FILMS: Peter Jackson To NOT Direct "The Hobbit."

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Hi Guys,

You might have recently read that Peter Jackson (PJ), the film director who recently made the highly successful Lord of the Rings (LOTR) films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's novels will NOT be doing a "Hobbit" movie. I'm not too interested in the details, but the rumor is that there is some legal shenaniganry going on between PJ and Newline Cinema. This doesn't break my heart.

I'm probably in a minority of folks that thought the PJ LOTR films started out with great promise and went downhill after that. I loved the first film and was steadily disappointed after that. What PJ did with Shelob (the giant spider) really annoyed me. And the final film Return of the King (ROTK) really shrunk down some of the best scenes and the book and made a horrible "Hobbit-palooza"... I was ready to barf after some of the stonky "goodie-two-shoes" "hobbit lovefest" scenes in ROTK. What a terrible way to ruin a perfectly good book.

I haven't read "The Hobbit" for many years and definitely not as an adult over the age of 18... ...but, I have fond memories of it and remembered thinking that it did an awful lot for such a little book. I also recall feeling that it did as much with one little book as LOTR did with three. Of course, I was much younger then...

Still, I liked it.

It sure kicked butt on the really boring Simarillion, which reads like pharmaceutical packaging (I did finally labor through it... the Simarillion not the packaging)... the mythos of Simarillion were good, but the writing was awful. We can't really blame Tolkien for that though... he had left it hidden away in unfinished manuscript form until his family reincarnated it. Thanks, Chris (Tolkien's son).

And speaking of PJ, King Kong didn't do much for me either despite its visual splendor. My nephew and I almost fell asleep during that dinosaur... err, overgrown monkey. Lots of style, little content... or maybe too much content. One of my first comments about King Kong was that it was a three-and-a-half hour (Was it four?) movie that would have made a good one-and-a-half hour long movie. Oh, the perils of editing...

I'm not upset that PJ isn't going to do it... "The Hobbit."

He could probably ruin that too.

And I probably ought to give PJ his due since my other hand is giving him the axe; his LOTR films are absolutely the best live-action ones done to date. They beat the hack... umm, heck out everything that came before although I still like the old Bakshi Hobbit cartoon AKA animated film. I hear it's better with a little herbal encouragement... haven't tried that though... sort of wish I had though.

OK... RANT MODE OFF.

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate the holiday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.
It doesn't help that I can't stand that namby-pamby, sissy boy, O-Bloom, they had play the elf... he's the worst thing since Leonardo Duhcrapio... I liked Legolas in the book. Sigh.

P.S.S.
Here's a gratuitous babe shot to help make it all better... LOL

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

HUMOUR: "May I Ask What The Turkey Did?"

. Hi Everyone,

This joke is floating around the Internet... hope you enjoy it:

A young man named Jon received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity. Jon tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally Jon was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. Jon shook the parrot and the parrot got even angrier and more rude. Jon in desperation, threw up his hands and grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer.

For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then, suddenly there was total quiet, not a peep was heard. Fearing that he had hurt the parrot, Jon quickly opened the door to the freezer.

The parrot calmly stepped out onto Jon's outstretched arm and said "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I am sincerely remorseful for any inappropriate transgressions. I fully intend to do everything I can do to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."

Jon was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. He was about to ask the parrot why he had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, but the bird continued...

"May I ask what the turkey did?"

I know what the Turkey did...

Mind you, this was before the annual White House pardon.

One good turkey deserves another?

Seriously, respect the office if not the man. One of the great beauties of democracy is that if you don't like the current office holder, you only have to wait until the next election to express yourself at the voting booth.

Happy Turkey Day and...

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

GAMING NEWS: Command Horizon & Maksim's Gaming!

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Hi Everyone,

Despite my myriad chores and lack of enough gaming, this past weekend wasn't a total loss...

I spent part this past weekend beating a video game, something I haven't done in several years. My roommate succesfully got me hooked on a computer game almost four months ago; he got me interested in Knights of The Old Republic, a Star Wars roleplaying game that came out way back in 2003. You can learn more about the game here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_of_the_old_republic

Since then a sequel has come out and even another sequel is rumored to be out sometime next year. Parts of the game were pedantic, but overall, I enjoyed the experience. The music and graphic were spot on... it very much captured the experience of being in a Star Wars movie... at least as I imagined it!

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In other hobby news, I've been very busy with writing for the new Baccus sci-fi game that is now available.

You can learn more about Baccus here:
http://www.baccus6mm.com/

And you can check out the Yahoo support group for Command Horizon, the new Baccus 6mm sci-fi game here:
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/commandhorizon/

A message from Peter here:

I'll put and end to the waiting and speculation and announce that I've finally released the Command Horizon SF range and it is now available. Very shortly I'll be unveiling a brand new web site devoted solely to the CH range, but for the moment you'll be able to find all the information on the models and the prices if you visit the Baccus site.

As well as the models themselves we'll be producing a range of accessories and scenics. The first of these can be found at the above link and is a range of pre-cast bases with different surface finishes. We've been using these ourselves for mounting the demonstration models and they work great, saving loads of time and effort and producing a great end result.

And because we all want to play games with our little men and little tanks we've even produced a set of rules to allow you to do just that. These are currently available as a FREE pdf download which you can access from the Baccus site.

These releases don't indicate that we've stopped work on the range - far from it. Planning is already well underway for more human releases and the first of the Alien races. We hope you enjoy both the models and the rules. We've had a great time working on both.

Cheers,
Peter Berry
Baccus 6mm
http://www.baccus6mm.com/

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I have also been very busy with a hobby project that I never expected to ever get involved with: I'm building a WHFB (Warhammer Fantasy Battles) army in 28mm... oh, heretical scale!

My friend Nils invited me to join him in a game and when I learned that Thomas Foss, one of the big kahunas of Flagship Games was involved as well as Aron Clark, Dirtside II and ASQL (Alien Squadleader) maestro, I couldn't turn them down. Additionally, Harry and Terry of Screaming GIs fame, recently got interested in WHFB and if two seriously dedicated historicals nuts like them can get involved, why can't I?

Not long after I considered getting involved, A-1 Comics on Sunrise had a huge sale of Reaper miniatures so I picked up a ton of Reaper's beautifully cast 28mm Razig's Revenge undead pirates at a steal, or should I say plunder! ...too cool.

I've been working on that army since. This past weekend, I stopped by Michaels, a craft shop, to pick up a little bag of seashells to put on the bases of the figures. I'm going for the whole "Pirates of the Carribean" undead pirate theme.

And to think that Bill from the former Hobby Workshop game store spent years trying to convince me to buy into a WHFB army. He almost had me sold when he told me I could build a Tomb Kings army based on the ancient Hebrews complete with an Ark of the Covenant. I miss that old shop... it was full of character and... um, characters! LOL

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Have a great a day and a great Thanksgiving if I don't get to blog sooner!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.


Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

PERSONAL NEWS: Many Missed Holidays!

.Hi Everyone,

Wow, it's been several weeks since I last posted. I hadn't realized that I've been that busy. Lots has gone on since my last post. The above photo is of me getting caught on my birthday, this past Halloween, at my office cubicle. I was half asleep and didn't get a chance to crack much of a smile... let alone wake up when this photo got snapped.

Firstly, we had a Halloween party at work and I wanted to share a few photos from that party:

The winning entry from our pumpkin carving contest.

Look Mom, I work with Johnny Cash!

Our IT wizard... for real!

Some of the participants in the costume contest.

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Secondly, Veteran's Day has come and gone and I wanted to wish a Happy Veteran's Day to all the veterans out there... including my father. Happy Veterans Day, Dad!

If it wasn't for veterans, we wouldn't have so many of the things that so many folks take for granted... intangible and invaluable things like freedom of speech, government stability, enough food and so many other things that too many folks elsewhere in the world aren't able to take for granted. May it not always be so.

I'm dedicating my much belated Veteran's Day post this year to Captain Jeffrey Toczylowski, 30 years old. Rest in peace, brother. He was recently killed in battle in Iraq.

He not only fought for what he beleived in, but made arrangements to throw a $100k party for his friends when his time came. A hat tip to Mr. AP. Read more about it here:

http://tinyurl.com/yggsbx

And here:

http://tinyurl.com/y9d89x

And his family and friends set up a tribute web site here:

http://www.jefftoz.com/

A quote from him:

“Don’t ever think that you are defending me by slamming the Global War on Terrorism or the U.S. goals in that war,” Jeffrey Toczylowski wrote. “As far as I am concerned, we can send guys like me to go after them or we can wait for them to come back to us again. I died doing something I believed in and have no regrets except that I couldn’t do more.”

God bless the folks willing to take action when diplomacy breaks down in the face of obstinacy.

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I spent the weekend before last down in Southern California visiting my girlfriend, Svetlana. We went out to the movies, saw Sony Picture's Open Season, which was a fun little animated flick. We also spent alot of time on the beaches...

She has a great apartment literally on the beaches of Hermosa Beach, Southern California. We also visited several other spots including Venice Beach, Muscle Beach and the Santa Monica Pier. It was a good time and it will go at least a little ways towards explaining my absence from blogging for that weekend... LOL :)

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And this past weekend, I spent doing chores... ironing, cleaning and that bane of all men...SHOPPING! After nearly two tough years, I had to bite the bullet and buy shoes again. It was dumb luck that Mervyns had a "Buy one, get one free" sale so I bought a pair of black leather business shoes for work and a pair of running shoes for the gym. I was pretty pleased and thanks to the sale, I got two pairs of good shoes for well under a C-spot. Grocery shopping also occupied me... don't domestic chores stink?

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Have a great Tuesday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

GAMING NEWS: News From WAB-Man’s Memorial.

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Hi Everyone,

Well, last weekend has now passed and I’ve been too busy to blog…

Here’s some news regarding WAB-Man’s memorial last Sunday:

Gang,
I want to thank all those who made it to Scott's service, and those that were there in spirit. I also want to really thank all those that were at Scott's house today. We raised over $2,000.00 USD. That will cover many of the short-term bills that the family has for Scott. I will be selling mush of Scott's stuff on E-bay and at Flea markets for a while. The money will go to Terry Parson, his cousin who is out here, and to his father. Those of you that sent a list have had as much of it filled as possible.
- We will be doing the Mega game of Zama or some such battle from the 2nd Punic War. This will be a tribute to Scott. The armies are mostly painted by Scott, but several units are being finished by Manny Ruiz. Thank you Manny as that is a big project. Just flocking all those bases will be a major job.
- Roger Mark and I are going to do a Stalingrad game in his honor, using his Russians and Germans. We do however plan on flocking the bases.
- Tony Mark has taken over Scott's Han Chinese and I look forward to seeing them on a table.
- Mark Coumo is continuing to run the Warhammer Historicals Tournaments, and maybe the next one will be called the Hayes Cup.

Scott had a lot of good friends and he will be missed.
Mark A. Steinberg.

And Mark is still selling off much of the rest of Scott’s stuff to help out his family:

Some of Scott's stuff is on E-bay. So far the only items are his Battlecry games by Avalon Hill and lots of Warhammer Fantasy boxed miniatures sets. I used the "I sold it" function on E-bay service to list the items. They stupidly put the items in very illogical lots and I can't get them to change the lots. The lots all have a box of Goblins with them. Scott had 18 boxes of Goblins!

The "I sold it" people put Empire with Goblins, Undead with Goblins, Bretonnians with Goblins, etc. ...all very stupid. If any of you think about it, could you do Scott and I a favor and send them an E-mail asking why they put the lots together in the way they did.

The seller is "Isoldit.ca0231." The lots include item numbers:

- 160049386938
- 160049386956
- ...and others.

Thanks.

I will let you all know when I put up any other lots. Also we will be trying to have another direct sale, maybe in some driveway.
Mark A. Steinberg.

Meanwhile, the memorial game for Scott Hayes has been set up:

Here is the official announcement about the WAB tournament at The Shield...

California Championships featuring The Hayes Cup Warhammer Ancient Battles:

- Sunday 9am
- Umpires: Jim Clarke & Mark Cuomo.
- 2500 pt per side (Each army must have an army general) ·
- Table size no smaller than 6'x4'. ·
- 3 rounds, 2 hours or 7 turns (2500 point games), which ever comes first.
- 2 lists allowed for each army. Each list must be from same `titled' army list
(i.e. You can't mix Early Macedonian and the Macedonian Imperial, but you can use the entire Carthaginian list and have an army in Africa and one for Italy ).
- Each player must present their lists to judge before the tournament for approval.

Go to:
http://www.fantassin.org/TheShield2007.htm
or:
http://www.shieldconference.
…for more details.

And even TMP (The Miniatures Page) featured an article on Scott:

6 November 2006
The Passing of Whitemetalman
It is with extreme sadness that I report to you the death of TMP'er Whitemetalman (AKA Scott Hayes).

Scott succumbed to cancer October 30th, 2006. He was just 45 years old. As you may or may not know, Scott was an iconic figure and ambassador to our hobby in Northern California. Among his many, many accomplishments, he helped form the club that is today the Miniature Wargamers Society of Sacramento, organized and ran the WAB tourneys at his local conventions (Kublacon, The Shield, Conquest SF and ConQuest Sacramento), and finally, promoted our hobby whenever and wherever he could.

Scott was known as Whitemetalman on the TMP boards.

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And my past weekend was a good one as well…

Kimbo and I took a road trip down to Endgame in Oakland, which is the “center of the universe” as far as gaming goes… shelf after shelf of board games, card games, miniatures games, dice and everything calculated to make a gamer happy. Kimbo’s a great guy and he made the trip a good one as much as Endgame did. I ran into the EBAG guys there and said hi to Mark (Missed Warwick who was out at lunch). They were playing a variety of games including Napoleonics, WHFB, D&D Collectible Minis and gladiator (Hoc Habet) games.

You can learn more about Endgame here:

http://www.endgameoakland.com/

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And this weekend is BGG Con. BGG stands for Boardgame Geek and it’s probably the most outstanding web site on board games in the world. BGG Con is unique in that it is a totally open gaming convention… just bring your favorite games, sit down and play… very cool!

You can learn more about BGG here:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/

Kimbo’s the only person I know going from around here (Northern California area), but I know a lot of folks down there attending including the TLC Unit (Todd Loves Crystal) and I hope they have a great time!

Safe travels to you, Kimbo!

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And lastly, this weekend is the MWS (Miniature Wargamers Society of Sacramento) meeting:

Title: MWS Monthly Meeting
Date: Saturday, November 11, 2006
Time: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Location: Rancho Cordova Library

Learn more about MWS here:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/M_W_S/

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And a great three-day weekend to all who can get it!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).

GAMING NEWS: The WAB-Man is Gone.

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Hi Everyone,

Preparations are under way for a memorial service for Scott Hayes. Mark recently wrote and shared the following information:

All,
For those of you that did not hear, Scott Hayes passed away on October 30. His family is having him cremated and his ashes spread over Puget Sound per his request. There will be a memorial service but the family has not yet located a place. It will likely be Friday night.

On Sunday his gaming buddies and I will be hosting a get-together at his house and will buy his stuff from his family. We wil trust you to pay a fair price to his family to help them pay off his debts. We will be on hand to apply the guilt factor to pay a fair price. Get there about Noon.

His family would rather the local gaming community have the figures that he painted than have them go on E-bay to people who won't appreciate them. Many of the painted figures are parts of largely completed projects. The unpainted and boxed stuff will be sold on E-bay. The stuff that we will be selling on Sunday will be his paints, his projects, his board games, magazines etc.

Bring your own box and cash. See you there.

Mark A. Steinberg.

Please contact Mark or myself for more information (location, time, etc.).

Another gamer remembered Scott:

A sad day for all gamers... Scott was a great guy.
Salute!
Michael H.

And Manny Granillo, owner of the local SHIELD convention and a fine gentleman to boot, has already announced the following:

Gents
Scott's passing came as a shock to me this morning. I had come to know Scott pretty well since he was one of the few people I could count on to help with running the WAB tournament at The Shield.
In his memory, I will rename the WAB tournament prize to The Hayes Cup and dedicate this upcoming Shield 2007 to Scott Hayes and all the wonderful things he did to promote the hobby and just be a good friend.
He will be sorely missed.
Manny Granillo.

Another local convention, ConQuest Sac 2007 also has plans for a memorial convention. The ConQuest Sac 2007 effort has been led by Roger M., a fine gentleman and a scholar as well as a former 82nd Airbourne paratrooper.

You can learn more about The SHIELD 2007 here:

http://www.geocities.com/ancientconference2004/

And ConQuest Sac 2007 here:

http://www.avalonconventions.com/conquestsac/

Have a great Thursday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

P.S.
WAB is an abbreviation for Warhammer Ancient Battles, a popular game of ancients warfare using miniatures. Learn more about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warhammer_Ancient_Battles

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).