Yeah, I'm kinda foolish that way myself, which is why I posted about it...  I'm very tempted to go out and buy the regular edition today so I can start reading it.  I don't read my deluxe editions or 1sts anyway, so I might as well..<sigh> so much for the budget this month.  Have you checked out the map yet?  Sounds like it's a bit more detailed than the one in the Silmarillion.

Great news for anyone attending the Live Earth concert at Webley Stadium:

http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx ... 3&GT1=7702

I wonder if Stonehenge will be one of the songs in their set?

Kingofpain89 wrote:
It's a nice map but it centers on the southwestern portion of Beleriand instead of encompassing the whole like The Silmarillion did.  And it does seem to have more detail than the previous maps I have seen for the region.

I broke down and bought it today at Atlantic Books (possibly the counterpart to the HPB some of you seem to frequent, don't have those here on the east coast).  I'm already on page 43; starts out a little slow, but seems promising.  Yeah, the map is more detailed but I haven't really scrutinized it yet.

Since I'm on the new fiction kick, and on the off chance someone else here cares about things Lovecraftian, I received an e-mail from John Pelan at Darkside Press today, who says that Cthulhuian Singularity is back on track and moving forward (original release estimate was December '06)--pricetag is steep at $75 for the signed LE and $150 for the deluxe, but should be worth it.

I'll more than likely finish it within a couple of days (or at least by Monday), so I'll post my first impressions.  I'll probably re-read the other versions of the Narn i Chin Hurin in Unfinished Tales and The Silmarillion right afterwards, to refresh my memory.  

From the first chapter of Hurin, which I'm not quite through, about the first three or four pages were VERY familiar, and if I remember correctly are very similar to the version in the S.  However, from there on I'm definitely getting the sense I'm reading something I never have before.  The style is much more narrative (if that's the right word) than the S, less "biblical".  It's been longer since I last read the Tales, but as I recall most of that is fairly dry too.  The new one is definitely a novel in a way that the other two are not.  I can't recommend it yet based on 43 pages, but nothing so far has put me off in the slightest.

Sorry, I didn't see any reference about where to donate to.

Xaxaxe wrote:Possibly worthy of its own thread, but it'll work here, too ...

New eBay feedback system — featuring "Detailed Seller Ratings" — goes worldwide April 30, apparently.

Official announcement

One interesting change: check out the new "leave some feedback" page.     Good lord ...

Yikes!

Anyway, it should be interesting to see how this plays out in the U.S., which (just stating a simple fact here; no offense intended) is still home to the vast majority of eBay users worldwide.

My initial take: it won't be that big of a deal. But any system that hurts Cougie — and this one should — is okay by me.  

(Points to the new topic created a few days ago....)



viewtopic.php?t=5556



Yep....cougie is going to go ape shit over this...

I wonder if you can go back over feedback that you left for him in the past 90 days and give an 'accurate' accounting

Does anybody have any tips on taking photos of miniatures? or can point me in the direction of info? Unfortunately I only have a cheap Kodak digital 3.1 MP camera (Easyshare C300) so it does not have all the "Macro" features of the more expensive SLR cameras.

While going through more boxes today I started finding some of my old miniatures including a small bunch of 1979 Ral Partha's.

I played around with my camera to see if I could get a half decent picture but the minis kept coming out as little lead colored blurs...  

My next step is to try the tripod and see if I can use the zoom feature to get a clearer image... Once more into the breach!! (nothing funny intended BTB   )

Thanks Xaxaxe,
I experimented some more this afternoon trying various combinations of zooms, lighting and shooting ranges but, alas, 'twas all in vein...

As far as the Cougiescanner techniques, I think I'll choose to pass them by...  

Jason
There's a wealth of advice among the articles posted on CoolMiniOrNot.

I like this article in particular:

http://www.coolminiornot.com/article/aid/101

You'll probably have to shell out for more equipment, though.