Brimshack

We at Crunch-Waffle would like to announce the release of 5 new miniatures, beginning with this Leprechaun, sculpted by Cindy Dukino. Additional Minis now available at Crunch-Waffle include this Enchantress , sculpted by Jennifer Haley; this Indian Maiden by Gael Goumon; Esmerelda, the Swordmaiden by Cindy Dukino; and this lovely little dwarven waitress, Minka Rue by Cindy Dukino. For additional CW news, visit our newly desiged website: http://crunch-waffle.com/

Um, my brother gave me enough cash to treat myself to a meal at the Himalayan Grill, a new restaurant in town. Instead I'm using it to drive to Prescott where I can meet someone to share dinner with at an Indian restaurant down thataway, the name of which I do not know. The restaurant, I mean. Her name, I know. Actually, I have kept the damn day secret from my casual acquaintances, so my gamers don't even know, won't even know, that I am contemplating a gift to myself in the form of a TPK tonighht. Muhahahahah!

Hey thanks guys. How old till you're over the hill anyway? Can I start yellin at the kids to git off my damn lawn yet? ...or the weeds anyway.

Heh, thanks guys. The first line lept to mind when I saw the mini. Had to figure a story behind it.

Hey all, Not really new miniatures, but a new miniatures game. Extra Terrae Crepusculum “It’s pretty simple, you know. Everyone that’s here, we all crossed through something we call ‘the veil’. The place itself, we call it “The Land Beyond Twilight.” A mage explained it this way; it’s like space and time get confused. The land passes by us as though it were a moment and instead we walk across time. When the veil falls, you think your walking North towards home or West toward an inn down in the next town, but you’re actually walking accross a moment in time. I think that’s what the mage said. Anyway, this land is somewhere on the other side of that. So, that’s why we call it the Land Beyond Twilight. I know. It doesn’t make sense to me either. …Rotten spell casters never make any sense.” -A random Grunt Crunch-Waffle Enterprises would like to invite gamers to play our exciting new product, "Extra Terrae Crepusculum" (Beyond the Twilight Worlds.) This game allows players to combine miniatures from our own line with those of other companies to produce skirmish parties to go out and kick some ass. All you need are three 6 sided dice, some miniatures, and our free pdf and you’re well on you’re way to a killing frenzy the like of which your game table has rarely seen. Character stats are simple but they allow you the flexibility to tailor your war parties to your own tastes. The game is intended for 2 or more players and will normally last from 1 to 3 hours. http://crunch-waffle.com/skirmish_game.htm

"Did he just call me an 'apple'?" ...Joss looked at the Pit Boss, then back at the councelman. This could be fun. Joss wasn't really there to smack around the locals, and everyone knew that. He was there to answer the likes of Tony Two Blades from Atlantic City or Mutton Jack from the New Lands Casino just west of Gallup. He'd already answered the high rollers from Vegas, and everyone fully expected a blow up one day with the hired hands at Sky City Casino. It was a class operation, the Acoma ran, and their boys were professional in every way. Respect was one thing, but the day wouild come, and that was the sort of thing Joss was for. Muscle like his wasn't there to smack drunks around or bounce the occassional loudmouth. It was for the big rivalries. But Joss could enjoy a little mix up without the usual risks. This might be okay after all. Joss was a warrior, just like his ancestors, at least that's what he told himself. The stakes were a little different these days, and some of the enemies, but the difference was superficial. In the old days his people had fought the Crow and the Cavalry for hunting territory. Today, they fought for control of tourist money. The weapons were a little different too. Joss' Tomahawks were of the finest titanium steel, not like those his grandfathers had used to crush the skull of Fetterman's troops. And of course there were the steroids. "Fuck Custer and his piddly force," Joss used to say. "Hell, with blackjack revenues and juice like this stuff now, we'd have aced the whole damn 7th Cavalry." Idle Fantasies. What was real now was the time riverboat thugs had tried to kneecap all the dealers in the big hall one night. They came in, so they thought, with enough muscle to hold down the place long enough to send a message. Terrible thing when a baseball bat hits a knee. Just a little more terrible when an axe does the same thing. Joss had to leave a couple intact though. So they could reach the peddlles to drive back to the city hospital. Joss could be real thoughtful that way. Folks appreciated that about Joss, he saw to that. No, people didn't normally fuck with Joss, especially not his own people. But this sunofabitch was feeling his cheap Tokay wine and singing loud and rude about everything and everyone this side of the reservation line. The pathetic wino had a seat on the tribal council, so they cut him a little slack. What the old fart was on about was anybody's guess, buut no-one really cared. Things had gone a little too far. People had been insulted who should not have been insulted and secrets had been spit out in the presence of customers who didn't need to know a damn thing. That's when Joss stepped in. It was distasteful to have to silence innocent folk, especially folk that still had money to spend. Folk that would have money to spend week after week if they weren't too scared to set foot on the premises. But the Councilman didn't heed the warnings. He knocked away the cofee and frybread Joss had brought him. It was an honest effort to avoid unnecessary ugliness, and Joss had been happy to do it. Now, Joss was thinking, he might be just as happy to forcefeed the bread and scalding coffee to the little moron right here in front of everyone. The drunk was venting all the local secrets from the whereabouts of the best bootleggers and an affair between the tribal President and his best secretary to the final destination of the night's proceeds. Might just be the money was headed off reservation, maybe to folks in Kansas City. A dollar didn't stay long on the rez before it left for other pastures, not even a whole lot of them. Everyone knew that. But some thought maybe the bulk went back east, and this loudmouth was doing his best to prove that in front of everyoine who would listen. It wasn't true Joss thought, not that it mattered to him much. The matter wasn't for open air and everyone who mattered knew that much. Joss looked back at the pit boss. There were no words, but everyone knew what Joss wanted to know (everyone except the councilman who was too busy cussing). Joss lowered his glasses just a moment, and the pit boss could see the question in his eyes; "Do I use a bat, or do I get out an axe?"

The little guy needs sculpting.

Hapy Birthday, Mick

Cindy, When you walk through the forests, do chipmunks and the squirrels in the vicinity become that much more playful and cute? Or is it just anything you touch with a brush or a sculpting tool that becomes magically endowed with personality?

...fixed.

Another question going through my mind, how much of our objections are determined precisely by the content itself, and how much by suspicions about the intent of others? Does it really matter if someone might see in a morbid picture a profound message? Does that make it better? Or conversely, what if we know a positive message was intended, is that enough to controvene the very real prospect that someone else will just get a vicarious thrill out of it? Sometimes, I think comments and concerns relate to the objective features of the piece, and sometimes they relate more to the possibilities of abuse, so to speak.

I suspect minis are not the easiest medium with which to convey deeper meaning or ironic commentary on violence in history. I'm not saying it's impossible, just that it's a much tougher sale than say a movie or a book where you can manipulate more of the context behind the specific image. Learning more about what they are doing here makes it all seem much more interesting, but it'll take some serious credibility to pull off an image of rape without having it go down as morbid pornography. If they can pull off the message in question, more power to them.

Heh, the funny thing about it is I think the one is linked to the other. Nudity would not be near so interesting were it not so taboo out here. The real reason the nipples must be covered, I can't help thinking is so that folks can sell money off teasing the possibility of their appearance. Censorship and pornography are just two dimensions of the same obsession as far as I'm concerned. but I seem to be full of opinions tonight...

I expect I would probably draw the line rather differently. What strikes me as tasteless is usually something rather subtle, whereas I actually prefer both sex and violence to be depicted with a rather unblinking eye ...or not at all. It's like some of the euphemisms for sex that you only hear when someone is uncomfortable with the subject. Far from toning things down, they actually serve as red flags, so to speak, telling us that something is wrong. WARNIG - POSSIBLE SPOILERS I often wonder at the notion that highly graphic images are significantly more problematic than tamer ones. We hear all the time that excessively violent movies desensitize us. I wonder about that though. What's more desensitizing, a movie that shows the suffering associated with violence in graphic detail, or one where gun shots kill people quickly and everyone shot dies immediately after an almost comic "argh!" (or finishes the battle with a mild flesh wound)? I think of the old westerns with so much less graphic violence and I can't help but think they are so much more desensitizing than say The Unforgiven where we get to see someone screaming for water after being gutshot or The Proposition where they make it very clear that a public lashing was a life threatening event. The deaths that occur an old John Wayne or even an early Clint Eastwood flick seem to make gunplay seem harmless, even fun. It's not that those old movies are entirely heartless, but they always shield us from the greatest pains implied in their own stories. And when the bad guys is killed, it's as if the world is clean again and everything is now as it should be. I think that's a desenstizing message. Show me a movie like the War Zone where the bad guy ends up crying like a baby and eliciting real sympathy just a moment after you wanted to reach through the screen and hurt him yourself (at least I did). The extra touch would turn a lot of people off, but it turns them off precisely because it doesn't let them shut out the pain. It's far from desensitizing. If a movie wants to cover violence, and wants to cover it seriously, then I'd rather see them deal with it in frank terms. ...and that means showing the real costs of the violence. How this relates to miniatures, I am not entirely sure. I do find it interesting in a business where we routinely depict instruments of great suffering to see where people (myself included) suddenly draw the line. I'm quite aware of the fact that the difference for me is often rather arbitrary. My suspicion is that some of us might want to think more carefully about what those swords and spears actually mean if we are going to balk at the more explicitly cruel stuff. There is a lot of cruelty in these images; we just don't always see it, not until some specific detail rubs us the wrong way. ...pointless meandering thoughts.

Okay, so we've had our Fiendish Celestial, Jihad, up in our store for a little bit. But we just got some clothes on her, so to speak, and so we thought we'd throw her a sort debutante ball. Jihad appears here in full color, compliments of Anders Eklund (AKA Ritual), and she is quite ready for the social season. FREE SHIPPING: In honor of our little lady's coming of age here, standard shipping is free on all orders of $25.00 or more in the U.S. (and on orders of $50.00 or more worldwide). Offer good through March 10th. http://crunch-waffle.com/store/nfoscomm/catalog/index.php