We didn't know it at the time, but this was to be the last Game On episode, ever.
Where things had been really complicated before, they got even more so. And, having shut the show down once before and then brought it back, doing it a second time seemed like a bad idea.
We had a good run, most podcasts barely ever make it past the first 10 episodes. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to share time, laughs, and games with Andy.
I hope you've enjoyed listening to them as well.
Episode #75
Monday, June 3, 2013
Episode #74
I think I am safe in saying Power Grid is our favorite board game. When offered a choice between it and almost anything else, we'll take Power Grid.
We wanted to bring that love and an explanation of the game to the listening public. We probably succeeded in at least one of those. Maybe. You decide.
Episode #74
We wanted to bring that love and an explanation of the game to the listening public. We probably succeeded in at least one of those. Maybe. You decide.
Episode #74
Episode #73
Brace yourselves.
Nearly a year and a half after his last appearance, Andy came back. For a while.
The show underwent some updating and changes. New titles, new segments, new hosts, I pretty much shuffled up the entire show. Eventually, I got tired of doing the show after having been at it for two years with a near weekly schedule. So I stopped.
But Andy came back. And that was cool. While it lasted.
Naturally, with his return, things didn't go right.
Episode #73
Nearly a year and a half after his last appearance, Andy came back. For a while.
The show underwent some updating and changes. New titles, new segments, new hosts, I pretty much shuffled up the entire show. Eventually, I got tired of doing the show after having been at it for two years with a near weekly schedule. So I stopped.
But Andy came back. And that was cool. While it lasted.
Naturally, with his return, things didn't go right.
Episode #73
Episode #27
To be honest, Andy isn't in this episode. Well, he sort of is, but not really.
You see, my ISP often times takes a vacation of various lengths. Just after completing the last episode it went on vacation for four months. No amount of calling, personal visits, or just downright being pissed off, seemed to encourage it to return. Seriously, 4 months.
I made do as best I could. If you can hang on until the end, you can be totally creeped out. So there's that.
Unfortunately, this also marks Andy's last appearance on the show for quite a while. Things just got too complicated for he and I to get together regularly among other things.
Episode #27
You see, my ISP often times takes a vacation of various lengths. Just after completing the last episode it went on vacation for four months. No amount of calling, personal visits, or just downright being pissed off, seemed to encourage it to return. Seriously, 4 months.
I made do as best I could. If you can hang on until the end, you can be totally creeped out. So there's that.
Unfortunately, this also marks Andy's last appearance on the show for quite a while. Things just got too complicated for he and I to get together regularly among other things.
Episode #27
Episode #26
In a curious echo of the delay in posting this, we had a lengthy break in the recording as well. Sometimes all the stuff you need to make the show work, don't.
Both of us accumulated many, many games over the years and, as much as we gave out advice in building a collection in this episode, we needed a fair amount ourselves. As I recall, at the time of this recording, most of my collection was stacked on the floor of my front room because I hadn't found an appropriate storage solution for it yet. I don't think Andy was much better off.
Episode #26
Both of us accumulated many, many games over the years and, as much as we gave out advice in building a collection in this episode, we needed a fair amount ourselves. As I recall, at the time of this recording, most of my collection was stacked on the floor of my front room because I hadn't found an appropriate storage solution for it yet. I don't think Andy was much better off.
Episode #26
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Episode #25
We'd had to take Red Cross CPR and First Aid classes for our jobs. So, naturally, we decided to take them together.
That turned out to be a bad idea.
For them. He and I had fun, of course. We weren't actually disruptive, and I think everyone else in the class enjoyed themselves, but the instructor was not used to not being fully in charge.
Best Red Cross class ever.
Episode #25
That turned out to be a bad idea.
For them. He and I had fun, of course. We weren't actually disruptive, and I think everyone else in the class enjoyed themselves, but the instructor was not used to not being fully in charge.
Best Red Cross class ever.
Episode #25
Episode #24
Top Ten lists are what you do when you are temporarily out of ideas for the current show. Need to fill time? Do a list. No script? Do a list. No time to prep? Do a list.
Andy liked working the mechanisms in resource management games, I think it filled in his urge to collect things even while playing the games. In general, Andy liked complete collections. He couldn't buy one book in a set, he had to get them all. Same thing with miniatures and board games. If an expansion came out to a game he already had, he'd have to get it.
Thank goodness he never got into Pokemon.
Episode #24
Andy liked working the mechanisms in resource management games, I think it filled in his urge to collect things even while playing the games. In general, Andy liked complete collections. He couldn't buy one book in a set, he had to get them all. Same thing with miniatures and board games. If an expansion came out to a game he already had, he'd have to get it.
Thank goodness he never got into Pokemon.
Episode #24
Episode #23
Somehow, being on the show with Andy and I convinced Jake that it was easy to make a podcast and also a good idea.
Andy had that effect. His enthusiasm for a game or project would rub off on you and you'd get into it, too. That just made things more fun.
Andy gets to take the lead on the topic for this show, Miniatures. Definitely his area of expertise.
Episode #23
Andy had that effect. His enthusiasm for a game or project would rub off on you and you'd get into it, too. That just made things more fun.
Andy gets to take the lead on the topic for this show, Miniatures. Definitely his area of expertise.
Episode #23
Episode #22
See? Told you we got to play.
Jesus, we tried to do this as a live show with an active chat room. That can't have been a good idea. I know it was a distraction during recording. As I recall, Andy had much more fun chit chatting with the people in chat than I did, because I had to keep flipping between windows and he could just kick back and relax.
Which he was quite good at.
Episode #22
Jesus, we tried to do this as a live show with an active chat room. That can't have been a good idea. I know it was a distraction during recording. As I recall, Andy had much more fun chit chatting with the people in chat than I did, because I had to keep flipping between windows and he could just kick back and relax.
Which he was quite good at.
Episode #22
Episode #21
It is Andy who does the intro voice to the "What the Heck Did He Just Say" segment. A little schmoozing with the audio software and suddenly he was duck-boy.
We did eventually get the Star Wars game we're talking about here into play. It lasted about one session. Then everyone's schedule blew up.
It happens.
Still some good character ideas.
Episode #21
We did eventually get the Star Wars game we're talking about here into play. It lasted about one session. Then everyone's schedule blew up.
It happens.
Still some good character ideas.
Episode #21
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
A Summary...
Andy's obituary as it ran in the April 24th, 2013 Medford Mail Tribune
ANDREW "ANDY" C. WELBURN
Andrew "Andy" C. Welburn passed suddenly April 16, 2013, at Rogue Regional Medical Center. He was born May 22, 1967 to Burle and Sandra (Kline) Welburn in Medford, Ore.
Andy graduated from Medford Senior High School in 1985. Upon graduation he entered the United States Navy and served four years. While in the Navy he married Dorothy Bigelow of Medford. They had one daughter, Tanya, who was born in 1989. They later divorced.
[Brian's Note: That would be Tanya in the picture above.]
When he got out of the Navy, he worked in security and various other professions locally. He found his true calling when he went to work for Family Solutions working with troubled and at-risk children.
He loved any type of tabletop role-playing gaming (RPG), and was a member of several groups. This is where he met and remained close with many dear friends and aquaintances. He enjoyed RPG video games, board games, and science fiction movies. He also enjoyed guns and shooting. He had several dogs, spoiling and treating them like children. His smile was infectious, as was his laughter.
He is survived by his beloved soulmate of 22 years, Pam White, of White City, Ore.; daughter, Tanya Welburn, of Central Point; sister, Jennifer Welburn, of Portland, Ore.; mother, Sandra Welburn, of Medford; grandfather, Boyd Kline, of Medford; aunts and uncles, Kathy and Shelby Maxwell, of Central Point, and Curtis and Sue Kline, of Medford; and other relatives in the area. He also is survived by innumerable close friends who are grieving with us.
He was preceded in death by his father, Burle and two grandmothers, Lila Kline and Delia Welburn. He died too young, but the beautiful memories he left will always be with us.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations in his name to the Southern Oregon Humane Society or other local animal shelter. Arrangements by Perl Funeral Home.
ANDREW "ANDY" C. WELBURN
Andrew "Andy" C. Welburn passed suddenly April 16, 2013, at Rogue Regional Medical Center. He was born May 22, 1967 to Burle and Sandra (Kline) Welburn in Medford, Ore.
Andy graduated from Medford Senior High School in 1985. Upon graduation he entered the United States Navy and served four years. While in the Navy he married Dorothy Bigelow of Medford. They had one daughter, Tanya, who was born in 1989. They later divorced.
[Brian's Note: That would be Tanya in the picture above.]
When he got out of the Navy, he worked in security and various other professions locally. He found his true calling when he went to work for Family Solutions working with troubled and at-risk children.
He loved any type of tabletop role-playing gaming (RPG), and was a member of several groups. This is where he met and remained close with many dear friends and aquaintances. He enjoyed RPG video games, board games, and science fiction movies. He also enjoyed guns and shooting. He had several dogs, spoiling and treating them like children. His smile was infectious, as was his laughter.
He is survived by his beloved soulmate of 22 years, Pam White, of White City, Ore.; daughter, Tanya Welburn, of Central Point; sister, Jennifer Welburn, of Portland, Ore.; mother, Sandra Welburn, of Medford; grandfather, Boyd Kline, of Medford; aunts and uncles, Kathy and Shelby Maxwell, of Central Point, and Curtis and Sue Kline, of Medford; and other relatives in the area. He also is survived by innumerable close friends who are grieving with us.
He was preceded in death by his father, Burle and two grandmothers, Lila Kline and Delia Welburn. He died too young, but the beautiful memories he left will always be with us.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations in his name to the Southern Oregon Humane Society or other local animal shelter. Arrangements by Perl Funeral Home.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Episode #20
We often had grand plans for game nights and RPGs and epic adventures. Just as often something would intervene and trash our plans.
Still, it was fun to plan things and imagine how it all might go. Many cool things were discussed over the years, always with the realization that it might not actually make it to the table.
Let's hope he's getting some good game time in now.
Episode #20
Still, it was fun to plan things and imagine how it all might go. Many cool things were discussed over the years, always with the realization that it might not actually make it to the table.
Let's hope he's getting some good game time in now.
Episode #20
Episode #19
Any real gamer has way more games than they can conceivably play at any one time. Inevitably this results in games that sit there and stare at you on the shelf because you simply haven't had a chance to play them yet.
I know I've got about a dozen at least that, years later, are still unplayed. Andy does, too, I'm sure.
It's a thing. It happens. If you know a gamer, you know it's true.
Doesn't stop us from buying more, though.
Episode #19
I know I've got about a dozen at least that, years later, are still unplayed. Andy does, too, I'm sure.
It's a thing. It happens. If you know a gamer, you know it's true.
Doesn't stop us from buying more, though.
Episode #19
Episode #18
The wonderfully voiced Kat helps open this show. Later she would take on a much larger role.
And then, weirdness. The replacement show music is from The Wizard of Speed and Time.
We told Jake at one point that, if he ever won a game against Andy and I, he could host the show. In the course of playing something like 30 games against us, he had finished dead last every... single... time.
That took about two weeks before we had to eat our words.
Episode #18
And then, weirdness. The replacement show music is from The Wizard of Speed and Time.
We told Jake at one point that, if he ever won a game against Andy and I, he could host the show. In the course of playing something like 30 games against us, he had finished dead last every... single... time.
That took about two weeks before we had to eat our words.
Episode #18
Episode #17
With the passing of Dave Arneson about a year after Gary Gygax we suddenly found ourselves without the founders of Dungeons & Dragons. Clearly, something had to be done to commemorate their passing.
So, how do you celebrate the passing of two people who started an entire genre of games that hadn't existed before? By playing that game, or a version of it, live, on air.
Yup, that's what we did.
Some things said then, apply now, with Andy's passing.
Episode #17
So, how do you celebrate the passing of two people who started an entire genre of games that hadn't existed before? By playing that game, or a version of it, live, on air.
Yup, that's what we did.
Some things said then, apply now, with Andy's passing.
Episode #17
Episode #16
A Spanish opening. I have no idea why at this point. We had enough trouble with the occasional bit of French or German, let alone trying to assemble something understandable in a foreign language. I can only apologize to those who attempted to understand what I was saying.
And then we took a shot at Mjolnir.
And then Andy derailed me.
I'll never learn.
Episode #16
And then we took a shot at Mjolnir.
And then Andy derailed me.
I'll never learn.
Episode #16
Intermission 2
For those of you coming in late, you should start here: http://gameonandy.blogspot.com/2013/04/game-on-andy.html
Episode #15
I've always enjoyed perpetrating April Fool's Jokes. No really. Swapping salt and sugar, fake news articles. Nothing terribly harmful or mean spirited.
Jake agreed to help us out with this one. I think it worked pretty well and I seem to recall it sucked a few people in. The way Andy just smoothly slides in at about 30 minutes into the show is beautiful as it becomes, for a while, a three person show.
It helps to know that LucasFilm was supposedly threatening our sister show, The Order 66 Podcast with a massive lawsuit and shutdown in their own prank. We like spring boarding off other peoples ideas.
Episode #15
Jake agreed to help us out with this one. I think it worked pretty well and I seem to recall it sucked a few people in. The way Andy just smoothly slides in at about 30 minutes into the show is beautiful as it becomes, for a while, a three person show.
It helps to know that LucasFilm was supposedly threatening our sister show, The Order 66 Podcast with a massive lawsuit and shutdown in their own prank. We like spring boarding off other peoples ideas.
Episode #15
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Episode #14
We liked Sebastian's opener so much we used it twice.
Fulcrums? Pies? Terrible. But fun.
This episode takes us into the Wayback machine. How did it all start, this whole gaming thing? Well, give it a listen and Andy will tell you.
Episode #14
Fulcrums? Pies? Terrible. But fun.
This episode takes us into the Wayback machine. How did it all start, this whole gaming thing? Well, give it a listen and Andy will tell you.
Episode #14
Episode #13
In this episode we talked about how to use games in my job trying to help kids develop skills they lacked in order to be successful. I'm happy to say that Andy was able to join me in that job eventually and undoubtedly make a huge difference in the lives of dozens of young men over the years.
Episode #13
Episode #13
Episode #12
Sometimes I'd feed Andy a line and he'd just run all over the place with it, much to our mutual amusement.
Also, I think we both had colds or were just getting over them on the day we recorded this. Early on, unless we completely lost our ability to speak (more so than usual) we'd power through and record a show. That is probably why I am speaking so deliberately. Later on we decided that it wasn't the best idea to push things like that.
Episode #12
Also, I think we both had colds or were just getting over them on the day we recorded this. Early on, unless we completely lost our ability to speak (more so than usual) we'd power through and record a show. That is probably why I am speaking so deliberately. Later on we decided that it wasn't the best idea to push things like that.
Episode #12
Episode #11
We were hungry. We ordered Jack-in-the-Box el cheapo tacos. Kind of a lot of them. Even so, we received about half a million little sauce packets to go with them. Seriously, I still have some of them sitting in a drawer in my kitchen. I'm afraid to throw them out in case they cause environmental damage.
Episode #11
Episode #11
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Intermission 1
With the first ten episodes posted, I'll let you get caught up. I'll get some more up a little bit later on.
If you need to find the start, follow this link: http://gameonandy.blogspot.com/2013/04/game-on-andy.html
If you need to find the start, follow this link: http://gameonandy.blogspot.com/2013/04/game-on-andy.html
Episode #10
We weren't really sure we would get as far as ten episodes, but somehow we did. A lot of podcasts don't make it that far and die off when the hosts get bored or run out of things to talk about. That was not going to be our problem.
We had a big list of topics, written on a white board, that we wanted to talk about. That white board still sits in a corner of my spare room with the list only partially crossed off. More often than not, we'd find a topic not on the list that we wanted to discuss instead and, like squirrels hopped up on whatever it is squirrels get hopped up on, we'd jump from topic to topic as they occurred to us.
We were foolish enough to think that made for more interesting shows. I hope you agreed with us.
Episode #10
We had a big list of topics, written on a white board, that we wanted to talk about. That white board still sits in a corner of my spare room with the list only partially crossed off. More often than not, we'd find a topic not on the list that we wanted to discuss instead and, like squirrels hopped up on whatever it is squirrels get hopped up on, we'd jump from topic to topic as they occurred to us.
We were foolish enough to think that made for more interesting shows. I hope you agreed with us.
Episode #10
Episode #9
Sebastian provides what was one of our favorite bumpers. It was amusing and gratifying for us to know that we had listeners around the world and especially in Africa.
Andy would often show up in a kilt and blue face paint while wielding an axe in each hand. That isn't strictly true, but it often felt like it should be because he came at gaming with such enthusiasm. Being part of that enthusiasm was a privilege. You couldn't fight it, only go along for the ride.
Episode #9
Andy would often show up in a kilt and blue face paint while wielding an axe in each hand. That isn't strictly true, but it often felt like it should be because he came at gaming with such enthusiasm. Being part of that enthusiasm was a privilege. You couldn't fight it, only go along for the ride.
Episode #9
Episode #8
Gamers live and die by their dice. Andy and I in particular seemed to suffer from poor die rolls at the most crucial of moments. If you aren't a gamer yourself, you'd be surprised how often a player can roll a crit fail just when he needs a crit success most. If you are a gamer, you already know.
I am somewhat comforted that, in the final game he and I were part of together, he rolled the dice and came up a winner with an Epic roll that put down the big bad guy at the end of the adventure and made everyone a winner.
Episode #8
I am somewhat comforted that, in the final game he and I were part of together, he rolled the dice and came up a winner with an Epic roll that put down the big bad guy at the end of the adventure and made everyone a winner.
Episode #8
Episode #7
As Andy often did, he managed to stump me right out of the gate in this episode. This one just happens to have been recorded.
We'd spend about an hour pre-show going over the show notes and what we were going to talk about. We'd try not to actually DO the show before recording it so that our comments were fresh and often surprising to one another, but we always sort of knew what direction we would be going in.
As a couple of gamers who were perpetually broke in one way or another, this was a crucial episode for us.
I still don't understand the lemon / baccarat connection.
Episode #7
We'd spend about an hour pre-show going over the show notes and what we were going to talk about. We'd try not to actually DO the show before recording it so that our comments were fresh and often surprising to one another, but we always sort of knew what direction we would be going in.
As a couple of gamers who were perpetually broke in one way or another, this was a crucial episode for us.
I still don't understand the lemon / baccarat connection.
Episode #7
Episode #6
We decided we needed an entire episode to answer all the listener requests and questions that had come in.
It lead to some interesting discussion and answers. Oddly, it also resulted in one negative review on iTunes from someone who felt we had been too dismissive of the various requests. Apparently they felt we should cover absolutely everything that was asked, regardless of our personal preferences or experience with any given topic. You can't please everyone, but over all I believe we pleased as many people as possible.
Once again, speaking foreign eludes us.
Episode #6
It lead to some interesting discussion and answers. Oddly, it also resulted in one negative review on iTunes from someone who felt we had been too dismissive of the various requests. Apparently they felt we should cover absolutely everything that was asked, regardless of our personal preferences or experience with any given topic. You can't please everyone, but over all I believe we pleased as many people as possible.
Once again, speaking foreign eludes us.
Episode #6
A few more words...
There are over 30 Episodes of the show to post. I'll be doing them in blocks simply because of the volume.
Every so often I'll make one of these guiding sort of posts to help folks find the beginning and follow along.
Like this: http://gameonandy.blogspot.com/2013/04/game-on-andy.html
Thanks.
Every so often I'll make one of these guiding sort of posts to help folks find the beginning and follow along.
Like this: http://gameonandy.blogspot.com/2013/04/game-on-andy.html
Thanks.
Episode #5
Andy was often called on the be the 'cabbage head' on the show. The cabbage head is the character on any given TV show or Radio program who has to ask the obvious questions that they should really already know the answer to so that the viewer at home could then hear another character explain things and thereby understand the situation. Watch Star Trek: TNG to see this in effect in almost every episode.
Honestly, more often than not, Andy would know more about a given topic than I did. Especially if it involved talking about miniatures and war games. His insights into RPGs, when you sat down to talk to him about them, were often fascinating.
Episode #5
Honestly, more often than not, Andy would know more about a given topic than I did. Especially if it involved talking about miniatures and war games. His insights into RPGs, when you sat down to talk to him about them, were often fascinating.
Episode #5
Episode #4
The Game On Minions make their first real appearance here. It was a name for our listeners that would stick throughout the run of the show.
During the first dozen or so episodes I was constantly struggling to find recording equipment and settings that would give us both a good sound.
Most of the time Andy would be stationed in my spare bedroom on my lap top and skype in to the show because I had no way to bring two microphones into the computer. Skype provided no end of 'fun' and 'excitement' over the course of the show and, with us being in two separate rooms and not being able to see each other, we sometimes stepped on each other while talking.
Episode #4
During the first dozen or so episodes I was constantly struggling to find recording equipment and settings that would give us both a good sound.
Most of the time Andy would be stationed in my spare bedroom on my lap top and skype in to the show because I had no way to bring two microphones into the computer. Skype provided no end of 'fun' and 'excitement' over the course of the show and, with us being in two separate rooms and not being able to see each other, we sometimes stepped on each other while talking.
Episode #4
Episode #3
We started getting into the swing of things with this episode. Andy always had trouble reading the show notes I provided. And, of course, neither of us took enough foreign language courses to be able to pronounce all the foreign names and words we came across. Although in this episode the honor of the first flub belongs to me.
Episode #3
Episode #3
Episode #2
This would be the first show (of several) where we had to redo the whole thing. Some technical snafu had destroyed the entire first recording and we had to take it all from the top again. You can tell we were getting worn out after about the first hour of this recording. By then we'd been recording for something like 4 hours in total.
Still, we did manage to do it and got the show out on time.
Episode #2
Still, we did manage to do it and got the show out on time.
Episode #2
Episode #1
This would be the official first episode of the show.
If anything, we were even more nervous about this than we were the 0 Episode because this one would be the one we promoted.
Initially we had thought that we would do one show every couple of weeks. Response to the 0 show was so good, and we were so excited about it, that we (mostly me actually, as you can tell by Andy's surprise at the announcement) decided to go weekly.
Episode #1
If anything, we were even more nervous about this than we were the 0 Episode because this one would be the one we promoted.
Initially we had thought that we would do one show every couple of weeks. Response to the 0 show was so good, and we were so excited about it, that we (mostly me actually, as you can tell by Andy's surprise at the announcement) decided to go weekly.
Episode #1
Episode #0
We barely knew what we were doing and thought we should have a test episode. The d20 Radio Network gave us a home for the show and then told us we had to keep going after this one.
So we did.
Episode #0
So we did.
Episode #0
Game On, Andy...
We lost Andy yesterday. Right now, there is too much and not enough to say about that. Everyone who knew him is richer for having done so, but poorer for his absence.
Some folks wanted to be able to hear him again and enjoy some of the things he enjoyed and laugh with him once more.
These are the episodes of the Game On Podcast that Andy co-hosted with me.
I hope they help.
Some folks wanted to be able to hear him again and enjoy some of the things he enjoyed and laugh with him once more.
These are the episodes of the Game On Podcast that Andy co-hosted with me.
I hope they help.
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