thebitterguy

So, yeah.

Friday night was the birthday part at the Fox & Fiddle (the OTHER fox & fiddle, as D learned to my amusement; reading comprehension is something of a must these days).

We got there on time, and got to waiting for the crew. Folks walked in at various paces until the table was full (and then

eyebeams and

nottheterritory walked in and we needed another table).

maliszew was conspicuous in his absence, but I figure Norwalk is a great reason for missing anything. We'll probably grab a pint sometime later/soon.

Dinner was a treat. We started off with a little appetizer tray (that was too small and not diverse enough when you consider we had 3 vegans at the table). Dinner was okay (if you consider a completely overdone steak okay).

The company rocked. It was great to finally meet

nottheterritory, and he's expressed interest in playing the Buffy RPG, so I'm gonna finally get to run it. To paraphrase one of Joe's mouthpieces, how old will I be in a year if I DON'T run Buffy?

eyebeams was his charming proletarian self. Something was agreed in principle to happen that will involve tossing dice and playing games that may or may not involve the previously mentioned Buffy game.

Driss came by after his class (he's teaching .NET stuff at Humber), and mentioned how he'd written a 2000 word article for an online learning resource for $500 US. I wanted to eat his face at that moment. Motherfucker. You come to my birthday and dangle that in my face, at least bring a present. :p

Karaoke was, well, not so good. Started late (about 10, which is too late; get it going at 8:30) and ended... well, we all left around midnight because the smoke value was approaching 8 (one motherfucker was smoking a cigar; those things are rank) and we'd only been around the rotation once. Actually not even.

Once again, the quality of the singers was variable. Some were really good, some kind of creeped me out. One guy who looked slightly hydrocephalic kind of wandered around the front of the room.

Once again, the presence of what appeared to be high schoolers hammered out of their skulls (card, for the love of Jesus, card!) was disconcerting. Are high school girls that annoying drunk, or am I just crazy?

The bills were separated and had tip automatically added, which saved me work; the bar, unfortunately, didn't take Interac. They DID have a $1.50 service charge machine at the front, which I view as anathema, but sometimes your options are shockingly limited.

Gifts were a wonderful variety. Ed gimme'd a selection of Heroclix. The packs included a V. Thor and a Nightcrawler and my first Mr. Fantastic, the wonderfulness of which would deteriorate as I gained two more over the weekend.

Whogan & Viner gave me Minority Report (in Full Screen, accidentaly, but the video stores are understanding of such accidents), and

pyat gave me the greatest rendition of Hamlet ever produced in Canada.

My little brother Eugene came in with a new 'ladyfriend' of his (I call her that because they've gone out a few times but they're just dating and all that and not in any way because I endorse the term, which has been used in the past by a total asshole) who I think may have been named Uhura, and his gift came in with his standard environtmentally friendly wrapping paper (ie last week's comics).

Anyway, he seemed a little nervous about the gift. What follows is a transcript of the conversation as editted by time and alcohol.

Him: I got the movie for you because you always talk about the actor.

Me: That's nice.

Him: But now I'm not sure if you talk about him because you like him or because you make fun of him.

Me: I'm sure it'll be a fun movie.

(dinner small talk and various chatter removed)

Him: So, Jus, you DO like Bill Paxton,right?

Me: You got me Frailty?

Which, yes, he did. Haven't watched it yet, but I understand it's good. Very Hunter like, from the gossip.

So, after the chattering, we go home.

I go to sleep.

The next morning, we head over to the Dundas for Breakie with Driss. He kindly covers the eggs n' bacon, which was nice.

Afterwards, he mentions how he'd like to try Mechwarrior, and is thinking of going to the Snail to pick some up. I mention that he can get some in the 'Saug, and he says that he tried Planet Hobby. Now, when he regained conscisousness I mentioend to him that PH is a shitty hole in the planet, and he should really shop at Altered States, because it's a great store with a good selection if a horrible layout.

So we head down, and I pick up a couple books (Spider Joe, which was amusing, and Invincible) and a couple more Clix boosters. He picks up two DA starters, a handfull of boosters and the first four Ultimate Spider-Man tpbs. To celebrate the article.

We come back here and play a game of the Clix. Office Space from the DCH starter is a nasty map if you have Batman. He had Cyclops, Jean Grey & The Thing, I had Batman, Captain America & the Scarlet Witch. Cap was taken out with something resembling painful haste (the Thing and Jean Grey turned him into patriotic paste with a pair of file cabinets), but Cap & Bats managed to take out The Thing thanks to Bats Outwit (Invulnerability sucks when it ain't dependable).

It turned into a bit of a chase after that, with Bats seeking cover and the Scarlet Witch not being that usefull without the ability to see him (although she did keep Cyke from scoring a few hits).

He headed out after that, and we headed downtown to return the borrowed Firefly pilot/finale. Afterwards, we did a little shopping at 401 & Hairy T. I was interested in picking up The Killing Jar for Dark Matter to convert to a d20 Modern advneture, but Leon was out back and the new, VERY ANNOYING staff were less useful than tits on a bull. I wanted to beat the one girl to death; hell, she likes TNG better than TOS. How I miss

shara.

I also resisted any urge to mock a DTL who was attempting to flit with the annoying girl. Ohhh, an XXXXL Munchkin t-shirt. I'm sure she'll adore the manly way you fill it out, all grease stained like that.

I picked up The Slayer's Handbook for Buffy from 401 (hey, it's $8 less there, with NO STUPID PEOPLE. You wonder why?) along with even MORE Clix boxes. Hence my two extra R. Mr. Fantastic. I also got a V Invisible Woman (which is actually transparent), also cool.

Colleen & Peter came by for dinner. I put together Curry and salad and it was enjoyed by all. Curry requires, I think, white wine.

They brought me a delightfully large present that, upon openning, turned out to be and mounting tray, Clix sized. I put a few of the buggers up there.

Today it was chores and fun with the wife.

All in all? A good way to turn 30. It beats the alternative, eh?