SnoutCast #93: SEAHOP Player Debrief

In which Ana, Katie, Matt, Rob, and Vic tell us about playing in the 2011 Seattle Epic and Awesome Hunt O' Puzzles (SEAHOP)! (Apologies for the inferior sound quality; our dining room is not an ideal recording environment.)


[ Download mp3 - 24 MB ]

00:59 - "epic and amazing"
01:50 - the legend of SEAHOP
03:17 - comparison to other puzzle hunt events?
07:07 - memorable puzzles
13:52 - boo .NET
18:20 - the Sunday afternoon wrap-up
22:09 - did SEAHOP inspire you to (wait for it) Run More Games?
24:05 - plug-o-rama: DASH 4, Puzzled Pint (want to simulcast? E-mail gamecontrol@puzzledpint.com)
26:13 - The End

Got a comment or question? E-mail podcast@snout.org or post at snout.org/podcast!

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "Mandelbrot Set" by Jonathan Coulton

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Friday Flash Fiction: "Runaways"

I can neither confirm nor deny that this scene was inspired or influenced by a mash-up of The Matrix and Hanna. (Wow, that sentence had a lot of unnecessary words. Have I mentioned I'm doing NaNoWriMo?)

Read "Runaways" at 512 Words or Fewer

SnoutCast #92: DeeAnn's Complex Relationship with Puzzles

In which we explore how a woman who admits she doesn't love puzzles nevertheless creates at least one new puzzle every month.


[ Download mp3 - 28 MB ]

00:59 - "fastidious"
01:59 - "Let's talk about Puzzled Pint!"
03:50 - INDEX INTO ALL THE THINGS! (thanks, Mike Janney)
05:31 - DeeAnn's complex relationship with one particular puzzle
11:39 - playing vs. solving
14:47 - the wrong question: "was it too easy?"
21:39 - when do we get good at making puzzles?
29:05 - Puzzle Hunt Calendar, Trenchwood (Doctor When), Thanksgiving, and more!
29:59 - The End

Got a comment or question? E-mail podcast@snout.org or post at snout.org/podcast!

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "Baby Got Back" by Jonathan Coulton

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Friday Flash Fiction: "Just Another Fish Story"

One hundred years ago, Edith Wharton's novel Ethan Frome was published. The first line of that novel, now in the public domain, is the same as the first line of this week's story. I was inspired to recycle it by an incident in the film Finding Forrester (not this), and the general laziness which infects many of my creative endeavors.

A note on the title: I didn't call it simply "Fish Story" because I wrote another story with that title many years ago, and even though that piece will probably never see publication, I don't want to confuse it with this one in my mental catalog.

Read "Just Another Fish Story" at 512 Words or Fewer

SnoutCast #91: GC Loves Volunteers

Because not only can helpers make or break a puzzlehunt event; volunteering on GC is also the gateway drug to running a puzzlehunt yourself. And you know how much we like to encourage that!


[ Download mp3 - 28 MB ]

00:59 - "voluntary"
01:25 - volunteering for Shinteki events
02:33 - our first GC volunteer experience: Espionage (1999)
10:07 - old-school Game Clues? not necessarily puzzles
15:02 - helpful volunteers are helpful
19:53 - managing ~40 volunteers in Hogwarts Game (2006)
23:07 - good volunteers know what they want to do
28:55 - plugging away: Puzzle Hunt Calendar and Doctor When (Trenchwood) applications
30:39 - The End

Got a comment or question? E-mail podcast@snout.org or post at snout.org/podcast!

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "Shop Vac" by Jonathan Coulton

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Pictures from an OryCon

...OryCon 33, to be precise, which happened this past weekend in Portland, Oregon.

DeeAnn was this year's Liaison for Artist Guest of Honor (GoH) Jim Pavelec, and we watched him do a painting demonstration:


https://picasaweb.google.com/sparckl/OryCon33JimPavelecArtistGoH

Our friends The Doubleclicks performed a concert on Friday night:


https://picasaweb.google.com/sparckl/OryCon33TheDoubleclicks

And other fun stuff happened:


https://picasaweb.google.com/sparckl/OryCon33

I'll post later with an update to The ORC Equations. After three years of running the Open Read and Critique sessions (ORCs) at OryCon, I think I've finally got a proper structure figured out... so of course I have ideas for changing it next year. Stay tuned, sports fans.

Friday Flash Fiction: "Inheritance"

If it weren't for weird, disjointed dreams, I might not get half the ideas that end up becoming 512s. This one was more textual than visual, but the latter might figure more in a follow-up, in which Eddie Jr. has to deal with--well, you'll see.

Read "Inheritance" at 512 Words or Fewer

SnoutCast #90: BANG 28 Debrief

Corey "Weird Al's Doppelgänger" Anderson, Dan "Puzzle Hunt Calendar" Egnor, Doug "You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry" Zongker, and Dr. Melinda Owens tell us all about running BANG 28.

(I can neither confirm nor deny that I'm still a little sleep-deprived--and therefore punchy--from helping with the Bay Area WHO Game re-cast this past weekend.)


[ Download mp3 - 23 MB ]

00:59 - "glow-in-the-dark"
02:12 - why do the Burninators seem to run every 7th BANG?
05:23 - the night-time chicken and the electronics egg
09:05 - "Did you guys have fun?" "Almost always."
10:22 - Game Control and friends
12:05 - meeting the neighbors
14:30 - puzzle completion rates, estimated
16:15 - Seattle shipping shenanigans
17:44 - the GC "puzzle bible"
20:15 - what else? (see also: BANG 28 : By the Numbers)
22:36 - what's next? (implied: Run More Games)
24:37 - The End

Got a comment or question? E-mail podcast@snout.org or post at snout.org/podcast!

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "The Future Soon" by Jonathan Coulton

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Friday Flash Fiction: "Want You Gone"

Why, yes, as a matter of fact, DeeAnn and I are going on JoCo Cruise Crazy II!

Thanks to Corby, Beth, Sean, Crissy, Taylor, Maria, Kate, Molly, Blue, Marian, and all the others who prodded us into joining the nerd herd. :)

Read "Want You Gone" at 512 Words or Fewer

SnoutCast #89: SNAP 8 Debrief

In which we break the half-hour barrier with Jeff Phillips and Jay McCleery of SNAP 8 GC in Seattle. (Tune in next week for our BANG 28 debriefing!)


[ Download mp3 - 28 MB ]

00:58 - "snappy"
01:40 - What is a SNAP?
03:26 - re-casting BANG 28 (vs. simulcasting SNAP VI)
13:57 - an impolitic question about device re-use
15:25 - location, location, location
17:52 - on re-running an event you haven't already played
21:00 - on the coming together of plans and such
24:56 - the one horrendous clue building experience
26:35 - budgeting
27:11 - what's next? (implied: Run More Games!)
30:33 - The End

Got a comment or question? E-mail podcast@snout.org or post at snout.org/podcast!

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "First of May" by Jonathan Coulton

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