In between juggling work, various games, and weekend visitors, I've been following a number of debates online. The most important is the discussion, exemplified by friends and fellow bloggers Steve M.R. and Jim J.D'B., about politics and how to best protect our future. Should the U.S. continue its current military engagement in the Middle East? How can we contain the threat of nuclear proliferation? What's more important at home, security or freedom? Nobody has all the right answers.

As co-worker Ken G. noted, today is "First Contact Day," which in the "Star Trek" space opera franchise refers to the day in 2063 when humanity takes its first steps toward becoming part of an interstellar society. Let us hope that even if Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future (from World War III to the utopian Federation) isn't correct, that we can successfully strive for a world in which our environment is nurtured, our people are at peace, and each person can fulfill his or her true potential.

At work, there has been dynamic tension as journalists and others in our industry struggle to best serve readers and preserve their careers in the face of changing reader habits and the shift of advertising from print to online. How do we broaden our audience without losing our distinctive and authoritative voice? How can we maintain quality while increasing workoads? Only time will tell if we're successful.

David I.S. and I spoke last night over the telephone about the constant challenge of time management. As tempting as videogames and other genre entertainment may be, there's still no substitute for face-to-face socializing and creativity. Even I, who tend to prefer sedentary pursuits, have gotten a bit stir crazy after the belated and long New England winter. On the other hand, I also want to make the best use of time playing "Dungeons & Dragons" Edition 3.5 and "City of Heroes," which has been leading me, if not all my peers, toward "rules-lite" rules systems and more rationed scheduling. Ah, to sleep, perchance to dream–there's the rub!

Of course, fanboys are always happy to debate the merits of a particular franchise or medium: Was "Highlander: the Series" better than the movies? (Yes to all but the first one.) Can the "Buffy: the Vampire Slayer" comic books sustain the cult following of Joss Whedon's ensemble horror/drama television series? (Maybe.) Of course, we also have to look at things in their historical context and acknowledge our own biases.

Are all the summer movie sequels good for our favorite franchises or bad for them? I'm optimistic about "Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer" and the next "Harry Potter," but less so for "Spider-Man 3," and I wonder how long Hollywood can keep mining comic books. Why has "Justice Society of America" been more interesting than "Justice League of America" so far, and will readers keep following Tony Stark's plan to turn superheroes into SHIELD flunkies?

I promise a less-philosophical and more detailed update after this weekend…

Friends, I hope you had a good weekend. On Friday, 30 March 2007, Byron V.O. arrived from New York, where he had been attending a work-related conference. The patent lawyer and former member of the Boston-area social/gaming groups has been very good at staying in touch since moving to St. Louis last year, and Janice and I hosted him for the weekend.

On Saturday, Byron went to visit an ill niece while Janice and I did some shopping at the so-called Natick Collection and Shopper's World plaza near where I work. We had Indian food for lunch in the food court before running into Byron on our way back to Janice's and my second duplex in Needham Heights, Massachusetts.

That evening, I was pleasantly surprised at the strong turnout for a one-shot game in honor of our guest. As shown in the photograph above, the group included me (kneeling, front left), Brian W./"Le Cafard," Beruk A./"The Stranger" (standing, far left), Brie/"Daughter of Ether," Paul J./"Capt. Oblivious," Thomas K.Y./"the Righteous Fist," Brian A./"Cmdr. Confusion" (back row), Greg D.C./"the Electric Slide," and Byron/"Arcturus." Not shown are Dexter V.H./"Neutralizer-X," who participated by videoconference, and Janice, who took the picture.

The code-names after each person listed above are those of their characters in my D20 "Mutants & Masterminds" 2nd Ed.: "Drake's Port" superhero scenarios. In all, even with James B./"Sid the Kid," Doug H., and others missing, we had 10 role-players for a game scheduled on short notice!

Of course, that led to a slow start and some communications challenges in my basement, but I hope everyone enjoyed the session, in which the costumed vigilantes dealt with the ramifications of events depicted in Marvel Comics' "Civil War" and D.C. Comics' "Identity/Infinite Crisis" and "52/One Year Later" storylines. For more information, visit the Yahoo/eGroups Web club at: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/DnD3VanishedLands/

Greg brought dinner from "Blue Ribbon Barbeque" in Newton, Mass., but unfortunately, spicy food two meals in a row was a bit too much for me and Janice, who spent Sunday recovering. Byron and I stayed up late into the night talking, mainly about his Egyptian Paladin "Ibrahim" in my D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands" fantasy campaign.

Yesterday, Steve M.R. and I demonstrated the "City of Heroes" online game for Byron. College friend Ron J.K. (who was visiting his brother in Brookline, Mass.) met Byron and me for lunch at a local "Bertucci's" Italian restaurant, followed by picking up Janice to screen the new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie. If you're a fan of the original comic books, the various television cartoons, or the previous movies, you'll probably like the latest revival of a 1980s genre franchise.

The martial arts action was well-choreographed, the computer animation was stunning, and the action scenes were fast-paced. The relatively simple plot takes place sometime after the events of the live-action flicks, and the decent voice cast included Patrick Stewart ("Star Trek: the Next Generation" and "The X-Men"), Sarah Michele Gellar ("Buffy: the Vampire Slayer"), the late Mako ("Conan: the Barbarian" and "Samurai Jack"), and Chris Evans ("Fantastic Four"). I'd give "TMNT" a 7 or 8 out of 10.

Although I won't be running the regular D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains" Arabian fantasy game on Tuesday night, I'll probably run another one-shot during Dexter's planned visit this coming weekend, when Janice will be visiting her extended family in Pennsylvania. In the meantime, I'll be enjoying the latest episodes of "The Dresden Files" and "Smallville," as well as "Avatar: the Last Airbender" on DVD. As co-worker Ken G. noted, so much genre entertainment to follow, so little time…

Last week, there was a health fair at work. I'm pleased to report that my blood pressure was 126/80, my cholesterol low (below 150), and my face was clear of any precancerous lesions. The cheesburger diet works for me! Janice and my co-workers were jealous of my genetic luck. On the other hand, a family history of heart, colon, and prostate trouble means I should still take health seriously.

This week brought less pleasant news: As reader habits continue to shift from print to online, there were some layoffs, and CW and its sister publications are planning for another redesign. I'm glad that the company has been forward-looking, but I wish that the human toll was lighter. We've been pretty busy, so I hope the need for good journalism won't go away anytime soon.

Back to health concerns for a moment: My follow-up with the root canal doctor went well, with the X-rays showing that I've healed enough for the next round of work on my upper right molars. I have yet another dental appointment in two weeks for crowns.

This past Saturday, 24 March 2007, Janice and I drove to Hartford Connecticut, for a Sugarloaf Craft Festival. We used to go to such fairs more often when we lived in Virginia in the 1990s. The 250+ artists, food vendors, and other merchants were interesting, and we stopped for dinner at "Firefly's" in Framingham, Massachusetts, on the way home. Inspired by "The Phantom Gourmet" on local television, I had the "Dave Andelman" appetizer — tasty Angus miniburgers.

On Sunday, after watching "Chefography" on the Food Network and catching up on recorded episodes of "Smallville," we also saw some installments of "Joes vs. Pros" on ESPN. While I'm an armchair athlete at best, I came away with a new appreciation for those people who spend their careers in sports.

The latest season finale of the SciFi Channel's revisionist "Battlestar Galactica" almost redeemed most of the military space opera's recent storylines. "Lee 'Apollo' Adama's" moralistic monalogue, the revelation of the so-called final five android Cylon models, and the cliffhanger ending both raised new questions and harkened back to the best of the 1970s series. I'm still annoyed that the producers have taken credit for reinventing the wheel and by some of the more mystical or soap-operatic aspects of the show, but I'll be returning to it in 2008.

"The Dresden Files" on the SciFi Channel has also been good, with "Farscape" and "Stargate" alumna Claudia Black making a cameo on the supernatural private detective show this past Sunday night. Janice has been reading the novels, which are somewhat different from the television show.

Speaking of genre entertainment, co-worker Ken G., who shares similar (though not identical) tastes, has a well-done blog at http://www.showbits.net/ I've also had good conversations with Steph F. and April O'C., causing me to wonder whether I have more in common with my employer's design and online groups than with my fellow copy editors.

Back to comic books, I've mentioned before Dynamite Entertainment's excellent adaptations of Robert E. Howard's "Conan" gritty fantasy stories. The art has been as good or better than the long-running Marvel Comics version, and even cheesecake spin-off "Red Sonja" has been entertaining.

Most of the comics I read are superhero titles, but Dynamite and others have revived some licensed properties that I'm fond of, including "The Lone Ranger," "Battlestar Galactica" (classic 1970s version), and "Highlander." Darwyn Cooke's "Spirit" is a fitting tribute to the late, great Will Eisner, and I occasionally pick up other retro books such as "The Phantom" and "Zorro."

Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming's "Powers" is postmodern in cynicism and style, but still well-written, while Alex Ross and Kurt Busiek keep trying (and mostly succeed) in recapturing the optimism of the Silver Age (1960s and 1970s) in "Astro City."

After this week's D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands" fantasy session and the "City of Heroes" online game, I've got to get ready to host teleconferencer Byron V.O. this coming weekend. He'll be visiting the Boston area for a conference and to see an ill niece, and he'll be staying with Janice and me from Friday through Sunday, when college chum Ron J.K. also hopes to meet.

We'll probably have another one-shot role-playing gathering and screen "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." The following weekend, Dexter V.H. may visit while Janice joins her folks in Pennsylvania for Easter. Who needs sleep?

Friends, I hope you've had a good week. My root canal was as unpleasant as one might imagine (see earlier postings), and I hope that the most painful and expensive part is over. However, as the doctor finished digging a nerve out of my upper right jaw, he noted that next week's X-rays will determine whether further surgery is needed. After all that, I still need to go back to my regular dentist for new caps. I'll be glad when I can eat on both sides of my mouth again, and after a month, I'm already missing pizza, bagels, and crispy chips.

After a long commute home through bad weather last Friday, 16 March 2007, Janice and I spent St. Patrick's Day indoors (not counting shoveling snow). Of course, watching "The Phantom Gourmet" on local television should be enough to make anybody hungry and stir-crazy, and I hope to get to some of the many Boston-area restaurants it reviewed sometime soon.

Janice and I watched "Hellboy: Blood & Iron," the latest animated tale parallel to Mike Mignola's horror comic books and Guillermo del Toro's action movies. While "Sword of Storms" focused on Japanese mythology, the second Cartoon Network (and direct-to-video) feature alluded to the historical Countess Bathory and Eastern European vampire legends.

Although some of the scene transitions and editing were still awkward, no doubt due to rating and time constraints, Janice and I enjoyed the latest Hellboy, which used the same actors (Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, and John Hurt, plus Peri Gilpin) as the first film. I also look forward to "The Black Wedding," as well as to the live-action movie "The Golden Army."

I also logged in some extra time playing "City of Heroes" to help David I.S. catch up with Kim A.G., Steve M.R., Thomas K.Y., and even Dave's sister Shari, who's a relative newbie to the online superhero game. While I understand that some folks play every night, I have too many other demands on my time to keep up beyond our usual Sunday morning and Thursday night meetings.

Unfortunately, college chum Dexter V.H. and I haven't had much luck in our first rounds of troubleshooting the "Fantasy Grounds" virtual tabletop software. However, he and Byron V.O. have been making progress in our Wednesday night D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands" teleconferenced fantasy sessions, despite numerous distractions.

The face-to-face "Broken Chains" group also resumed this past Tuesday night, with some good role-playing among the adventurers as they guarded a merchant caravan and fended off a swarm of scarabs in the hostile Halmed Desert…

On Sunday, Janice and I quietly celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary (and the 17th anniversary of our first date) by going to Fuji, our favorite local Japanese steakhouse. On Monday, we drove up to Thomas' condominium in Lexington, Massachusetts, for dinner with him, his parents (who were visiting from Upstate New York), Alex J. (back on the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's spring break), and Alex's girlfriend Serena. As usual, Janice and I got there early and made small talk before the meal. Janice had baked molasses crinkle cookies for dessert.

Thomas' parents made a nice Chinese dinner, including duck, shrimp, and assorted vegetables. During our conversation, I have to admit that I got carried away in discussing various comic books and genre movies with Alex and Serena, to the exclusion of Janice and Thomas' parents. On the other hand, I haven't had many opportunities lately to discuss graphical entertainment.

As promised, here are more thoughts on recent comic books. I thought that the political commentary and artwork in Marvel Comics' "Civil War" crossover storyline were well done, even if the books didn't come out on time and the ending was somewhat anticlimactic (see other postings regarding the fate of Captain America).

After years of mostly following D.C. Comics, I've been lured back into reading some Marvel titles, which are generally more popular. (Marvel has also had more success with movies than D.C., but that's a topic for another blog posting.) While I scan team books such as the Fantastic Four and X-Men in various comic shops, I've been picking up the "New Avengers" and even the occasional Spider-Man during the "Civil War."

I also like the "animated-style" "Marvel Adventures: Avengers" book, with its streamlined, kid-friendly, low-angst style. I've found both Joe Quesada and Dan DiDio, the editors in chief of Marvel and D.C., respectively, to be smart, ego-driven leaders. I appreciate their competitive devotion to quality but disagree with their desire to kill off or resurrect beloved characters, from Spider-Man's Aunt May and Capt. America's sidekick Bucky to the Blue Beetle, Jason Todd, or Nightwing.

On the D.C. Universe side, I've been following the "Identity Crisis/Infinite Crisis/52/Countdown" epic with interest, as well as a bit of reader fatigue. I was pleased with the "One Year Later" reboots of Superman and Batman (if not with "All-Star Batman" or the more convoluted plot threads), and I hope that the Justice League and Justice Society can return to stability and glory after their latest roster shakeups (not unlike the aforementioned Avengers).

I've been collecting "Teen Titans" and "Outsiders," partly because I enjoyed the "Justice League Unlimited" and "Teen Titans" television series (now out on DVD), but the writing on those books has been erratic. Alex Ross' latest paean to the Silver Age, "Justice," has also rewarded those willing to wait months for each installment. However, "Birds of Prey" and "Green Arrow" continue to be among my favorites, with strong female characters, villains who add to plot twists, and well-developed second-string (or bowstring) heroes.

As anyone who has seen my action-figure collection or last Halloween's photos can attest, however, the Batman "family" gets most of my milk money. Paul Dini's back-to-basics run on "Detective Comics," Selina Kyle's misadventures in "Catwoman," and their supporting casts have managed to stoke my interest.

Next installment: Health fair at work, craft festival in Hartford, and independent comics!