Disco Stu

I need Neopets grappling rules. Can’t tell what sort of game it is until you see the grappling rules.

I just saw the news. When you posted this I thought, “surely you can’t meant THAT Steve Dee..”. What a loss.

A Bluesky user based in Venezuela posted 'I live near a military air base and five earth-shaking explosions were just heart.' User @thenordic.bsky.social (a random asshole) replied 'was it too hard for you to to [sic] add a link?' along with a link to an AP piece. Quick, don't look, what do you think the odds are that this user responded gracefully to being told that OP was on the ground and reporting firsthand?

grim posthumous scenario i had not previously considered: you post a picture of the missile headed straight for you, and are memorialized by a bunch of random assholes complaining about alt text

Vast remains one of my favourite games because of the sheer bravura of its design. Yes it’s a little raw in spots, but the wildness of interactions is as much feature as bug.

Lucky’s Dad, perhaps? Some pass-the-parcel themed plot.

Argh, finished my last book I took on my trip! Need to find an English-language bookshop here soon or looks like it’ll be an airport novel on the way home…

Psst. On Instagram a lot more now. If you want a follow then drop me a message here. I promise to bombard you with holiday snaps, occasional reheated memes, and thoughts about books.

Night sky, Florence.

Moon peeking through the clouds here in Firenze. Finished my next book for the year, which was The Great When by Alan Moore. Had its moments but felt constrained, like he was trying to write something more acceptable than a sprawling epic like Jerusalem. Diet Moore is still better than most though.

Piazza Navona, Rome.

Third time in Rome. Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now.

I will go into deeper thoughts in a few weeks as currently packing for an overseas trip. Alan Moore’s ‘The Great When’ was the first thing in the suitcase, do hope it’s a little more digestible than his ‘Jerusalem’ which was soaring, masterful… and so dense to be nigh-unreadable.

Book 26 for the year is done! The excellent ‘A Memory Called Empire’ got on my list via a passing reference on a @nopunincluded.com video essay. I started to bounce off some of the sci-fi naming conventions (same thing happens with Banks’ Culture books) but after a chapter that became invisible.

New Angeles! Haven’t gotten that to the table for a while but some really interesting mechanisms and interactions in that.

6nimmt and Azul were almost on my list. Super clever design and love how 6nimmt creates a similar yet distinct experience for different player counts.

It’s still going! One of the rare collectable games that survived its initial few years. Still wonky in several ways but one of the finer multiplayer games I’ve played.

That’s a great list!

Been a bit more quiet here, but weirdly been on Instagram more. The algorithm there doesn’t yet know me so I’m being given all sorts of random things. The novelty will wear off soon, I’m sure.

Oath, Arkham Horror 2nd Ed, Talisman, John Company, A Distant Plain, Maria, Vast: Crystal Caverns, Mafia de Cuba, Days of Ire and will sneakily add in Jyhad / Vampire, a TCG that plays like a board game (2+ hour play time, 4-5 player count etc).

So that puts me on book 25 for the year? I think I may have missed one or two along the way, and it’s a fair step down from the frenetic pace I set earlier in the year, but pretty happy with that. Some long flights coming up so may hit the big 3-0 by end of year.

System of the World done, what a monster! Dallied with Geoffrey of Monmouth for a day or two there but after reading Le Morte D’Arthur earlier this year will give it a rest right now. Onto Arkady Martine’s A Memory Called Empire and loving it.

Next one on the list is to finish Neal Stephenson’s The System of the World, which I’ve been slowly working through, then potentially onto Alan Moore’s The Great When. I have a non-fiction book on my to-read list but it’s tangentially work-related and not sure that scratches my escapism itch.

The other was Karen Armstrong’s ‘A Short History of Myth’, which was very helpful in surviving a surprise multi-hour delay at Canberra airport. Thought-provoking if, well, a little brief. It literally is a Short History though so can’t begrudge it that.

It was my birthday the other week and got a stack of novels, subsequently finished two books in as many days. Wolfe’s ’Fifth Head of Cerberus’ took me longer than anticipated - I loved the first two stories but the third didn’t grab me and I felt like I needed to drag myself across the finish line.

Hello Canberra, we really do need to talk about your lack of skyline.

Always love seeing your stuff on my feed Marc.

It’s lovely to see. But, you would barely see this in Australian media, which is dominated by Murdoch-owned press. One of the two major parties is all but owned by mining magnates and climate denialists, while the other is mouthing platitudes while extending fossil fuel leases. It’s not great here!

Another day, another solo game of John Company. The Sykes Family had an impressive run of military victories only to be undone by rebellions. Walsh dominated the Board of Directors and kept the company out of debt, but it was Larkins - who married well, and retired better - who got the victory.

But the sheer size of these Baroque Cycle tomes are making it difficult on the morning commute. As such, also picked up Gene Wolfe’s Fifth Head of Cerberus and reading that on my train journeys. Haven’t read Wolfe for 35+ years, let’s see what all the fuss is about hey?

Reading update! Finished Neal Stephenson’s The Confusion the other day. It’s a slow start but built tempo as it went on. As I reread the series I do wonder how the pitch to the publisher went. Have started The System of the World (final volume in the series) which I remember quite enjoying.

Catalogue, inventory or compendium comes to mind, although I am sure you have considered and discarded them all. I also do like Curiosa as it implies something unusual about the catalogue.

Today’s view.