The First Rule of RCMP Club

Just a quick post! Our new RCMP head was sworn in today.

Bob Paulson was sworn in as the new head of the RCMP Thursday at a change of command ceremony in Ottawa. 

"Paulson takes over for William Elliott, who was the first civilian commissioner of the RCMP. Elliott stepped down last summer after facing a number of complaints from rank and file officers." - lfpress

Normally I would not post about this kind of news... but I just couldn't help but giggle when I first heard our new RCMP head's name is "Bob" Paulson.

His name is Robert Paulson,
His name is Robert Paulson.

 I have never seen both of them at the same place in the same time...

I wonder how long it is before people start in with the bitch tits jokes.


Till the next post.

Source!

Games Day in Halifax!!!! (Thanks, Halcon :))

*Ammendment* I had previously stated that this event is being held at the Dalplex. I am completely wrong. It's at the Dartmouth Sportplex. Sorry for the mis-info. :)

For anyone who is looking for a little late-night boardgame action in Halifax, you can find it this Sunday at the Darmouth Sportsplex.

We are holding another fun-filled day of board games, tabletop games, card games and role playing games. At only $5* for all the games you can play, it’s much better than spending the afternoon shopping for crappy Christmas gifts! Play old favorites, try new ones, hang with other gamers and win cool prizes. Come get your game on! You can find the action at the Thistle Room (our usual haunt). Post below if you want to run something.

$5 for an awesome day of board games? Yes, please! I won't be making it this week, but I'll be doing my best to show in force next time.

Visit the Hal-con website for more details.

I'm only just saying that meeting new people, playing fun games you already know and love and discovering new games can't be bad on any given day. Be there and support a cause because that's where all the proceeds or going. Why the heck not?

RIP Game Pro is dead.

Slashdot article here, original here.

"Popular gaming magazine GamePro has shut down its U.S. operations after 22 yearsof publications by its parent company IDG. GamePro's website, which has been online for about 13 years, will be converted to a gaming channel and incorporated into PCWorld on Dec. 5. Sources within the magazine say GamePro's employees, including its executives, received phone calls this morning with the news. The news comes as a relative surprise, as GamePro experienced its highest traffic ever last week. The company also released its first quarterly magazine earlier this month after deciding monthly print issues were too costly to maintain."

The Last Game Store: Tekken 6 and 3rd Strike Tournament.

Source.

Click here for the original facebook event. Hopefully we'll be able to represent (get our asses made into hats)

DATE: December 4th, 2011
LOCATION: The Last Game Store 278 Lacewood Drive, Halifax, NS B4C 3V4

"In the cold, cold winter it's a Tekken 6 & 3rd Strike tournament!

The theme is simple: to shine some light on games that didn't get as much attention over the past year as halifax's big 3. During the day we're going to have the store open for free play and have lots of games on hand for people to have fun with. On top of that we'll be having small fun tournaments with some of the games that you secretly love. If you like casual gaming & fighting games in general this is for you!

Then in the evening the main events begin! 3rd strike and tekken were both big successes at FFI in September and now it's Halifax's turn to represent!"

Hit the jump for more details on this event (schedule and prices) or hit up the facebook page.

EB Canada is Playing the Ole Switcharoo?

Read the original source from The Escapist article here.

"It's an entirely unconfirmed rumor at this point but "internal documents" obtained by Kotaku would seem to indicate that EB Games in Canada [which is owned by GameStop] is doing away with separate pre-owned games sections. Instead, all the games will be kept together and pre-owned games will be priced with the same standard stickers as new games, rather than the distinctive yellow stickers with which they're currently adorned."

That's no biggy, but wait! There is more.

"...according to the insider employee there's a bit more to it than just that. He claims that stores have been told to ditch all signage advertising used games and to place used copies of games on top of new ones on the shelves."

"We were told that we were to merge all used games with the new games and have them sectioned off by one of four specific genres they gave us," he wrote. "They told us that the new copy must be on the very bottom of the pile..."

This plan was originally proposed by  VP Sneer

The Escapist does suggest an alternative (and not so villainous) explanation for this alleged behaviour. However if this is true it is an underhanded attempted that is mostly going to affect people with good intentions and poor knowledge. In a world where new copy free content is becoming more and more common this is dirty form of pool.

Till the next post.

NS Gaming: Boardgasm's Child's Play Marathon

Starting today is the Nova Scotia Board Gaming Society's Super Mega Ultra Combo Board Gaming Marathon Weekend. The event will be a marathon of gaming to support this year's Penny Arcade Child's Play.

From Noon on November 24th until Midnight on November 26th, several brave souls will be undertaking a Board Gaming marathon. Everything will be broadcast live over the internet. In addition, viewers will have the opportunity to influence the event. By donating money to Child's Play, a very worthy charity, viewers can help determine which game is played next, which players will be playing, and they can even force specific players to play games they hate. For the complete rules to the event, look below. - Source

The games range from Castle Panic to Risk to The Walking Dead (sadly no Battleship this year). So make sure to check out the site and make a donation, it is going to a good cause. You can also see the full game list here. Hit the jump for a couple bio videos made by the marathon players as you can tell from the screens below hijinks ensue.

Kate or Die!

http://kateordie.tumblr.com/

The things you learn about at conventions (I found enough stuff to read and entertain myself for months!). Kate or Die! Is written, inked, and everythinged by Kate Leth of Halifax. The comic deals with everything and anything from women in comics to LBGQT? (LQBGT? LGBSMQT? acronyms escape me) issues to Bat Girl to all kinds of other things.








The site is described as a "combination/sketch/comics/inspiration blog" (we think of MGD as the same except without sketches, comics, or inspiration). Kate is very intimate with her readers. She lays out everything. Reading her comic almost feels like reading a diary. Behind the simple cartoony style you feel like you are getting to know the author on a personal level (She reveals things about herself that I would only ever admit to in a competitive game of "Never Have I Ever"... after the fourth or fifth shot of tequila). You get all of Kate all at once whether you are ready or not. Kate will be selling her first printed comic (featured in an issue of Locke and Key) at Strange Adventures this Wednesday.

The Guide to the Known Keys comes out everywhere this Wednesday, November 23rd. If you live in Halifax, I’ll be at Strange Adventures on Wednesday from 12-2 and I’ll have prints of that second image! I did it up as a little extra incentive to support my first print comic. I’m pretty excited about the whole thing, if you couldn’t tell. :) - link

Unfortunately I'm stuck in Podunk, Nowhere so I'm trying to send Perry The Saurus in my stead to pick me up a copy. Fingers set to crossed!

Check out Kate's Art here.
Check out Kate's Twitter here.
And of course check out Kate's comic here.

Till the next post.

Geek Love: Like Staring Into the Sun

Caught this on a little known blog today.

Geek Love will air on December 18th at 9:00pm. It follows a speed dating service that caters to geeks/nerds at comic conventions.

     Dating's never easy, but try dating in a Darth Vader mask or Wonder Woman ensemble. Now meet nerd-tastic Ryan Glitch, founder of Sci-Fi Speed Dating, who will bring viewers into the fun, quirky and sometimes bizarre world of geek-focused speed dating on TLC's new special GEEK LOVE. Two half hour specials have been ordered and will air back to back on December 18th at 9PM (ET/PT).

     Glitch sets up speed dating at events like Comic-Con, bringing like-minded people together to embrace their quirkiness and find love. When comic and sci-fi fans can't find someone to share their passion, they turn to Glitch. Viewers will get an insider's look at the stories behind the daters and witness their journey throughout the speed dating session at New York's Comic-Con.

A video demonstrating a Chewbacca (why no wookie?) mating call, after the jump.

Hal-Con Post the Sequelning! Drakaina Muse

This will be my last post about the events of last weekend. I got to spend some time at Drakaina's panel. Before I talk about the content of said panel an aside;

I had never heard of a professional muse before this last weekend. The first thought that came to my mind upon hearing this (and I bet to Drakaina's chagrin she gets asked something to this effect all the time) "So she's a model". Ben very swiftly (and painfully) corrected me. However I checked out her site immediately after getting home from the Con (read: waking up hung over on Ben's apartment floor). Just to try and wrap my head around the concept of a modern day muse. Drakaina explains the evolution from model to muse here. She does it much better than I believe I can.

"They didn’t want me to be only their model anymore, they were looking at me as a Muse … The time of Drakaina the fantasy art Model was long gone, it was now the Era of Drakaina the Muse... Inspiring painters, drawers, poets and writers, as well as several models in my native France, where Fantasy art Modeling was finally recognized as a true form of artistic expression"

I think I've come to an understanding as to what a modern muse does. However it is very hard to dispel the image of a starving artist furiously at his chosen craft gazing up at Drakaina (wearing a billowing robe of somekind, let's say made of satin) as she eats, grapes or playfully leafs through a magazine or simply reclines on some kind of abstract chair basking in the sun (as images go it could be worse). To make a long story short it's a cool job and I would love to be a professional inspire-er (or source of inspiration may be a more apt way to put it).

Hal-Con 2011!

This Saturday the MGD gang (that is me and my friends) went down to Halifax Convention and Trade Center to get our Con on. This was my first time at a Con it was a total hoot. With anything new in my life, especially events happening in Halifax my default becomes cautious optimism. But the Hal-Con website was boastful in its claims of awesomeness

"Hal-Con is the largest event of its kind in all of Atlantic Canada, featuring actors, authors, comic book guests and many other great sci-fi personalities. Halifax, Nova Scotia is making a mark on the field of fantastic conventions across Canada!"

 I admit, Halifax you guys nailed it. Congratulations to the planners and organizers you guys know how to throw a party. From the Q&A with Steve Jackson to the Quantum Frontier games room I had a blast the whole time. The costumes were beyond cool and it was worth the day pass just to see them. (Pictures will be included after the jump) I also attended a cool panel with Drakaina Muse and two lovely gentlemen spearheading a comic book based on her persona. That will get its own post later today or tomorrow. I only have one regret and one criticism of the whole event. My regret of course is only going for Saturday, I realized that I probably missed out on some awesome cosplay and probably some more events.

My one criticism of the whole event is this. Where was the food? Is this something I'm missing? Is this a common con thing? The con ran from 9:00am- 12:00am on Saturday, that covers all the meal times. We're all a bunch of nerds and geeks nothing fancy would have been necessary. I would have paid AIRPORT prices for a hamburger while I was wandering around. Until 9 o'clock the only source of refreshment in the entire building was a coke machine. I just don't understand the logic, I could have setup a poutine, hotdog, or kebap stand outside the doors and probably made no less than one MILLION dollars. The whole thing blows my mind.

So all in all it was a great experience (I even learned a new dance) and I'm sad I likely will be in Korea for it next year.  So cosplay time! I'll leave you guys with my favourite cosplay of the day and put up the rest after the jump. I thought that this was the most well made, recognizable but not overdone idea of the con.

 

I just don't have enough words for how badass this costume is. Hit the jump for more Hal-Con Cosplay with the MGDers throwing up the super spy.

EDIT: Apparently the lack of food is a WTCC rule (thanks Obama), work on the hot-dog stand for next year is almost complete. I just need a stand and... hot dogs (I have  all the ketchup necessary).

Racism and Halloween

This is a late post. It's about Halloween.I was reading CBC the other day and came across this article. The article is about a campaign run by Ohio University's Students Teaching About Racism in Society (or STARS, one always wonders how much time is spent trying to put together a relevant name that is also an acronym.) The campaign was raising awareness against costumes that depict racial stereotypes. This apparently is a hot topic issue, looking at the polls on CBC it seems that the knee jerk reaction is to defend tradition, but then I have to ask where in Canadian, American or the history of Halloween's culture is this part of the tradition?

Do people really need to dress up as a geisha? Who is being deprived of their Holiday experience by not dressing up as a terrorist? Anyway I am usually an anything goes type of person but I have to reluctantly agree with STARS' message. I want everything to be fair game, but I have to say if dressing up like a terrorist is the pinnacle of your wit when it comes to costume design maybe you should try getting some ideas from your friends?
Ok now that my politik has been exercised for the month onto the reason for this post. The whole need for the preceding text is to explain the inspiration for the following image. I made this out of love truly. So anyway knowing the source for this parody, please enjoy.

Till the next post.