Tickets are still available for January and February events. Remember, you can get an "event pass" and find your own accommodations in the valley.
The first of four major terrain boards are underway: an Ork manufacturing yard. The others are going to be Deep Badlands, Chemical Plant, and Poisoned Oasis.
We have also started on the studio Ork army which will be available for use and also scenarios.
Valhalla Update December 17th
Christmas Hours
Other than taking a half-day for Christmas Eve, and the whole day Christmas Day (Saturday), BTP will be open for business and ready to take orders.
Valhalla Update December 15th
We are working on the scenarios for the "tournament". There are multiple layers of thinking here. The whole thing should be worked out a week from now.
We want to create an event for you to be in, a spectacle or an experience. Not only will you be in a different world physically (ie up in the mountains of Utah) but you will also be on a distant planet commanding your army.
We are going to create a world in the form of terrain boards that represent key warzones and environments on Kastorel Novem (inspired by the Forge World book). It's not just a series of three or four games against random opponents and armies, it's part of a story. Each person will get a personal score, but will also be part of a team that works as part of the storyline: Raiders, Barbarians, Imperials, etc... We're thinking four factions at this time.
We're abandoning the idea of the "rental army" at this time. We're going to make a huge Ork army (4500-6000 pts), a huge Ravenguard army (at least one whole company) and an Imperial Guard army (anyone have some Elysian troops?). These are the principal actors in the Kastorel Novem storyline.
You are welcome to bring your own force OR to draw from the studio armies*. So, basically, you don't need your own army to participate. Again, you can bring your own army if you want. You'll pre-send your list, and you can also send your story (ie why your army is on the planet) and your commander's name. We will weave that into the scenarios.
You also might play against staff, other players, or as part of pre-set sub-scenarios. You also might have specialized missions, objectives and scenarios just for your army.
So it will be like a part-custom-part-RPG type of event. The schedule is likely to be two or three games on Friday and a grand finale game on Saturday.
More information to come!
*So, not only the Kastorel Novem armies we're making but also Dark Eldar, Eldar (?), or other forces we have on hand.
Questions for Morning Show
Please send questions you may have to bluetablepainting@gmail.com
Use subject line "Morning Show Question". We will pick some and answer them!
Sovereign Intervention
Now this might be odd after my last post about hurting someone by helping them. Nonetheless I have been thinking a lot recently by what I call the sovereign intervention of God* where He does something good or merciful but with one-sided motive or action. I came across this today from Luke 7
Jesus Raises the Widow's Son at Nain
11 ¶ And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people.
12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.
13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.
14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.
15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.
16 And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.
17 And this rumor of him went forth throughout all Judea, and throughout all the region round about.
Now this is different than the usual thing where someone seeks him out, or he says that it is their faith that made them whole.
Apparently none of the above. There are so many open-ended questions here. I think the key is "he had compassion on her". Sometimes God does good things for me even if I haven't even asked.
The connection for me is the what of the miracle. Raising someone from the dead is the pinnacle (or near to it) of divine intercession. What did he give the woman? What did he give the young man? The gift of life. Well, isn't that the gift given to each of us-- free and clear from square one without even being asked. God's own work. "I do my Father's work" that thing.
And later this same chapter (see my own comments in bold):
Jesus at the Home of Simon the Pharisee
36 ¶ And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat.
37 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
38 and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Mt. 26.7 · Mk. 14.3 · Joh. 12.3
39 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him; for she is a sinner.
40 And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
41 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. One is ten times the other.
42 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Frankly = no strings attached. "Nothing to pay" is the condition of all humans. It is the condition of being empty-handed. Only some realize it and others do not.
43 Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. The woman shows ultimate self-abnegation and obeisance. She is completely humble, perhaps realizing her condition. Three parts: washing the feet, a kiss, and anointing. I wonder if that means something.
47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. What is the connection between love and forgiveness. It makes me think of Romans 2:4** It should also be noted that Simon is a Pharisee and his thinking is: Keep the Law = be justified, as long as you are keeping the rules there is no reason to be repentant.
48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.
49 And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?
50 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.
As usual, I must end with my usual disclaimer. I am not a particularly good person. I think I have the same struggles of character that are common to man. BUT there is no law saying that reeking sinners such as myself can't read the scriptures and have ideas and insights!
*See the "empty hands" post for what I mean when I say this.
** Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
2010 Retrospective Part 1
One of my big lessons in 2010 is that helping someone can sometimes hurt them. Sometimes what someone needs is to stand on their own two feet.
A job. That's the best thing you can do for another human. Provide a job.
Let's say you picked a young married couple and anonymously sent them a check for $3000 every month. I daresay you might destroy that young couple. At the very least they would not form the bonds that being young and broke together would forge.
Perhaps this idea is callous. It stems from seeing the unemployment benefits being extended by the Feds. I know at least two perfectly able-bodied young men who were kept from doing anything useful for well over a year. I think it hurt them. It definitely hurt society as their productivity dropped to nothing.
__________________________________
[Comment by a fan]
Dear Shawn,
I hope you will elaborate a little on this in part 2. I'm in a similar situation,
having spent a year doing very little, living mostly on unemployment
because it's not worth working part-time hours (although I have been when I can).
I live in Australia, and under the current system, you actually lose
money by working part-time. These days you're lucky to find someone
to employ you full-time, since it's cheaper for employers to keep pushing
part-time hours. You don't agree, you don't get ANY hours.
I believe unemployment benefits encourage people to be lazy, which will definitely hurt
them in the long run (my spirits have taken the biggest hit ever this year).
Young people fresh out of high school get wads of cash thrown at them, and are then told
to find work. The unemployed should be helped into work if they need it.There should be
mandatory work experience, volunteer work or apprenticeships for those too long on benefits.
I've been a member of two unemployment agencies, and they are honetsly a joke. I don't know
how it is in the US, but these establishments are government funded, and like most bureaucracies,
I believe they exists to give the people working there jobs rather than to find other people work.
Perhaps they are reluctant to do their jobs since if they do them properly, they'd be the ones out of work.
Consequently, I'm about to start training for a job, but if you ever need another painter or assembler
(and would like an Aussie accent in the studio), please drop me an email. I'm at a moment in my life
where I'm prepared to start afresh and dedicate myself to something new, and Utah looks like a wonderful
place to live. I'm sure I can sell my position to you if needed.
Yours sincerely,
A Huge Fan,
Too Much Toast
Part of BTP is that I try and answer every call and email personally. There is a limit to this and to how much I will let the business grow. I think this is something really unusual for any business.
Please be kind and patient with me. If I delay in responding, or if my responses are short, it is nothing personal. Sometimes I have a pretty high volume of email.
If you are a client (ie you are paying for a project) I encourage you to make your needs known. You need to be explicit like "Shawn, I was hoping for more detail on such-and-such item" or put URGENT in the subject line. Or contact me via Gmail chat if you can.
If you are not a client it helps to keep emails short or use bulleted points. If an email is massive blocks of text without paragraphs or good punctuation it's really hard for me to digest.
Don't get me wrong, I really want to keep that personal touch, it's super-important to me and I work very, very hard to keep it current.
Saturday
Today I'm working at the studio. Then off to the staff Christmas party.
I'm available for questions or to set up new projects.
Wingers
We went to lunch at Wingers today. Wish I had brought the Flip. It was pretty raucous. I wish I hadn't told all those dirty jokes so loud.
We got seated right next to the men's room. Always a lovely location. Convenient, but... I went in to wash my hands and fairly well gagged from a thick fog of rotting-eggs straight from the devil's own rectum. It was gag-tastic. I mentioned that I gagged, right.
The bbq wings were so good it made me actually want to go back. Wingers is a hole.
Waitress was nice. She actually checked in like ten times.
I had a Dr. Pepper. Really bad for me, but it tastes so good.
Dreadwall
Saw this army on BOLS. It's a Dread list.
1x Techmarine Father of the Forge
6x Ironclad Dreadnoughts
2x Razorbacks
10x Tactical Marines
We can make this for $1050. Three payments of 350. Sounds like a really fun army.
Save $50 for giving us Artistic License (ie we pick chapter).
Save $100 for going L2 all around
Limited quantity.
Ready
I'm at the studio pretty much caught up, just ready to set up new projects. I've got quite a few armies for sale right now, and even single figures, actually a few hundred entries.
Definitely worth looking at.
Painted Warhammer/40k Minis for Sale
Up in the Mountains
I'm going to be incommunicado from 2pm to 4pm Mountain time today.
Update: now I'm back and ready to answer questions and set up projects!
Georgian
Does anyone out there speak Georgian? If so can you contact me at bluetablepainting@gmail.com?
This is Georgian right?
საცხოვრებლად გადასვლა, გადასახლება
Menoth for sale
This army comes with a custom Battlefoam carrying case.
Buy it by Wednesday and get it for $650.
Chicken Strips
Something unusual happened this morning. I slept in until 10:30am. Like a rock. I was dimly aware of kids coming in and out and odd kitchen noises, kind of like the time-lapse opening of King of the Hill. I think my whole body was exhausted from the week. I was feeling a little under the weather the last few days but I am completely better now.
Some of the kids are sick so I went to church alone which was most gratifying. I felt completely recharged in my brain.
For dinner my wife fired up the mini-fryer and made french fries and chicken strips. Deeeelish! Pretty much the entire afternoon in bed like a lump completely useless watching Netflix. At least one time all four kids were using me like a giant pillow. A moment of familial bliss.
Later I downed two giant frosty glasses of chocolate milk. I'm looking forward to Monday and the new things the working week will bring!
White Umbrella
I had a dream last night.
I was up at the Mountain Fortress and I spoke out loud about the enormous sum I needed to raise in such a short period of time. I saw on the ground in front of me a white umbrella. It was made out of those mini-umbrella-looking seed pods, like from a dandelion spore, except each one was about an inch in diameter.
As I went to pick it up, a body-shocking gust of wind kicked up from behind me and carried the white umbrella violently into the field in front of me. I turned to face the wind. It was so strong I had to squint my eyes. As I opened my arms outstretched the wind carried me bodily into the air like a kite.
_________________________
I'm not making any sort of claims to divine guidance or fate or whatever, mind you. This is more like "look at this funny growth on my brain". I just realized later this afternoon that the interpretation wouldn't just be obvious to the casual reader.
Interpretation:
The field represents un-tapped possibilities. The white umbrella is a pure idea, something that has the power to be borne aloft. It is a mature idea that is ready to go to the next level (like the spore-head is the final stage of the dandelion). The smaller dandelion spores that make up the umbrella represent many individuals, each with limitless potential.
The wind represents a divine or supernatural force coming from an unexpected quarter. But it is unstoppable once unleashed. Opening my arms means to openly accept the goodness and grace of God without reservations. And to be lifted into the air represents doing something that would otherwise be impossible.
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