mikekn

From mrgrumpybear:
The Evolution of Dance with Optimus Prime

Looks like March is going to be a big month for beer in Philadelphia.

Philly Craft Beer Festival - March 1st
http://www.phillycraftbeerfest.com/

Philly Beer Week - March 7-16th
http://www.phillybeerweek.org/

and for completeness, here is Joe Sixpack, Philly beer reporter
http://www.joesixpack.net/

I was going through some old LJ posts, added tags here and there and I ran across a link I had forgotten about (I originally posted it nearly 4 years ago). The site is called Film Movement and they are a DVD of the month club for award winning independent films. They are just starting their 6th year, and have a nice sized back catalog available.

Very tempting still.

Ah, good old D&D. I first started playing in 1979, but we were never very serious about it back then. I didn't really have a gaming group, so I didn't get to play that much. I got a bunch of the AD&D stuff, then avoided all the Second Edition AD&D (I was annoyed at TSR for getting rid of Gygax). I only got back into it when Wizards of the Coast took over. The games I've been in haven't seemed to last that long - falling prey to scheduling issues or other life stuff. I haven't DM'd since the early 80s, but I should try my hand at it again.

But that's not why I'm writing. I wanted to share some useful D&D links with folks:

Wizards of the Coast
Current home of D&D, good collection of new and old stuff to dig through.
http://www.wizards.com/

Great character sheets for folks who like filling them in by hand
http://www.emass-web.com/

Then there is PCGen - a Java app for making characters.
It is a bit tricky to use, but very powerful. The main down side is that it only has the basic set of races, classes, etc - but it can be customized once you get the hang of it.
http://pcgen.sourceforge.net/

Another alternative is HeroForge - a giant Excel spreadsheet for making characters
This one is easier to use, and contains a ton of expansions - but adding customized things requires a LOT of messing around with Excel. It also doesn't do as much in the way of item management. Still it is easier to work with the PCGen if everything you want is already supported.
http://www.heroforge.net/

Crystal Keep
These folks have made a great set of indexes of D&D stuff, which includes most of the source books and stuff from Dragon magazine.
http://www.crystalkeep.com/d20/index.php

The Acaeum - great resource for D&D collectors.
http://www.acaeum.com/index.html

So what else is out there and worth checking out?

Amusing library tales by way of the_misha:
http://mistful.livejournal.com/105359.html

For colmunson and rarejul and anyone else with an interest in India
(by way of notshakespeare)

Philadelphia Festival of India Sept 22.

In case you haven't seen this elsewhere:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/445498/robotic_beer_launching_refrigerator/ (video)

More details at: http://www.duke.edu/~jwc13/beerlauncher.html

My friend, and old co-worker Vivi is visiting the office today. She was in town to merchant at Dracula's Ball this weekend (she says she had a good show, but needs better lighting). Anyway, she is former SCA (though we keep trying to get her back into it) and a jewelry maker and leather worker. Last time we checked, AEthelmarc was still using a set of crowns that she made for them.

She has a fairly new business doing fancy leather fetish wear. If you've an interest check it out:
Radiance Bound

She'll be adding more stuff in the coming months - she showed me some lovely earrings and a great bat necklace that will be going up there soon.

During lunch today, I decided to walk down Main Street in Ambler. Main street is a bit of a misnomer, since the main road running through town is Butler Pike. I hadn't been down there since starting back up and Moberg and I figured it was worth seeing if there were any good stores.

( Boy howdy are there. )

What do you get when you cross Avenue Q with Fiddler on the Roof?

Avenue Jew