Gary Gygax (1938-2008)

Actually, I have little investment in this sad news. (always sad when somebody dies, except when its Hitler or like-mindeds) I did play D&D for about 3 months in 1995, but it didn't take hold. What did catch my fancy though was the original DOS version of Might and Magic, which I played for hours on end in the late 80s-early 90s. From that game, I learned the rudiments of the barter system, which I tried to sell to my folks as the best economic system ever.

I guess there would have been no Might and Magic without Gary Gygax. And he did make the lives of a lot of my friends happy. So huzzah, Mr. Gygax.

Potent Quotables # 1

Much I could have written about William F. Buckley, the proclaimed father of the modern American conservative movement, a strong influence in my life and writing even though I ultimately reject most of his political and social views. But I'll leave it at this instead, penned on December 3, 2007. Atypical perhaps, but it potentially may bear impact on more lives than anything else he may have written.

"Half a year ago my wife died, technically from an infection, but manifestly, at least in part, from a body weakened by 60 years of nonstop smoking. I stayed off the cigarettes but went to the idiocy of cigars inhaled, and suffer now from emphysema, which seems determined to outpace heart disease as a human killer. Stick me in a confessional and ask the question: Sir, if you had the authority, would you forbid smoking in America? You'd get a solemn and contrite, Yes."

-- William F. Buckley (24 November 1925 – 27 February 2008)