I've noticed a trend in paperback books that I really don't like

On the inside cover splash page, all you're getting is sycophantic praise from reviewers of the author's previous books. No chapter excerpt, just a short bit from some review. So you're left with the back cover, and that frequently has one or two reviewer's blipverts there, too. This particularly sucks if it's an author that you are not familiar with. So do you read a reviewer who is head over heels in love with a previous, possibly unrelated, book? Do you open to the beginning and start reading?

Oh, and then you have the authors who rate two or three pages of praise! Why not have a page for an excerpt, THEN have a page or two of suckup?

It bugs me.

Fun facts about TheWayne!

Ten Top Trivia Tips about TheWayne!

1. The smelly fluid secreted by skunks is colloquially known as TheWayne.


2. The horns of TheWayne are made entirely from hair.


3. When provoked, TheWayne will swivel the tip of his abdomen and shoot a jet of boiling chemicals at his attacker.


4. If you drop TheWayne from the top of the Empire State Building, he will be falling fast enough to kill before reaching the ground.


5. The Vikings believed that the Northern lights were caused by TheWayne as he rode out to collect warriors slain in battle.


6. Most bottles and jars contain at least twenty-five percent recycled TheWayne.


7. It takes a lobster approximately 7 years to grow to be TheWayne.


8. Pound for pound, hamburgers cost more than TheWayne.


9. When TheWayne is swallowed, he will enter the blood stream within twenty minutes.


10. Red TheWayne at night, shepherd's delight. Red TheWayne at morning, shepherd's warning.

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herhimitthem

Possible evidence that supports the book "1412: The Year The Chinese Discovered America"

A map is being authenticated in China that could support the assertion that the Chinese "discovered" America decades before Columbus set foot in the Carribean.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4609074.stm

A favorite role-playing game moment

I was starting a new character in an existing campaign in which I had not played before. One of the players, Mike F., had a character who was a mystic, "see all, know all" type of character. I introduced my character to the rest of the group with a basic physical description, basic power backgroud, and that was about it. No revealing of my secret origin, after all, it was secret.

Mike says: "I know all, see all. Tell me your origin." I said "No." Mike looked surprised, "Why not?" I said "You blinked."

Mike accepted it and never learned my origin, not that I have a clue what the origin was or who the character was. It was a pretty funny moment, I might have gotten some bonus EP for making everyone laugh and catching Mike flat-footed.

Dunno why it popped in to mind, perhaps because I'm playing Champions on Saturday.