Rafe's 17 Month Birthday

29 May 2013 | sila | | Family Pics
 

And so, another month has passed by and the little guy is now 17 months old. He'll be a year and a half soon! Wheeee!

Pleased as punch

* Mouse over the pictures for captions

 

Bye Tim

26 May 2013 | Hisham | | Family Pics
 

Tim the Turtle had grown too big to reside in its tank. And there is no surplus space in the house for a bigger tank. Which meant it was time to say goodbye to Tim.

Thankfully we had the foresight to scout for release locations in the city beforehand and had already decided on the lake at Ampang Hilir Park.

Irfan prepares to release Tim

The lake was large for a body of water mere kilometres away from the Kuala Lumpur City Centre. It shot to the top of the list of release locations because it was big and had a sizable population of red-eared sliders (and assorted fish) within its waters. We also hoped Tim would find a girlfriend some day. Or a boyfriend. We never really determined if Tim was a male or a female. If Tim was female, its name would have been a contraction of "Timah".

I'm sure Tim is totally taken aback by the great outdoors
 

Savage Worlds: Weekend Warriors Playtest

23 May 2013 | Hisham | | Role Playing Games, RPG Actual Play
 

Jerry Blakemore came over to the house all the way from Texas to playtest 12 to Midnight's new Savage Worlds game Weekend Warriors! (Not really, he was on vacation, and I just happened to be in his path.)

Although I've bought the Savage Worlds Explorer Edtion from Amazon.com seven thousand years ago, I've never had the opportunity to run or play any games with it. So, this was my first time rolling dice for Savage Worlds.

Jerry brough his copy of Savage Worlds Deluxe

After picking Jerry up at his hotel, we then headed back to Pandan Indah to Irfan's school extraction. Then, we had lunch at Galaxy Ampang where many different types of nasi goreng died for us. In the meantime, we regaled each other with a myriad of gaming war stories.

And then it's off to the dinner table at home for some gaming.
 

58 Months

22 May 2013 | sila | | Family Pics
 

Two more months till the big birthday! And how much do you love backdated entries! Woohoo!

My beautiful baby

* Mouse over the pictures for captions

 

Chicago: The Children's Museum

19 May 2013 | sila | | Family Pics
 

So on the second day in Chicago, it was freezing cold (high of 38 F / 4 C - in May!!!!) so we decided to do something indoors. We went to the Children's Museum which conveniently, was a short (and cold and windy) walk away from the hotel. As it turned out, it was one of the best things ever! Yaya had a fabulous time and still talks about it.

Hard-hat Yaya

* Mouse over the pictures for captions

 

Beach Escapade: Part II

19 May 2013 | sila | | Family Pics
 

We continue our adventures in Orange Beach, AL with a beautiful sunny day! It more than made up for the rainy afternoon that we had:

What a beautiful day

* Mouse over the pictures for captions

 

BareBones Covert Ops Map

14 May 2013 | Hisham | | Artwork, Role Playing Games
 

Here's a thumbnail of a map I drew for DwD Studios' BareBones Covert Ops RPG.

Ultimately S.E.C.T.O.R. base locations will populate this chart. What is S.E.C.T.O.R., you ask? I have no idea yet. Look for the upcoming book which should be released later this year.

 

Friends in the Windy City

12 May 2013 | sila | | Family Pics
 

In honor of Laura and Roberto's visit to Chicago, we decided to spend the weekend there. Laura and I have been working together for a few years now, but we have never met in person since Laura lives in Argentina. We drove up and had dinner with Laura, Roberto, and the Chicago contingent of Jen, Mike and Scott:

Laura, Mike, Scott, Jen and Yaya

Despite being at the famed Lou Malnati's deep dish pizza place, neither child ate the cheesy goodness that night.

* Mouse over the pictures for captions

 

Some Iron Man Three Viewing Report

11 May 2013 | Hisham | | Comics, Movie Review
 

The onslaught of summer movies is upon us.

We've caught the first of them, Iron Man Three. Here's Irfan with Benedict Cumberbatch behind him just before he watched the movie.

Reichenbach something...

Yes, yes, yes. We saw Iron Man and not Star Trek that evening.

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

 

Balneum Blue: Gnatha Weapons

10 May 2013 | Hisham | | Artwork, Role Playing Games
 

I drew some aquatic biotech ranged weapons for a project for Star Frontiersman created by an alien species called the Gnatha. These are living, breathing creatures that swim and cna also be used to throw deadly projectiles at your enemies; weapons created by genetically altering and splicing different species of octopus, jellyfish, molluscs and even corals.

Here they are without any names and commentaries.

Pistol
Pistol with bayonet
Rifle
Rifle with bayonet
 

Irfan Meets a River

07 May 2013 | Hisham | | Family Pics
 

On the way back from Pasir Man, Irfan met a river. It was raging force of nature filled with teh tarik after a sustained rainfall in the mountains. We just came from over the mountain.

Falling in this might be fatal

This is no pond and there's no melody coming from it.

 

Steve the Aboleth

02 May 2013 | Hisham | | Artwork, Role Playing Games
 
He throws psychokinetic tantrums a lot

This is Steve the Aboleth.

That is all.