Tuesday, March 04, 2008

R.I.P. Gary Gygax

Cousin Saul just informed me of the sad loss of this great man.

Gary left behind his wife, an orc, a couple of dwarfs, and his lucky ten sided dice.

26 comments:

Sparkle Plenty said...

This made me laugh very hard. At the same time, I just read a little more about him and it really does sound like he was a great man...

When I die, will you do an R.I.P. for me? It could say..."R.I.P. Sparkle Plenty. She finally summed up."

Lois Lane said...

::Googles Gary Gygax::

Ah, I'm sure a lot of geekdom is dressed in black today, as if they weren't already.

Back in the day, the Husband was a major D&D afficianado. He tried to teach me to play once, but gave up after a half hour because I wasn't taking it seriously enough.

I think it may have been the contant laughing on my part at everything about D&D he tried to explain to me that got to him.

I mean, c'mon...D&D? It's so silly. Not like comic books, which are totally realistic.

::puts on Supergirl cape, jumps up on couch and pretends to fly::

Godspeed Gary Gygax! Whee!

Lois Lane said...

"R.I.P. Sparkle Plenty. She finally summed up."

HA!

Cake said...

I played D&D once to humour some friends.

I got killed by a gelatinous cube.

Anonymous said...

Dear Sparkle,

I think IANO was kidding about Gary being a great man.

Anonymous said...

IANO!? KIDDING about something?? No way, it'd never happen.

bacon ace said...

I tried playing D&D once in 7th grade on a nice sunny Saturday. My friends were all jazzed about it and after about an hour of set up time and we were nowhere near ready to start playing I said screw this and went out skateboarding. Looking back that could have been a very important decision in the path of my future and in the ability to lose my virginity before 30.

bacon ace said...

Taken from my friend's blog.

My favorite story about him was during the 80s, when D&D was subject to many accusations of Satanism and other such garbage, and he was on a TV talk show (like an opposing viewpoints type thing) with some asshole was attacking the game, and he said that the only people who could possibly have any problems with the game would have to be people with prior serious psychological disturbances.

So the asshole, realizing he’s being out-argued but defending his idiocy, says something like “But couldn’t such a disturbed person use the game to harm themselves or other people?”

And Gygax says “Yes, but couldn’t the same disturbed person also use a chair, any chair, say the one I’m sitting in now, and bash someone over the head with it? So now let’s ban all chairs, because someone might get hurt.”

I remember seeing this at the time as a teenager but having no idea who the guy was. OK now I have some respect for the guy. It's always sad when we lose a threatening wise ass.

Redbeard76 said...

Gary lost all his hit points.

Anonymous said...

What if the Beatles sang about Dungeons and Dragons....or chairs?

Anonymous said...

Hey Druid

Sparkle Plenty said...

Yeah, I knew I Ain't No Oprah was being a Jokey McJokerson.

For the record, I have never played D&D.

But, I still think that GG sounds like he was a cool guy with a good imagination. He's certainly responsible for many Friday nights involving pizza, bong hits, and, uh, druids?

Anonymous said...

All You Need Is Two D-20s

Eight D&D Games A Week

I Am The Balrog

I'll Follow The Dungeon Master

The Long and Winding Hidden Passageway

Yellow Subterranean Tunnel

Anonymous said...

Who's the dork who can't spell "Gandalf"?

Anonymous said...

did someone call me?

Anonymous said...

Nope.

Anonymous said...

Quiet down and show some respect. I'm in mourning.

Redbeard76 said...

That's it, gandolf is hereby kicked out of the coven. Resplendent!

Anonymous said...

What if the Beatles sang about Gandalf/elf/ilf/ulf/ylf?

- All You Need is Hobbits
- Sexy Cloaky
- Gandalfy in the Sky with Eagles
- Eight Dwarves a Week
- Twist and Shout...BALROG!
- Norwegian Wood Staff

Anonymous said...

This has given me a brilliant idea! I own a lovely velvet waistcoat -- maybe I'll go as a hobbit for Halloween?

Anonymous said...

Can I go as your faithful sidekick? I have a cloak of my own already!

Anonymous said...

Damn, there aren't any girl hobbits as main characters. Does this mean I have to go as an elf?

Anonymous said...

I want to be a Black Rider! They do a lot of lurking.

Anonymous said...

I think I'll go as Sauron.

Anonymous said...

Which one's the prettiest character? I'll be that one.

Anonymous said...

Here fishy fishy fishy...