So, there's a game store in Vancouver called Strategies. Strategies specializes in Games Workshop kind of stuff, but also has 3 RPG bookshelves. The owner of the store, Darren, is charismatic and energetic and cool. He's really passionate about the stuff he stocks. It used to be limited to WHFRP, D&D, Savage Worlds and Werewolf. About a year ago, I started telling him about my crazy indie games.

Recently, he got really interested in the stuff he kept hearing on podcasts like HG,WT and Voice of the Revolution. He decided to dive in and order a small shelf of IPR stuff. Agon is one of the games he chose.

He played Agon a few weeks ago, and was so into it. He energetically described how he got the other heros to give him a leg up, so he could catapult himself into the sky and tackle a harpy down into the storming seas below. He told me how the boat left without him, and he challenged them to see who would make it to the island first - the boat, or him swimming. He won.

He let me know that Agon kicked ass because it was full of cool options, epic colour, and tight mechanics. My internal response was "I know that game! And that author! Rock."

Now your turn. Tell me about someone else praising something you know and love. RPG specific or otherwise.

Man, that is so awesome.

Mine happened yesterday in the coffee shop. One girl was passionately explaining to the other, "But... it's not just, like, a sci-fi show exactly... it's so much more than that! And the writing is so good! And the characters! Oh... it's the best thing ever!!! I can't believe it got cancelled."

I stopped at their table. "Firefly?" I said. "YES!" said the one, and sat back in her chair with a sigh. I sighed. We looked wistfully off into space. The other girl: "Well, I guess I have to see that."

Win!

John, that makes my day. I'm just starting Firefly right now. I watched Serenity with one of my roommates, and me and my girlfriend have started watching Firefly. We just finished the Train Job, so only 2 episodes down so far. Liking it!

On the Vancouver gaming forum, someone posted saying "Hey, impromptu public gaming session tomorrow? Is anyone interested?"

The first response on the page was "Oh, I bet Joe is. He'll be along shortly to say he is." It's nice to have a reputation in your community for being all about playing and rocking out. Love it.

This happened tonight. Ingrid, my 3 year old, has a playlist of videos on iTunes. Mostly happy little cartoons and Pixar shorts like "Boundin'" I start it up for her and run downstairs to make dinner throw a pizza in the oven. I forgot I had done this, but apparently I put the Gorillaz "Feel Good" video on her playlist. A few minutes later, she starts yelling at me to "come put the cool movie back on." I know what she calls all the other videos, I can't figure out what the cool movie is. So I go back upstairs.

"What's the cool movie?" I ask.

"The one with the cool music." She says. I notice "Feel Good" there. Part of me is going WTF, part of me is thinking yay! I can play this in the car and maybe I won't have to play "Puff the Magic Dragon" for the 11th time in a row. Maybe she'll accept just 10 runs of "Puff." (Ingrid actually has really good taste in music. She just likes to listen to her favorites over and over and over.)

"You mean this?" I turn it back on, and she immediately stands up in her chair and starts dancing when the music comes on.

"Mama!" She yells. "This song is so good!" (I love the song, too!)

And we both dance to "Feel Good" and she demands to watch it again.

Later on Ingrid, Bea (my 8 year old), Bea's friend Loreena (staying over for the night), and I watch the primetime version of The Price is Right. It's the corniest show on tv, but it's fun to watch people jump up and down and win prizes. The show is happiness, winning things, and nostalgia for anyone who stayed home sick from school in the 70's and 80's. I am a little embarrassed about my love for this show. Actually I'm not. Meg Baker comes over a couple of times a week and we watch it together and drink tea.

So this guy wins $30000. Ingrid, Loreena, and Bea jump up and down, squealing "Look at him! He doesn't know what to do! He just won!" Naturally I start jumping around screaming, too. And later some guy wins over $1,000,000 in prizes. Gleeful madness ensued.

Julia, your 3 year old jamming to Gorillaz is so cool. That made me smile quite a bit.

Julia, I want to live your life for a week.

Anytime you want to come to the magical land of Western Massachusetts, there's a futon with your name on it.

Woo!

That same Agon-lovin', store-runnin', IPR-orderin' guy I mentioned upthread... he's "changed over" to Burning Wheel from D&D. His group is loving the Lifepath system, the skill practicing in the downtime, the bloody versus, and soon will be loving the duel of wits. I think it's cool that he's willing to try new stuff and embrace what works for him.

Joe, that's a cool story about the game store owner. I love this bit: "He told me how the boat left without him, and he challenged them to see who would make it to the island first - the boat, or him swimming. He won."

Julia, I think this is funny: "The show is happiness, winning things, and nostalgia for anyone who stayed home sick from school in the 70's and 80's." Yes! I'm not sure why that show works so well with kids - maybe it's the variety of simple games, and Bob Barker's charming demeanor - but that is indeed what you'd watch when you were home sick from school. I got to be pretty good at guessing the right prices, too.