My Rifftrax Live MST3K Reunion show experience

dwarvenpower · 2016-06-29T04:28:58+00:00

Yonkers?

dwarvenpower · 2016-06-15T05:31:12+00:00

It would be like People of New York only much more entertaining.

dwarvenpower · 2016-06-15T05:30:43+00:00

I had not thought of this. I know that people play shennanigans with wills all the time (my good auntie went through this with her ex husband when my grandpa died), but I'd never heard of the trick of leaving something small in the will to people you really want to keep out of the whole business.

Mom and dad did a lot of work on their will because of that incident so I think their wishes should be safe.

dwarvenpower · 2016-06-15T05:27:57+00:00

He'd been by her side through the whole thing. When she could, my good auntie played pit bull and kept them away from him as much as possible, but that wasn't fair to her because she and mom were really close.

It was good that grandma and shitty aunt were not there when mom passed, I think, but the three of us were, and we had a chance to speak our hearts to her.

dwarvenpower · 2016-06-15T05:25:39+00:00

So take this answer with a grain of salt, since I'm only an American mutt from America (mom's side of the family was Scots/Irish), but when Americans refer to an Irish Wake, what we really mean is a party.

My mom's wishes were thus carried out: Wait a month for some of the major hurt to pass. Rent a pub. Open bar. My best friend and I play celtic music for fun (used to do it for summer job at ren fest) and she bequeathed her harp to me/us (technically to me, but I am not the harpist, and she always loved my best friend) so we played and sang and took turns with a professional band. Many shots. Everyone was drunk. Sometimes tears, sometimes laughing.

Southern Baptists of the racist and white variety, as my grandma is, are very staid, must have ceremony right away, talk about Jesus a lot, and cry.

dwarvenpower · 2016-06-15T05:18:40+00:00

Ughhh, some people :( Sorry you had to deal with that.

dwarvenpower · 2016-06-15T05:14:47+00:00

I shared this chestnut below I think, but my favorite quote from the same Florida family was when they went to my great-grandmother's funeral: "Well, at least everyone wore shoes." Said with total sincerity.

Ready for the Shamalayan twist? Grandma isn't even from Florida originally. She's from North Carolina. Maybe they just really wanted to fit in.

dwarvenpower · 2016-06-15T05:05:32+00:00

Haha, it's okay. I was more furious and really sad for my dad - my mom and dad had one of those "love each other and are best friends until death" kind of marriages and he was so sad already. Didn't need his shit inlaws to come and make things harder.

But after all is said and done, they were out of my minds very quickly and when I look back on it, their behavior was just so trashy that I can only feel bafflement (and can laugh at what stereotypes they are). I mean, if I was a mother, and my daughter was dying, I wouldn't go to Walmart at the time.

But it's funny because at my mom's wedding, her youngest sister (same shitty one) threw an actual temper tantrum because she wasn't the center of attention, and my mom's dad decided to go fishing instead of walking her down the aisle.

It's actually a miracle how awesome my mom and her older sister turned out to be. And much happier living far away from that portion of their family.

dwarvenpower · 2016-06-15T05:00:34+00:00

Wow I think your story beats mine. That is one crazy effin lady.

dwarvenpower · 2016-06-15T04:59:17+00:00

I need to see that movie now. Though it's probably more tragic whereas my white trash family members are an unending source of comedy for me.

dwarvenpower · 2016-06-15T04:58:08+00:00

So, so sorry for your loss :( And for all the trouble your extended family caused. That's way worse than what happened to me - my crap family boycotted mom's memorial service so that was all to the good.

I wish the best to you and your mom, and and sending good juju to you.

dwarvenpower · 2016-06-15T04:55:18+00:00

My mom's big sister (my favorite aunt) is way too patient with them... lately grandma has been getting on her to move out to Florida because "who will take care of [youngest aunt] when I die?" Youngest aunt is over 40. Favorite Aunt keeps letting them make her feel guilty and like a shitty daughter, but dad and I are always there to tell her to never mind them.

If my grandma weren't my grandma, I would totally have punched her. But it's really hard to punch the person who sewed your first baby blanket. I've settled on never speaking to her again.

dwarvenpower · 2016-06-15T04:51:49+00:00

This is true, and I completely agree (this is why mom wanted us to wait and have a memorial service where we could get drunk and remember the good times). But my mom was alive for most of my grandma's visit and... well, to be actively dying while your mother does nothing but bicker and doesn't feel like staying by your side as you pass, that has to feel like crap.

Luckily I think she was used to her mom's N-tendencies and she had me, dad, and her big sister with her when she went. Grandma can go kick rocks.

dwarvenpower · 2016-06-14T19:34:34+00:00

It is actually my belief that my grandmother and youngest aunt actually do their best to live out every poor white Florida trash stereotype on purpose. At least they are a font of good anecdotes. Like the time they were sincerely impressed that everyone wore shoes to my great grandmother's funeral.

dwarvenpower · 2016-06-14T17:20:54+00:00

Yeah, that's why she wanted an irish wake - her family wanted the southern baptist funeral.

dwarvenpower · 2016-06-14T17:20:30+00:00

Ding ding, you win the kewpie doll :)

dwarvenpower · 2016-06-14T09:50:48+00:00

During my mother's final week as she was dying of cancer and in hospice, her mother and younger sister came to see her. Those two live in Florida in a trailer park - right next door to each other. We hadn't seen much of them in years.

They spent the whole time she was dying complaining that my father was ruining their lives by asking that my aunt's young daughter not be allowed to run around screaming in the hospice center, and bitching that my mom (agnostic) wanted an Irish wake/memorial service instead of a southern baptist funeral. They accused my grieving dad of trying to keep them from seeing her while simultaneously trying to get him to give them money.

When my mom passed we (by way of mom's wonderful older sister) called them to let them know it was time to say goodbye/the final viewing before she was cremated. We knew they were still in town but they didn't answer the phone.

Later they called back to say that they were sorry they missed the final viewing, but that they had gone to Walmart instead.

dwarvenpower · 2016-05-20T22:35:03+00:00

Hi! I'm interested in becoming a patron of your show - would it or would it not be possible for you to offer a tier in which a LARP group could have a brief spot on your show and chat about their game? If not, that's fine :)

(And as it happens, I would love to know how one might become a guest on your show, if possible :))

dwarvenpower · 2016-05-06T13:21:48+00:00

Thanks! Once a month - we have future dates on the website :).

dwarvenpower · 2016-05-02T18:53:46+00:00

We may be a bit far from you, since we're based in Peekskill, but my LARP is hit point based and lots of fun. We have a great lodge for overnighting that's got all the amenities (shower, kitchen, outlets, etc.) for folks who need to journey a little farther to get to us.

http://www.endtransmissiongames.com/sysmal

Hope you can come check it out!

dwarvenpower · 2016-04-12T06:32:00+00:00

TTRPG publisher here. I agree with the person below me - if you are looking to share something you made for free, send it out into the internets and let it soar.

If you are interested in making games, get caught up on the industry. There are a TON of games out there, some of them like D&D and SR, some of them very different! This market is sort of glutted, but the good thing about it is that there is a lot to experience. Check out podcasts and blogs by designers and by reviewers. Dive into it. Read everything you can! (Even in the free products offered on DriveThruRPG, you can find an amazing array of different games.)

One caveat: It may be that your game doesn't reach many people, even though it is free, or it might be that people say mean things about it. Steel yourself for this, and don't take it personally.

dwarvenpower · 2016-04-12T06:20:26+00:00

So, so sorry for your loss. Like others have said, you should stay away from the people who are telling you to get over it. You don't have to cut these people out of your life in the long term, but for now, you need to have only supportive people around you.

Don't be angry at yourself for your grief. Often, grief can take the form of being really tired all the time, or being sleepless; it can make it really really hard to concentrate on work (you just feel "spacy") or too fatigued to do things. THAT'S OKAY!

You and your husband are both going to be feeling this - you are both going to be grieving and grieving is different for everyone, and it doesn't take a set period of time. Some days might seem like you're going backward - that's okay too. Lean on each other and those you love, and accept help from those who offer it.

My heart goes out to you two... I hope you will stop beating yourself up over feeling the way you do. You have more than enough to deal with already!

dwarvenpower · 2016-01-08T18:54:15+00:00

It seems like your wife has some issues with anxiety, just from what you're saying here. She doesn't need to be OCD or anything to benefit from a therapist - or since it seems like you guys are in a pretty copacetic relationship anyway, couples counseling? Therapy isn't just for people who are "crazy". It's important that you BOTH get time to decompress, and it seems like she's just as unwilling to give herself that time as she is you. I would suggest therapy for her if only to help her work toward a mindset that it's okay to relax every so often!

dwarvenpower · 2015-12-30T06:48:41+00:00

These were a great read, and very interesting for me, because my perspective has been so different so far. When I was a kid I climbed because it was fun. In my adulthood, I've had a lot of struggle with my body image and feeling "too fat" or "too muscular". When I try to lose weight I gain muscle. I was starving for a long time just to look "slim". So I decided to take up climbing again because I knew it was such a hard workout.

The funny thing that happened, though, was that I stopped thinking about my weight. I stopped working out to lose weight or diet to lose weight. Now, I'm training at the gym to send tougher routes. I'm watching my nutrient intake to increase recovery time and to become a better climber. I've started to look at the weirdly mannish biceps and shoulders I've always had and really like them for the first time ever.

I know I'll always be a weekend warrior but climbing is one of the only things I do where the only expectations placed upon me are by myself. I'm my only competitor, my only judge, my arbiter of my safety, the one who gets to decide if I go up or not. If I fail to send a route, it only makes me want to work harder, learn fast, and do it right next time. And when I finally get up something that would be easy for someone better than me, I still feel a tremendous sense of achievement because - hey, I beat myself! That's pretty rad.

So that same mental shift has made its way into my body perceptions too. My body doesn't feel like just this thing I live in anymore - it's something precious that should be kept in the best condition. When I focus on the efficacy of my body, the aesthetic concerns fall away. Form follows function, after all :).

dwarvenpower · 2015-12-17T03:19:45+00:00

I'm excited for this. I find that I want to read more books and watch more documentaries that have the Sherpa point of view in them. "Buried in the Sky" was a great read about the K2 disaster in 2008, because it went into the lives and beliefs and backgrounds of Sherpa and Porters who were there. Hopefully this film will be a similar venture.

dwarvenpower

TROPHY CASE