry for her.
In other news, my landlord and I had a raucous argument over the phone today. When I got back to the apartment in Tyler, there was an eviction notice on my door. This ain't no Orlando Vacation Home Rental, this is my castle - so as you might imagine, I was a little miffed.
The landlord has been targeting for eviction people who live in the complex for no other reason other than I think he really likes evicting people - and then complains that he has too difficult of a time keeping tenants. I'm the latest target, and the whole tiff seems to be mostly over the fact that I put my cigarettes in glass containers on my porch. Last week some time, he brought the owner over to my apartment and tried to force his way in to inspect the house.
As most of you know, I watch my Matlock, so I know my rights. I've actually had too many run-ins with bad landlords to count, so I know how to deal with them when they start getting pushy... you simply don't back down, make a big deal out of his request, threaten legal action, and then make a concession on what was probably a simple request in the first place, but make it seem like a big deal.
Well, I'm such a nice guy, I'm going to provide you with the recording of the conversation he and I had for educational purposes. If you've subscribed to my RSS feed, it'll automatically download by your podcast client. Otherwise, click here.
As you notice, in the recording, Burt makes several mentions of how unattractive the receptical is. I was playing this for my old neighbor Jarred, who said that I should have responded with how unattractive my landlord is. He's the sort of guy you send flowers to his wife just because you feel sorry for her.
Tuesday, June 6, 2006
Frank Gonzalez is a Dummy
[Rizzn's Note: Frank Gonzalez is running for congress on the Democratic ticket down in South Florida. He has been courting the libertarian vote pretty heavily, but recently, his true colors have been showing, as he has repeatedly insulted the party chair in public forums, insulted leaders in the party, as well as making public calls for all Christians to be put to death. Frank is an immature, idiotic man running for a serious office. Granted, I'd like to see someone in office who represents libertarian ideals, but this man lacks a fundamental understanding of the nature of politics, and would be more of a hinderance to the cause than a help, were he elected.
The following conversational thread came off the LP-Broward message board. The joke at the end is a reference to the fact that Frank's answer to every question of his abilitiy or tactics is that "I got 55,000 votes in the last election." And no, 55,000 votes isn't nearly enough to win in Broward County.]
Mark: Ooh, sounds like some bad blood here. But then again, as you've proven many times, Frank, you're not above personal attacks. You'll do quite well in the Democratic party.
Frank:Wow! You're sounding like a right-wing alarmist! Are you Sean Landon or Sean Hannity? I owe Christians an apology? I see...so I owe myself and apology, sort of, since I was baptized, communionized and confirmed too (at the ripe, "wise" age of 12!), even though I renounced my former religion because I saw that it was responsible for the deaths of so many throughout history, just as we, as Libertarians, blast government in general for the same atrocities? Interesting.
Maybe these Christians will forgive me on their own for the transgression of stating bluntly why I defend their right to worship whatever they please so long as they keep it far away from the government that does a piss poor job all by itself already and doesn't need further corruption and complication. I suppose this is what you call "insults". If the Christian right tries to use the Libertarian Party or libertarianism in general to sneak their agenda, I will continue to emphasize why Jefferson's call for a wall of separation between church and state was such a great declaration
Mark: Frank, how hypocritical can you be? You truly do belong in the Democratic party. Every liberal I know tries to blame the system and upbringing of individuals for the individual's actions - What about individual responsibility? It's not the fault of a system of beliefs that atrocities were committed in a particular religion's name. No where in the New Testament does it call for atrocities to be committed.
Religion, much like technology, can be a tool. Tools are neutral until an individual picks it up and uses it for a purpose, be it good,evil, or indifferent. Don't blame all of us Christians for the actions of madmen before we were born.
Just because you claim to want to protect the institution of religion by keeping the government out of it while at the same time insulting Christians to their faces does not absolve you of the action of insulting Christians to their face. They will still be offended, despite what your internal monologue may be telling you about how good you are for protecting the division of church or state, or how many votes you got in the last election (which from what I understand is something like .... what was it ?... oh dang, I forgot, why don't you tell me in your response somewhere... I'm sure you remember).
/rizzn
The following conversational thread came off the LP-Broward message board. The joke at the end is a reference to the fact that Frank's answer to every question of his abilitiy or tactics is that "I got 55,000 votes in the last election." And no, 55,000 votes isn't nearly enough to win in Broward County.]
Sean:Ha! Still not sure whether to laugh or to cry. It's not deceptive, just delusional.
Frank:Sean, you are talking to me about delusion? I gave you a long list of my accomplishments for the Libertarian cause even BEFORE my 2004 election results. What have YOU done by comparison? Please detail it for me.
Mark: I'll let Sean speak for himself, but it seems to me he's the most active organiser for the LP in Broward. Seems to me it'd be someone you wouldn't want to anger or insult, but then again, I'm only a campaign manager for a state campaign... not a federal candidate with 55,000 votes in a previous election. What do I know?
Sean:How do you think it advances your position to continually insult the people - especially the activists - on this list (this Libertarian Party list)?
Frank:Sean, you are talking to me about delusion? I gave you a long list of my accomplishments for the Libertarian cause even BEFORE my 2004 election results. What have YOU done by comparison? Please detail it for me.
Mark: I'll let Sean speak for himself, but it seems to me he's the most active organiser for the LP in Broward. Seems to me it'd be someone you wouldn't want to anger or insult, but then again, I'm only a campaign manager for a state campaign... not a federal candidate with 55,000 votes in a previous election. What do I know?
Sean:How do you think it advances your position to continually insult the people - especially the activists - on this list (this Libertarian Party list)?
Frank: Who have I insulted? Please tell me specifically. Since there's record, you can quote it. By the way, WHAT "activists" are you describing? Where were these "activists" in 2004? Where are they NOW, in 2006, when they could be joining a common cause just as I called on them to no avail in 2004?
Mark: Frank, I'll quote myself from a previous exchange that you and I have shared:
Sean:And then ignore their responses and continue with your (to put it politely) misinformation? Or perhaps, should I say, because you have been corrected many, many times, disinformation? (for now I won't go any farther than that.)
So far, throughout this discourse, you've insulted anyone who calls themself a Libertarian, anyone who calls themself a Democrat, about three individual members of the list (at last count), anyone who calls themself a conservative, anyone who calls themself a Christian (or is a member of a religion at all, for that matter), and anyone who hasn't won a political office.
Sean:And then ignore their responses and continue with your (to put it politely) misinformation? Or perhaps, should I say, because you have been corrected many, many times, disinformation? (for now I won't go any farther than that.)
Frank:Now you're accusing me of "misinformation", a euphemism for lying. What have I lied about, Sean? Please do go farther than that. Your hostility is interesting considering that you're one of the few Libertarian holdouts who just won't budge to do the real work that's necessary to engage strangers or, at the very least, understand why I left the Libertarian Party and support the effort to win as a Democrat.
Mark: Ooh, sounds like some bad blood here. But then again, as you've proven many times, Frank, you're not above personal attacks. You'll do quite well in the Democratic party.
Sean:For starters, I think you owe Andrew and any other Christians on this list an apology, and then you need to stop repeating your disinformation
Mark: Frank, how hypocritical can you be? You truly do belong in the Democratic party. Every liberal I know tries to blame the system and upbringing of individuals for the individual's actions - What about individual responsibility? It's not the fault of a system of beliefs that atrocities were committed in a particular religion's name. No where in the New Testament does it call for atrocities to be committed.
Religion, much like technology, can be a tool. Tools are neutral until an individual picks it up and uses it for a purpose, be it good,evil, or indifferent. Don't blame all of us Christians for the actions of madmen before we were born.
Just because you claim to want to protect the institution of religion by keeping the government out of it while at the same time insulting Christians to their faces does not absolve you of the action of insulting Christians to their face. They will still be offended, despite what your internal monologue may be telling you about how good you are for protecting the division of church or state, or how many votes you got in the last election (which from what I understand is something like .... what was it ?... oh dang, I forgot, why don't you tell me in your response somewhere... I'm sure you remember).
/rizzn
You call it pessimism, I call it realism.
It seemed the world was divided into good and bad people. The good ones slept better... while the bad ones seemed to enjoy the waking hours much more.
- Woody Allen
- Woody Allen
Monday, June 5, 2006
Meanwhile, back at the Inn....
[Rizzn's Note: this all comes from the game me and my nerd buddies play called iRP. These are the reactions and fallout of last night's session]
Rizzn ambled into the inn, looking for a place to crash. Cassius stepped thru the door behind Rizzn. It had been an especially bloody night. Though he had not known the dwarf very well, it was still unsettling to see a crossbow bolt settle directly into Omrii's skull.
He also felt as if he had let his buddy down. He was there to rescue Caligh'is, his Urdon friend who he hadn't seen in months and months. Strange, how it was always up to him to do the rescuing - the size and stature of the kobold in relation to an urdon, you'd think it would be the other way around.
To make matters worse, Caligh'is brother Doidaldi had been captured in the rescue attempt as well.
At one point in the evening, he was sure it was lights out for himself as well. He had felt that idiot theif captain's blade sink into his guts and twist just before everything went dim.
"Ssssstupid Captian Sssscratch. King of the Jerkwaddsssss," he muttered to himself as he found a place to rest his weary legs. "If I ever ssseee him again, I'm going to tear hissss throat out and feassst on hissss jugularssss."
"Yes, yes I will," She mumbled to herself, though the gaze on the Cassius's face told you she was not paying attention to all of what he had been saying until the very end.
The general ambivalance Rizzn tended to feel towards those who would oppose him seemed to be ebbing away. Hatred and the need for vengence seem to be slowly replacing it.
Cassius decided she needed a few ales before she could go to bed. This early morning possessed some of the worst bloodshed she had seen in a while, and the cause of it seriously disturbed her. She listened to most of Rizzn's ranting about the captain but try as she might she could not suppress the anger that was beginning to grow deep inside her.
As she refilled her mug, she saw Omrii's body on the gnome sized couch by the fireplace. His arms were crossed over his chest holding his sacred book. Her eyes froze as they landed on the bolt jutting from his skull.
"It's not right! Omrii, Anello, and Fa Ga Fu didn't deserve to die! Caligh'is has caused so much trouble," slamming her mug on the bar she continued, dropping tone her voice "Let him rot."
She then walks over to the couch, gathering Omrii's limp, lifeless body and his things, she walks out the door. The sun was beginning to rise and the snow was slowing. The morning was eerily quiet not for the sound of snow crunching from under her feet. After a short time she reached the temple of Plugo, her destination.
*****
In a dark, shadowy place frequented by dark shadowy characters, a middle-aged human man wearing studded leather armor, in great physical condition but clutching a newly bandaged wound at his side, sits quietly.
"The Marquis will see you now." The servant said plainly before leading this man into a richly appointed room.
"Marquis. I've come to collect the bounty on Doidaldi. We have him and his brother, but... the Kei'Dyn all elduded our ambush. We lost two men in the process and some of us were hurt pretty badly. We did kill a dwarf mageling that was with them, but he seemed to be of little consequence."
An older man, his face hidden by the shadows dancing among the flickering candlelight, answers.
"Call off your efforts for now and return to Neroue. No sense in wasting men over them."
"And... another thing, milord."
"Yes."
"They were led by a kobold."
The marquis had no response except to clench his teeth in hatred. His eyes burned with furious disgust. When he spoke next , it was with cold rage.
"We shall send a message to those adventurers that they will not soon forget."
*****
Cassius knocked on the door of the Temple of Plugo, as it opened she quickly began.
"He is dead, this temple helped me to return from the dead please do what you can for him. This gnome has enough possessions you can sell if he does not have enough coin. His name is Omrii."
She handed over his body, keeping his sacred book. She knew he would not be happy if it somehow got lost. She would keep it safe in her room back at the Inn until Governor Lenier returned from his trip, she would then hand it over to him.
*****
As the morning sun rose in Datlis Crossing the next morning, a loud scream broke morning's silence. A farmer's daughter - sent to fetch a bucket of water from the river - was greeted with a most grisly sight.
On the Heroes' Haven Inn side of the Nimphlad bridge, two urdon heads were spiked onto the ends of ten foot stakes. beneath them, the snow was stained with vermillion. The two urdon faces were vastly similar, and anyone from the guild might recognize them as Caligh'is and Doidaldi.
Of the rest of their bodies - there was no trace.
Rizzn was startled awake by the sound of the faraway scream. Apparently he had fallen asleep where he crashed down in the commons of the Hero's Haven Inn.
"No more being a bussssybody," the kobold murmured to himself. "That getssss me killed."
Instead of investigating, Rizzn went into the stables, as was his routine early in the morning to tend to Isobel, Pendleton and Maximillian, the very same mounts which had served him well in his first attempt to rescue Caligh'is.
As he scrubbed down the large mount Pendleton, the kobold spoke as warmly and comfortingly as a kobold could manage.
"No worriessss, my pet. I don't know if Caligh'issss will be coming back sssssoon, but I'll take care of you."
*****
Of the members of Lenier's guild, it was Lutherous who discovered them first. The farmer's girl who had discovered the heads earlier was likely scarred for life because of it and that made the sadist Kei'Dyn happy.
When he saw the head of Caligh'is he started swearing and shouting. "Dammit Caligh'is! I save your life twice and again you just go off and die again! I didn't even get the chance to use you as a slave! I knew it! I knew that when I heard you had been captured I would have to save you because its always ME. For all your might you can't do anything to save yourself!"
He leapt up and slapped the face with his claws out, blood stained the snow. "But I suppose you aren't totally useless. Even in death you were able to murder your whore of a sister and rid me the problem of that anal-retentive dwarf. How proud you must be while you burn in agony that you took two with you."
Then he moves on to Doidaldi. "And you! You filthy monster! Constantly cavorting about waving your genitalia everywhere thinking your beautiful!" He spat on her face. "This is the price that harlots like you have to pay, and if wasn't the executioners axe that got you first it would be the massive amount of disease that courses through your filthy body."
Lutherous then removed the two stakes from the ground and hurled them in the river. "The two of you aren't worth being remembered, so I curse ye to the stomach of the Septopus. At least in death you'll find your vaunted club Caligh'is. You idiot."
He spat on the water then walked away back to the inn.
The morning cold still ached in his bones as the Leonine Kei'Dyn Fa Ga Fu sluggishly limped down the stairs into the mead hall. The adrenaline from last night's debacle, had long since worn off and with each step down he felt anew the wounds of the previous nights. Perhaps a little warmed mead would help to take the edge off.
It was as he poured the steaming beverage that he first heard the scream. His frail nerves reacted and he jumped out of his seat spilling his drink.
"The fools have come back for more!" He shouts into the upstairs. "AWAKE AWAKE! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK. TO ARMS!" And with that Fa Ga Fu runs outside to behold Lutherous's desecration.
He watches mesmerized as the gruesome scene unfolds. The muscles in his stomach knot up he beholds Lutherous's desecrate the dead, even Doidaldi... noble Doidaldi, who died out of loyalty. He could watch no more.
"Fiend!"
Fire lights his gaze as he points his scythe at Lutherous
"Give me one good reason why you should live."
Rizzn ambled into the inn, looking for a place to crash. Cassius stepped thru the door behind Rizzn. It had been an especially bloody night. Though he had not known the dwarf very well, it was still unsettling to see a crossbow bolt settle directly into Omrii's skull.
He also felt as if he had let his buddy down. He was there to rescue Caligh'is, his Urdon friend who he hadn't seen in months and months. Strange, how it was always up to him to do the rescuing - the size and stature of the kobold in relation to an urdon, you'd think it would be the other way around.
To make matters worse, Caligh'is brother Doidaldi had been captured in the rescue attempt as well.
At one point in the evening, he was sure it was lights out for himself as well. He had felt that idiot theif captain's blade sink into his guts and twist just before everything went dim.
"Ssssstupid Captian Sssscratch. King of the Jerkwaddsssss," he muttered to himself as he found a place to rest his weary legs. "If I ever ssseee him again, I'm going to tear hissss throat out and feassst on hissss jugularssss."
"Yes, yes I will," She mumbled to herself, though the gaze on the Cassius's face told you she was not paying attention to all of what he had been saying until the very end.
The general ambivalance Rizzn tended to feel towards those who would oppose him seemed to be ebbing away. Hatred and the need for vengence seem to be slowly replacing it.
Cassius decided she needed a few ales before she could go to bed. This early morning possessed some of the worst bloodshed she had seen in a while, and the cause of it seriously disturbed her. She listened to most of Rizzn's ranting about the captain but try as she might she could not suppress the anger that was beginning to grow deep inside her.
As she refilled her mug, she saw Omrii's body on the gnome sized couch by the fireplace. His arms were crossed over his chest holding his sacred book. Her eyes froze as they landed on the bolt jutting from his skull.
"It's not right! Omrii, Anello, and Fa Ga Fu didn't deserve to die! Caligh'is has caused so much trouble," slamming her mug on the bar she continued, dropping tone her voice "Let him rot."
She then walks over to the couch, gathering Omrii's limp, lifeless body and his things, she walks out the door. The sun was beginning to rise and the snow was slowing. The morning was eerily quiet not for the sound of snow crunching from under her feet. After a short time she reached the temple of Plugo, her destination.
*****
In a dark, shadowy place frequented by dark shadowy characters, a middle-aged human man wearing studded leather armor, in great physical condition but clutching a newly bandaged wound at his side, sits quietly.
"The Marquis will see you now." The servant said plainly before leading this man into a richly appointed room.
"Marquis. I've come to collect the bounty on Doidaldi. We have him and his brother, but... the Kei'Dyn all elduded our ambush. We lost two men in the process and some of us were hurt pretty badly. We did kill a dwarf mageling that was with them, but he seemed to be of little consequence."
An older man, his face hidden by the shadows dancing among the flickering candlelight, answers.
"Call off your efforts for now and return to Neroue. No sense in wasting men over them."
"And... another thing, milord."
"Yes."
"They were led by a kobold."
The marquis had no response except to clench his teeth in hatred. His eyes burned with furious disgust. When he spoke next , it was with cold rage.
"We shall send a message to those adventurers that they will not soon forget."
*****
Cassius knocked on the door of the Temple of Plugo, as it opened she quickly began.
"He is dead, this temple helped me to return from the dead please do what you can for him. This gnome has enough possessions you can sell if he does not have enough coin. His name is Omrii."
She handed over his body, keeping his sacred book. She knew he would not be happy if it somehow got lost. She would keep it safe in her room back at the Inn until Governor Lenier returned from his trip, she would then hand it over to him.
*****
As the morning sun rose in Datlis Crossing the next morning, a loud scream broke morning's silence. A farmer's daughter - sent to fetch a bucket of water from the river - was greeted with a most grisly sight.
On the Heroes' Haven Inn side of the Nimphlad bridge, two urdon heads were spiked onto the ends of ten foot stakes. beneath them, the snow was stained with vermillion. The two urdon faces were vastly similar, and anyone from the guild might recognize them as Caligh'is and Doidaldi.
Of the rest of their bodies - there was no trace.
Rizzn was startled awake by the sound of the faraway scream. Apparently he had fallen asleep where he crashed down in the commons of the Hero's Haven Inn.
"No more being a bussssybody," the kobold murmured to himself. "That getssss me killed."
Instead of investigating, Rizzn went into the stables, as was his routine early in the morning to tend to Isobel, Pendleton and Maximillian, the very same mounts which had served him well in his first attempt to rescue Caligh'is.
As he scrubbed down the large mount Pendleton, the kobold spoke as warmly and comfortingly as a kobold could manage.
"No worriessss, my pet. I don't know if Caligh'issss will be coming back sssssoon, but I'll take care of you."
*****
Of the members of Lenier's guild, it was Lutherous who discovered them first. The farmer's girl who had discovered the heads earlier was likely scarred for life because of it and that made the sadist Kei'Dyn happy.
When he saw the head of Caligh'is he started swearing and shouting. "Dammit Caligh'is! I save your life twice and again you just go off and die again! I didn't even get the chance to use you as a slave! I knew it! I knew that when I heard you had been captured I would have to save you because its always ME. For all your might you can't do anything to save yourself!"
He leapt up and slapped the face with his claws out, blood stained the snow. "But I suppose you aren't totally useless. Even in death you were able to murder your whore of a sister and rid me the problem of that anal-retentive dwarf. How proud you must be while you burn in agony that you took two with you."
Then he moves on to Doidaldi. "And you! You filthy monster! Constantly cavorting about waving your genitalia everywhere thinking your beautiful!" He spat on her face. "This is the price that harlots like you have to pay, and if wasn't the executioners axe that got you first it would be the massive amount of disease that courses through your filthy body."
Lutherous then removed the two stakes from the ground and hurled them in the river. "The two of you aren't worth being remembered, so I curse ye to the stomach of the Septopus. At least in death you'll find your vaunted club Caligh'is. You idiot."
He spat on the water then walked away back to the inn.
The morning cold still ached in his bones as the Leonine Kei'Dyn Fa Ga Fu sluggishly limped down the stairs into the mead hall. The adrenaline from last night's debacle, had long since worn off and with each step down he felt anew the wounds of the previous nights. Perhaps a little warmed mead would help to take the edge off.
It was as he poured the steaming beverage that he first heard the scream. His frail nerves reacted and he jumped out of his seat spilling his drink.
"The fools have come back for more!" He shouts into the upstairs. "AWAKE AWAKE! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK. TO ARMS!" And with that Fa Ga Fu runs outside to behold Lutherous's desecration.
He watches mesmerized as the gruesome scene unfolds. The muscles in his stomach knot up he beholds Lutherous's desecrate the dead, even Doidaldi... noble Doidaldi, who died out of loyalty. He could watch no more.
"Fiend!"
Fire lights his gaze as he points his scythe at Lutherous
"Give me one good reason why you should live."
Sunday, June 4, 2006
Nuh-Uh. Not in MY house: Lazy Sunday Ruminations
I'm just hanging out at my house this Sunday, trying to muster the motivation to do something productive. So far, it's not working out for me. I had really hoped that the girl I met in Dallas last week was going to give me a call, and I could blow off whatever responsibilities I had this weekend, thus proving my committment to being productive was fairly shallow. Instead I've been coming up with tidbits of busywork and sipping beers in front of thuTeeVee.
I also was reading some of my various caches of writing this weekend. I keep a couple other low traffic blogs that I don't tell anyone about. I'm sure they're google-able and I'm sure now that I've mentioned them, someone will go out there, find them, and link them to my site to embarrass me; but by and large they are so non-descript that they blend in with the rest of the internet chatter.
One blog in particular has sort of evolved into a blog I type in when I feel particularly emotional about my love life. It's a little weird to read, there's only about twenty posts going back about three years or so. Paging through it, you'd think the author was some sort of manic-depressive if you didn't read the dates on the entries. The tones vary, from goofy romance, to cynical mysogenism.
As an interesting sidenote, Technorati notes a spike in the search term "goofy romance" for earlier this week. If you compare the number of times people used "goofy romance" this week vs. back around Valentines day, you'll see that those are the only two times the mentions match up. I wonder what is the root cause of it?
Much like this entire blog entry, the previous paragraph makes no real interesting point; this reminds me of a story-telling technique I learned this week which, if you are able to master, is sure to spice up any droll tale. I've got to credit one of the better story-tellers of our time, Dane Cook, with pioneering the technique that was previously only reserved for movies by a certain director notorious for their unsure grasp of linear time. Of course, many of you know of which I speak, the concept is called "Tarantino-ing it up."
I've been telling a particular story that happenned to me last weekend to just about everyone I meet lately. I enjoy telling stories, and I assume most of my friends enjoy hearing the stories, because they don't tend to tell me to shut up very much. Unfortunately, this particular story appears to be of interest mostly to myself and no one else. I can tell this because whenever I start the story, people either start fidgeting about two minutes into it, or their eyes glaze over to the point I can actually see my own reflection.
Tarantino-ing up a story involves finding the punchiest part of the end of the story (this works best if it's a double entendre when out of context), delivering that part of it, then explaining the concept of tarantinoing it up ("we're going to tell this story from back to front"). Then you start at the beginning of the story, going off on little tangents here and there, and then finally surprising them with the punchline you started out with.
With a droll story, sometimes, you don't know exactly when the story is over. When you Tarantino up a droll story, when you finally get to the end, the listener is relieved to finally get to the end of it, and at the same time impressed by your clever storytelling style. It's a win-win.
Sweet mercy, there are so many other things I should be doing right now that typing this blather up. I need to finish some web work. I could be working on my music. I could be finishing a project that I have due first thing in the morning. Heck, I could be sleeping!
Ah well. What are ya gonna do?
/rizzn
I also was reading some of my various caches of writing this weekend. I keep a couple other low traffic blogs that I don't tell anyone about. I'm sure they're google-able and I'm sure now that I've mentioned them, someone will go out there, find them, and link them to my site to embarrass me; but by and large they are so non-descript that they blend in with the rest of the internet chatter.
One blog in particular has sort of evolved into a blog I type in when I feel particularly emotional about my love life. It's a little weird to read, there's only about twenty posts going back about three years or so. Paging through it, you'd think the author was some sort of manic-depressive if you didn't read the dates on the entries. The tones vary, from goofy romance, to cynical mysogenism.
As an interesting sidenote, Technorati notes a spike in the search term "goofy romance" for earlier this week. If you compare the number of times people used "goofy romance" this week vs. back around Valentines day, you'll see that those are the only two times the mentions match up. I wonder what is the root cause of it?Much like this entire blog entry, the previous paragraph makes no real interesting point; this reminds me of a story-telling technique I learned this week which, if you are able to master, is sure to spice up any droll tale. I've got to credit one of the better story-tellers of our time, Dane Cook, with pioneering the technique that was previously only reserved for movies by a certain director notorious for their unsure grasp of linear time. Of course, many of you know of which I speak, the concept is called "Tarantino-ing it up."
I've been telling a particular story that happenned to me last weekend to just about everyone I meet lately. I enjoy telling stories, and I assume most of my friends enjoy hearing the stories, because they don't tend to tell me to shut up very much. Unfortunately, this particular story appears to be of interest mostly to myself and no one else. I can tell this because whenever I start the story, people either start fidgeting about two minutes into it, or their eyes glaze over to the point I can actually see my own reflection.
Tarantino-ing up a story involves finding the punchiest part of the end of the story (this works best if it's a double entendre when out of context), delivering that part of it, then explaining the concept of tarantinoing it up ("we're going to tell this story from back to front"). Then you start at the beginning of the story, going off on little tangents here and there, and then finally surprising them with the punchline you started out with.
With a droll story, sometimes, you don't know exactly when the story is over. When you Tarantino up a droll story, when you finally get to the end, the listener is relieved to finally get to the end of it, and at the same time impressed by your clever storytelling style. It's a win-win.
Sweet mercy, there are so many other things I should be doing right now that typing this blather up. I need to finish some web work. I could be working on my music. I could be finishing a project that I have due first thing in the morning. Heck, I could be sleeping!
Ah well. What are ya gonna do?
/rizzn
Thursday, June 1, 2006
Quick Thursday Update
Just wanted to let everyone know that we've updated Thos's website with the pictures from the Campaign Kickoff Party are now uploaded and can be found at the following link (T. Evan Fisher for Texas House District 108). Many thanks to all who made the party a success!
In other news - really busy day today. Yeah, stop the presses on that.
/rizzn
In other news - really busy day today. Yeah, stop the presses on that.
/rizzn
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