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We're all going to miss her a lot and we're certain you will too. But fear not, the Illuminator will be profiling the shadowy figure taking on her vast responsibilities later next week.
'Bye, Claudia - Good Luck!
-- Bob Apthorpe and the rest of the SJ Games crew
The Utensil Gods have spoken - Obey!
-- Bob Apthorpe
Just enter your ZIP code and - boing - out pops the appropriate fiend in Congress. It's just like a toaster - how convenient!
So, have some fun! Play with Congress. Heck, you might as well - you're paying for it.
Boy, are you paying for it...
-- Bob Apthorpe
It's finally arrived!
Knightmare
Chess has cycled its way through our warehouse and is
heading toward you today.
Be afraid, be very afraid...
-- Bob Apthorpe
Drowsy? Lethargic? Sedate? Sounds like you don't have enough caffeine in your system.
But you say you can't stand coffee (too hot), tea (too wussy), soda (too sugary), diet soda (too chemical), or No-Doz (too druggy)? What's an unwired body to do?
Through the miracle of FDA regulation, the nice people at the Interstellar Beverage Co. bring you Krank2o Highly Caffeinated Water.
No, really.
What's more, in order to finance your high-grade caffeine, uh, hobby, you can even sign on with these guys to help move product. School's just about to start and before you know it, exams will be upon ye. Better to be prepared - BUY GOBS OF CAFFEINE RIGHT NOW! Sell it to your friends at an extreme markup. Then buy more caffeine with the profits. Congratulations - you've just passed Econ 101; have a perky beverage!
But wait - it's not all just cheesy (well, caffeiny) advertising; IB also tackles some of the deeper issues in life. Why do you think all those beat poets hung out in coffee shops? Certainly not for the atmosphere - it was the caffeine, man...
Your mileage may vary,
-- BBoobb AApptthhoorrppee
Dino Hunt
isn't even back from the printer / collator / whoever yet and we're already
tracking new information about the dinosaurs on the cards. Stay tuned to the
Dino Hunt Science
Update page for the latest dino info!
-- Bob Apthorpe
In our effort to appease you, the Gentle Viewer, we've placed a portion
of the Dino Hunt
card art online for your enjoyment. Please accept this token of our
appreciation and consume mass
quantities of Dino Hunt right now.
Your humble servant,
-- Bob Apthorpe
![[GURPS Dinosaurs Cover]](/gurps/books/Dinosaurs/dino_cover.small.gif)
As I arrived today, our burly, literate, and well-armed Shipping Department was
manhandling pallets of
GURPS
Dinosaurs off the truck and into our
warehouse. Soon, mountains of
antediluvian fun will be stomping its way to a retailer near you.
![[The Venus (of Willendorf?)]](/gurps/books/Dinosaurs/105b.gif)
In celebration, we've posted some of the
art from
GURPS Dinosaurs to the web including the lovely
Venus figure, pictured here. For more information on the significance of the various
Venus figures (Willendorf, Lesplugue, Laussel, et. al.) and other
preshistoric art, take a look at
From
Venus Figurines Through Time - The Mother Goddess from Mesa
Community College in Mesa, Arizona and
Art and Adornment.
-- Bob Apthorpe
Welcome to The
Corporation! Our Humor Products are currently
available in a variety of styles and sizes to suit your particular
humor requirements. Currently stocked items include:
So consume today. And get back to work.
-- Bob Apthorpe
Never one to tempt the Secret Masters, I complied fully with their request - the INWO Digest archives are now clean, fresh, and searchable. The search engine is a bit slow but it is functional so be patient, lest the Men In Black pay you a visit to teach you some manners...
-- Bob Apthorpe
Ever wonder where all the great art from
Dino Hunt
comes from? Satisfy your curiosity and peruse our Dino
Hunt Artist Profile page. It has plenty of
biographical information on creative talents such as Pat Ortega, Bob
Walters, Dan Smith, Byron Taylor, Brent Ferguson,
Jeff Koke, and Derek Pearcy.
-- Bob Apthorpe
All kidding aside, the booth was amazing. We had some Knightmare Chess sent to the show especially for Gen Con, and we sold out! It arrived on Friday and was gone before noon on Sunday! And we sold out of the GURPS Dinosaurs that we sent! And the GURPS Alternate Earths! In fact, we only sent two pallets of stuff back to the warehouse (out of the four we sent), and one of those was the display and booth supplies.
I would love to report all the hoopy games I played, and all the wonderful events I participated in, but I can't. I didn't do anything silly except the Cthulhu Rally. Of course that more than made up for it. I went as Nylarthotep (the Black Man of the Woods--and I still have makeup in my ears), and was part of the show. The best impromptu speaker for Cthulhu for President was the Undead Trout, who is a creature of few words. We got a writeup in the Milwaukee Sentinel in the weekend edition too, so the evil is spreading properly.
"Cthulhu for President: Why settle for the lesser evil?"
-Claudia-
Yon webmaster is feeling under the weather. I suspect that I caught some
virulent disease on my flight back from Milwaukee, probably from that
horrid, shrieking infant. Either that, or someone poisoned my $8
cheeseburger in Minneapolis.
Either way, I decided to start today off right with a few hearty mugs of Bovril! I've had this tiny jar of Bovril for a month or so now, courtesy of one of our Stealth Illuminator Newshounds. She's been harping on me to have some for a while, but I couldn't bring myself to experiment with this tarry, brown substance known colloquially as Liquid Cow.
Whatever.
Anyway, I was up way early and I finally gave in and tried the stuff. Not bad. Not exactly good, either, but if you put it in the Acquired Taste category of foodstuffs like dark beer and lutefisk, it was okay. So far it hasn't killed me and I may start tomorrow off with it, unless its mutagenic properties manifest themselves.
Moo.
-- Bob Apthorpe
As for me, I'm still unpacking and crawling out from under a mountain of accumulated e-mail. I'll save my tales and observations for later. But, if you really need to know, I had my teeth kicked in during a demo of Lunch Money. I salvaged a little dignity by being the last to fall, but if I see that other kid first, there's going to be hell to pay...
-- Bob Apthorpe
-- Jim Robinson
-- Jim Robinson
Those of you unsure of the value of recycling might find some kindred spirits at White Trash Online, but for the rest of you junk aficionados I highly recommend the movie Trainspotting
-- Jim Robinson
MILWAUKEE -- Rumor has it that a certain high ranking Steve Jackson Games official failed to bring along a bathing suit; so keep your eyes peeled for more of [NAME WITHHELD] than perhaps you really want to see.
And, for those of you who'd come to count on having Bob to kick around, maybe a visit to Nick's Subserviant Cam! will temporarily slake you thirst for personal power.
-- Jim Robinson
And depending on prevailing internet conditions in Milwaukee, you may see some realtime updates from GenCon. Who knows - only time will tell...
Show up or blow up,
-- Bob Apthorpe
Problem - how do we find out what's been said before so we don't seem like clueless goobers when we post to the list? Worse yet, how can we find that particular missive on the hex grid distance formula without reading through a year's worth of postings?
Solution - Bob plays with perl and not only organizes the list archives for easy browsing but has provided a Very Simple Search Capability for impatient lazy people (e.g. Bob). Now the 1996 Ogre/GEV Mailing List and the old Illuminati BBS posts are indexed and searchable because Bob, Henry and the rest of the SJ Games crew cares about you, our Gentle Viewer...
It's not the greatest thing since sliced bread but it will make somebody's life easier. Oh yeah - it was a neat project, too.
Have fun!
-- Bob Apthorpe
Steffan O'Sullivan has written a
great article on the
educational uses of
Dino Hunt. A number of activities are
suggested for grades K-3 and 4-6 along with advice for parents. Also,
there's a directory of other educational dinosaur resources, not
counting that
hideous
purple monstrosity. . .
-- Bob Apthorpe
![[Fly, child - be
free!]](/knightmare/img/kc_055.gif)
Knightmare
Chess is coming soon - in the meantime, we thought
we'd tease you with some of the beautiful card art from Rogerio Vilela.
So drop whatever you're doing and come visit the SJ Games Knightmare Gallery
and gasp in awe at the stunning (and occasionally disturbing) imagery.
-- Bob Apthorpe