Ken Newquist

Red-Eyed, Hack-Lunged Geek Dad

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There’s nothing quite like waking up in the morning with your eyes glued shut.

That’s what happened to me this morning as I struggled awake on the sofa bed, annoyed at a certain yellow Labrador who was trying to push me off the mattress so she could have more room to spread out.

My eyes were crusted together, which is a lovely indicator of Pink Eye, or a Pink-Eye-like condition. And the said thing is … that’s an improvement. The last week has seen me sidelined by a particularly nasty cold that had me fighting my old nemesis Post-Nasal Drip for three days.

As per normal, I have the kids to thank for this. Both got sick last week, and took Sue down with them. I’d hoped to escape the Week of Hacking Mucus unscathed, but alas, they dragged me down on Monday.

The Magic Item Compendium and Theories of Arcane Distribution

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Wizards of the Coast is releasing a Magic Item Compendium reprinting 750 magic items from previous publications and Dragon Magazine articles, while adding in 500 new items. In anticipation of its release later this month, they’re running a series of articles by Andy Collins, one of the book’s designers. In the first article he talks … Read more

Game Day: Re: Your Brains, HeroClix Redux

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Jonathan Coulton’s undead anthem “Re: Your Brains” will lead off our gaming session tonight as our brave band of adventurers faces off against a horde of undead besieging the town of Barovia. But hey, it’s not just the undead we’re dealing with today: super hero gaming returns to the table as we get back to … Read more

Ken, Son of Thor, Thwarted by Samsung

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When last we saw our villain, he had just destroyed his Samsung integrated receiver/home theatre system with a touch as a spark of static electricity leapt from his finger to the power button of the system, destroying it in a flare of blue LED light. Flash forward two weeks, and see our heroine Sue calling … Read more

206 lbs: Upticking Redux

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I gained two pounds over last week, primarily because I only went to the gym once or twice last week, and drank way too much soda (mostly on Game Day and the kids not being around on said Game Day, so I could play video games until 4 a.m. after the guys left at midnight). … Read more

Gears of War Grinds Through a Shell-Shocked Future

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A soldier stands with his gun before him, his hands resting on its grip, while clouds gather behind him.

Halo saved the Xbox. Prior to its arrival, the gaming console was an also-ran; afterwards it was the definitive reason to buy Microsoft’s PlayStation competitor. Gears of War may be the Xbox 360’s Halo. Like Halo, Gears of War features humanity fighting a desperate, last-ditch war against alien destroyers. As the game opens, the far-off … Read more

Game Day: Talk like a Dwarf, RPGs Go POD, Pierce the Magician

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Tonight we’ll be playing Khelez-Mar: The Dwarven Imperative, our dwarf-centric campaign set on the Pomarj in the World of Greyhawk. The last adventure saw the adventurers tracking a large orcish warband comprised of orcs, grey renders and manticores. They engaged and mostly destroyed several of the warbands patrols before breaking off from the main body … Read more

Radio Active #44: Digg, Life Hacks, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion

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Nuketown Radio Active gets Dugg (or at least an entry on Digg) while I struggle to organize comics that haven’t been filed in a decade. If you’re similarly organizationally challenged, then figure out how to hack your life with the 50 best Life Hacks from 2006 and an exceedingly geek calendar for 2007. Rounding things … Read more

Game Day: Ravenloft, Back to Basics, Heroes of Horror, Pierce Haligarth

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Tonight … we begin our horror-filled return to Ravenloft! Erilar will be running us through Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, the updated and expanded version of the original 1st edition module.

I’m excited to play it — the last time I ventured to Castle Ravenloft, I was in 6th grade and playing my fighter Samuel “Battle Axe” Longriver (but, ah, he was just called “Battle Axe” then…) who eventually found and wielded the fabled sun sword. That was years and years ago, and most of my memories of Ravenloft have been consumed by the mists of time. Almost everyone in our group has been to Ravenloft at one time or another, and just about everyone is eager to return.

Radio Active #43: New Year Goals, Accidental Survivors, Free Comics and RPGs

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Radio Active’s long dark tea time of the soul ends with Episode 43, in which I discuss a crazy January that saw my Xbox fall under the spell of the red rings of death while I destroyed my “integrated home theatre system” with a static electricity-empowered touch. Looking ahead to 2007, I talk about some … Read more