Friends, I hope
you had a good weekend. On Saturday, 25 July 2009, Janice and I went for a
brief hike in the Blue
Hills Reservation south of Boston. We were glad to finally enjoy some
proper summer weather. It got muggy yesterday, but we have yet to set up our
air conditioner in our living room window.

I also picked up
my comic book subscriptions,
several DVDs of recent movies, and
some video
games, all of which I'll try to review in the coming weeks. We ate out at British Brewing Company and Acapulco's.

I also spent
much of the past several days watching G4's OK coverage
of the San Diego Comic-Con (more about
that also to come) and BBC America's Torchwood: Children of
Earth and Doctor Who: Planet of
the Dead. Although it's too bad that the latest seasons/series of both
British science fiction shows have been truncated, it's hard to argue with the
quality of the darkly dramatic Torchwood
and more family-friendly Doctor Who.

The
sociopolitical commentary in Children of Earth,
in which aliens try to extort millions of children from governments led by the
U.K., was sharper than usual for that Doctor
Who spin-off. Most of the time, it didn't come off as preachy, thanks to a good script
and a strong cast led by John Barrowman as "Capt. Jack Harkness" and
Eve Myles as "Gwen Cooper."

After the six-hour
Children of Earth miniseries (including
"Into the Hub" background notes), Planet of the
Dead was a light dessert, despite its ominous title. It's the beginning of the end
for David Tennant as Doctor Who, but even without another movie, I'm optimistic about
newcomer Matt
Smith as the long-lived time traveler.

This week, in addition to work, I expect to be
busy with the usual games.
The Pathfinder: "Holy Steel"
teleconferencing team met virtually this past Saturday night, as our heroes
entered the pyramid of Unas. Prospective role-player Rich D. plans to join the D&D4e "Vanished
Lands: the Faith-Based Initiative" adventuring party at tonight's
fantasy session (Monday, 27 July 2009). I've been running both groups weekly
for a few months now, so although they're enjoyable, I look forward to an occasional
break from being host and Game Master.

As
discussed at our Yahoo message board,
the current economic recession and technological change have caused several
observers to ask whether pen-and-paper (or pizza-and-dice) role-playing games (RPGs)
are doomed.
I hope not.

Despite
increasing competition from miniatures/war games, collectible card games, board
games, and of course, computer/video games, I've rarely had difficulty finding tabletop
gamers. I want our
hobby and the publishers that support it continue to thrive, if not at the
same levels as during the booms of the early 1980s or late 1990s.

According
to some estimates, about 4 million people in the U.S. (and up to 2 million in
the rest of the world) regularly play such games, most of them
using Wizards of the Coast's Dungeons & Dragons Fourth
Edition (D&D4e). I'm looking forward to Paizo's final release of the Pathfinder
(or "D&D3.75") fantasy RPG later this summer. The sourcebooks for
that alternative to D&D4e have been inspiring so far.

Although
it has started to wind down, I hope the D&D4e "Vanished
Lands: the Faith-Based Initiative" face-to-face party has pushed
ahead with its adventures. The wanderers have helped barbarian tribes and
fought witches and monsters. In fact, prospective player Rich D. may be joining
the Boston-area group, which currently has about eight members.

We'll
see how the
purchase of Your Move Games in Somerville, Mass., by Cambridge-based Pandemonium Books & Games
affects the local role-playing community. I've also supported the Compleat
Strategist in Boston, New York, and Virginia, but its current location near
Northeastern University isn't easy to get to for me right now.

Despite
some scheduling snafus, the Pathfinder: "Holy Steel"
teleconferencing team has done well in ancient Egypt, where it has conducted
diplomacy and tried to uncover plots by the cult of Set against Pharaoh Ramses
II.

I
dropped out of the City of Heroes supergroup
around the time of my layoff earlier this summer. Since David I.S. and Dexter
V.H. have been too busy for the Lord of the
Rings Online, I may end my
subscription for that multiplayer game as well. Dex is waiting for Champions
Online, and I'm somewhat interested in DC Universe
Online.

On the other hand, I've been using Wii Fit every other day for a few
months now, and I'm looking forward to the Wii Motion Plus and Wii
Sports Resort, and back to pen-and-paper games for a moment, the Doctor
Who RPG.