Month: September 2006

We now are past the half-way point. Fewer performances ahead of us than behind.

The Good:

• The amount of public and private support that I received from my fellow cast members, related to the issue that I’ll discuss in “The Ugly”, below. I saw very clearly how people feel about me, and it was very, very humbling.
• The weather: Fucking PERFECT. Cool, crisp fall days with massive crowds.

The Bad:

• Sadly, that’s all for the Good this week, because “The Ugly” loomed so large that I found it impossible to fully get into character and enjoy myself.
• Having to cut “The Two Magicians” from Last Huzzah, because it was too bawdy.

The Ugly:

• A bad night on Friday, which resulted in only getting two to three hours of sleep, followed by hearing the order to cut the “Two Magicians” upon my arrival to the site, resulted in me being a complete idiot and publicly criticizing that decision (and, therefore, the Director) in public, during the morning meeting. Not smart.

  As a result, I was Fired.

  No, I’m not kidding. I was told that I would not be allowed to perform any longer, at a Festival that has been a part of my life since I was 15….all because of my own stupidity. They let me stick around on Saturday because of my role in the Chess Match (which is fairly major, and hence not able to be instantly re-cast), and at the end of the day, I had a private meeting with the Director. I apologized, and asked to be given a second chance, since this was my first (and only, I promised) offense. I explained a bit of what I’d been dealing with. He asked me to make a public apology at the morning meeting on Sunday, which I gladly did.

  I truly regret fucking up the way I did, and let the cast know it in no uncertain terms. There were some in the cast who lauded me for saying what I had, but that really didn’t mean anything to me….there are always people who thrive on drama and are quick with the “you said what we’re all thinking and what needed to be said” bit. We all know that this is just smoke blown up my ass. The ones who approached me on Sunday saying that they were impressed by my owning my shit and apologizing meant far more to me, in the end.

  I screwed up, due to a combination of frustration and exhaustion. It wasn’t something to admire, or emulate, or anything that I’m proud of. In fact, I am ashamed that I lost control. I want to make this clear: The apology was not forced, or coerced, or done simply because it was required for my continued participation. It was offered because it was the right thing to do. I disrepected the Director, publicly. After 22 years of doing this, I should be professional enough to know that you just don’t do that. Ever.

  By the end of Sunday, it appeared that the entire drama will be forgotten, and we can concentrate on entertaining the patrons who come through the gates. I sincerely hope that this is the case.

So I’ve started another business.

RPGNow is spinning it’s print-distribution program off as a separate business, which will be run (and owned) by me.

RPGNow Distribution (as it is called) will take print versions of PDF-publisher’s products (wow, that’s a lot of P’s), and act as a broker between the publishers, the printer, and the distributors. Basically, we’re a fulfillment business. I help the PDF publishers get their products printed, I rep their products to the games distributors to get them into retail stores world-wide, and for that, I get a cut of the money.

Here’s a copy of the official press release:

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Effective October 1st, RPGNow’s distribution program will be spun off under new management as its own company, RPGNow Distribution. The new company will continue to work with RPGNow publisher clients to deliver print versions of their products to distributors world-wide, giving retailers the opportunity to stock proven products that had previously only been available in electronic format.

RPGNow Distribution will be operated by Gareth-Michael Skarka, an RPG business veteran with experience at every tier of the games industry from retail to distribution to publishing, including most recently as director of RPGNow’s print-on-demand program. “RPGNow’s publisher clients will benefit from the increased focus that spinning the program off as a separate business will bring,” he said. “This will allow each business to concentrate on its core: The publishers on producing great games, RPGNow on electronic delivery of those games, and RPGNow Distribution on getting those games to the retailers.”

“We’re confident that RPGNow Distribution is in good hands,” says James Mathe, owner of RPGNow. “We feel that Gareth’s experience and the responsiveness he demonstrated while handling our customer service for the past 4 years makes him the best person to handle the program and give it the attention that it deserves.”

RPGNow Distribution will begin handling all fulfillment duties for existing clients beginning in October. Solicitation for new distribution clients will begin at that time, and existing clients should expect more information later this month. Any clients with questions, or prospective new clients, are welcome to contact Gareth-Michael Skarka directly at gmskarka@sbcglobal.net

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Even though October 1 is the official launch date, I’ve already started handling things — talking with the existing clients, speaking to the distribtors and the printer, etc. It’s made for a pretty hectic week, while we get the wrinkles ironed out.

I am SO ready for a drink tonight.

Congratulations, America. Our tax dollars now pay for torture.

The United States will be the first nation on Earth to authorize violations of the Geneva Conventions.

Here’s the text of the “Agreement on Common Article 3” in PDF, for torture-defending assholes like (“it’s necessary, or otherwise our women will be forced to wear burkas!!!!OMGWTF!!!11!”), who prefer to have “liberal propaganda” like this properly cited for them.

It only takes a single read-through to see that the Senators have capitulated entirely, that the U.S. will hereafter violate the Geneva Conventions. In addition to the elimination of habeas rights in section 7a, the bill would delegate (in Section 8) the authority to interpret “the meaning and application of the Geneva Conventions” “for the United States,” to the fucking President (except that the bill itself would define certain “grave breaches” of Common Article 3 to be war crimes… small comfort there, since it would permit most of the more coercive CIA techniques to continue.). So this language would literally cut the legs out from under Supreme Court decisions like the Hamdan decision, by saying that the President alone has the authority to interpret. Yes, that’s unbelievable — read it yourself. It’s there in black-and-white.

And in the worst part of the bill, for purposes going far beyond the questions of torture and interrogation — section 7 would preclude courts altogether from ever interpreting the Geneva Conventions — any part of them — by providing that “no person may invoke the Geneva Conventions or any protocols thereto in any habeas or civil action or proceeding to which the United States, or a current or former officer, employee, member of the Armed Forces, or other agent of the United States, is a party as a source of rights, in any court of the United States or its States or territories.”

I can hear the NeoCon assholes (like ) now: “Who cares? They’re terrorists, and they want to bomb our Walmarts, put our women in Burkas, and KILL US ALL!!!”

Yeah….that’s true….it’s not like these provisions are ever going to accidentally result in the torture of an innocent man, now will they?

Every Conservative voter who put these criminals in power should hang their heads in shame. History will judge you as the ones who destroyed what this country once stood for.