Also, if you remember Ultima or Wizardry or any of those old 80s / 90s tile-based RPGs fondly, go see Basilisk Games and get a copy of Eschalon, Book 1, available for Mac, Linux and Windows. Lots of fun. Nice work, Thomas, thank you; looking foward to Book 2.

Here’s one I made:

Never mind the War On Terror – apparently the hot new thing is the War On Kids.

In other news, Obama spent Father’s Day speaking to an African-American group in Chicago about how far too many fathers have failed their children and abandoned their responsibilities. No kidding, Barack. Let’s take that message on the road.

Several days later Murray asked me about a tourist attraction known as the most photographed barn in America. We drove 22 miles into the country around Farmington. There were meadows and apple orchards. White fences trailed through the rolling fields. Soon the signs started appearing. THE MOST PHOTOGRAPHED BARN IN AMERICA. We counted five signs before we reached the site. There were 40 cars and a tour bus in the makeshift lot. We walked along a cowpath to the slightly elevated spot set aside for viewing and photographing. All the people had cameras; some had tripods, telephoto lenses, filter kits. A man in a booth sold postcards and slides—pictures of the barn taken from the elevated spot. We stood near a grove of trees and watched the photographers. Murray maintained a prolonged silence, occasionally scrawling some notes in a little book.

“No one sees the barn,” he said finally.

A long silence followed.

“Once you’ve seen the signs about the barn, it becomes impossible to see the barn.”

He fell silent once more. People with cameras left the elevated site, replaced by others.

We’re not here to capture an image, we’re here to maintain one. Every photograph reinforces the aura. Can you feel it, Jack? An accumulation of nameless energies.”

There was an extended silence. The man in the booth sold postcards and slides.

“Being here is a kind of spiritual surrender. We see only what the others see. The thousands who were here in the past, those who will come in the future. We’ve agreed to be part of a collective perception. It literally colors our vision. A religious experience in a way, like all tourism.”

Another silence ensued.

“They are taking pictures of taking pictures,” he said.

He did not speak for a while. We listened to the incessant clicking of shutter release buttons, the rustling crank of levers that advanced the film.

So today I’m encouraging everyone to go buy a copy of On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. You’ve probably heard about this already, it’s the Penny Arcade adventure game, for PC/Mac/Linux/XBox Live Arcade. (Yes Alex, there’s a native Linux port, that’s reason enough for you to buy it right?)

I’ve been playing it off and on for a couple of days now. They’re doing the episodic thing, probably inspired by the Sam & Max adventures, and when I downloaded the demo that’s pretty much what I expected from it, and to some degree that’s pretty much what it is, but – wow. There’s a degree of polish that the PA guys have put into this thing that really blows me away. I didn’t even start playing the demo, I went right to the site and bought a serial code, I wanted to make sure they got paid for this one.

Adventure games are already a dying breed, and they need all the help we can muster to keep them alive and viable. And on top of that – Penny Arcade! C’mon! So if you’ve got a computer or XBox 360 and a few hours to enjoy what’s essentially a huge, shiny, interactive Penny Arcade comic, do yourself (and Gabe and Tycho) a favor and grab a copy of this one.

If you’re still on the fence, check the comments on this post for a minor spoiler (like, first five minutes of gameplay) that will demonstrate the sheer awesomeness that you can expect if you get it.