The RedMolly Picayune-Democrat

RIP, Dungeon Master

Gary Gygax, co-creator of the Dungeons & Dragons game system, has died at age 69.

He has failed his saving throw; there was no 20th-level cleric around to resurrect him; he is even now journeying along the silver cord that connected his worldly body to the Astral Plane, no doubt to find rest in one of the several heavens the D&D planar system made available to us. (I'm thinking maybe Valhalla. Elysium sounds a wee bit too boring for a man of his ilk.)

Thanks, Mr. Gygax, for introducing me and millions of other overly bookish, highly imaginative kids to the joys of polyhedral dice, exquisitely painted miniatures and reams of regulations setting out everything from the types of non-player characters one could encounter in a typical town ("01-06: Trollop. 07-10: Doxy. 11-15: Madam.") to the exact speed at which a two-handed sword could be swung by a paladin while under the combined effects of haste and cause fear spells. Your legacy lives on in thousands of basements, dragon tapestry-bedecked living rooms and grottyish gaming shops around the globe.

And my sprogs still thoroughly enjoy paging through my old (original, even!) Monster Manual and Dungeon Master's Guide. Another generation will grow up fascinated by world mythology and miscellaneous arcana thanks to you.

Have fun, get smart, feed poor

Just got word of this site from a homeschool mailing list I read. It's called FreeRice, and it's a multiple-choice vocabulary game. For each word you define correctly, 10 grains of rice are donated to help feed hungry people worldwide. And the difficulty level adjusts to your performance, so you'll probably even learn something as you get frustrated. So hey, go forth and click...

(Helena, I am particularly eager to hear how you and/or Doug do on this one.)

(Edited to add: It is amazing how a working knowledge of Dungeons & Dragons and fantasy literature is serving me at this game. Tarn! Kirtle! Kobold!)

(Edited again to add: Thanks, Mom, for the childhood vocabulary lessons. I'm so happy that knowing what an ecdysiast is has come in handy.)

A [me] by any other na[me]

Here we go again for another ride on the meme train, via JeniDallas.

1. your rock star name (first pet & first car). Spike Voyager (or, heck, Spike Dasher... they both rock).

2. your gangsta name (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie). Coffee Mocha Chip gonna bust a cap in your ass, sucka.

3. your “fly girl"? name (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name).  RMol, ha ha ha ha.

4. your detective name (fav color, fav animal).   Black Meerkat. "She was a redheaded dame... not tall, not busty, and the red was as genuine as a three-dollar-bill... but a dame nonetheless. They called her Black Meerkat, which no one could really explain but which suited her in a fleabitten Kalahari-lurking kinda way. She sashayed into my office and pounced on my heart like Flower Whiskers taking on a six-inch scorpion."

5. your soap opera name (middle name, city where you were born) Rebecca Santa Barbara. That sounds fancy as all get out, doesn't it? Like someone who could go from sipping champagne with her ex-husband/current co-investor in a seaside condo development to ripping a chunk of hair out of her evil twin's scalp as revenge for the helicopter "accident" without missing a beat.

6. your Star Wars name (first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first). Llyre. Sounds almost Tolkienesque, doesn't it? Those ddoublle conssonannts givve evverythinng such a fanntasticcal flavvorr.

7. superhero name (the? + 2nd fav color, fav drink).  The Red Wine. Superpower: either discerning vintage and appellation in a single bound, or complaining a lot.

8. nascar name (the first names of your grandfathers). Hal Frederick. Racing to win, baby. Racing to win.

9. stripper name ( the name of your fav perfume/cologne/scent, fav candy). This one's hard 'cause I don't wear perfume or cologne. How about Lavender Skor, ha ha ha?

10. witness protection name (mother’s & father’s middle names ). Rae Wilson. Sounds kind of strippertastic, doesn't it? Or like something that would be suffixed with "...get yer butt back in the trailer!"

11. tv weather anchor name (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter). Knudsen Kansas City? That doesn't work at all well, does it?

12. spy name (your fav season/holiday, flower). Autumn Hydrangea. That totally blends into any crowd and/or passenger list.

13. cartoon name (fav fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie" or “y"). Raspberry Hoodie. Hoodie-y? Hoodieie? (Vaguely Hawaiian, no?)

14. hippie name (what you ate for breakfast, your fav tree). Nothing Sequoia. I'm seriously considering adopting this as my legal name.

15. your rockstar tour name (the + your fav hobby/craft, fav weather element + “tour"). The Procrastinating Downpour Tour.

As always, LMKIYP, TVYM, XOXO.