Good morning, it’s Wednesday.
Growing up as an only child, I spent a lot of time making up games to play and telling myself stories. Imagination is a very powerful playmate – especially for a kid who was very alienated for a number of years while living abroad in countries where she couldn’t speak the language.
I had a very active and well-populated fantasy world. That said, I never really got into formalized table-top role-playing games.
I did date a guy in high school who was super into Dungeons and Dragons, or D&D as it’s known to its followers. He was a really good artist and often illustrated his characters, as well as those adopted by his regular D&D companions.
I tried to understand it, if only to humor him and have something to talk to him about, but just never could get the hang of it, even though I was a big fantasy fiction fan.
D&D was co-created by Ernest Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, in 1974. According to a very fascinating and in-depth 2015 New Yorker article about the “tangled cultural roots” of the game…
D&D went “from a heavily leveraged first printing of a thousand hand-assembled copies – stored, at first in a colleague’s basemen – to a cultural sensation. By the early eighties, the game generated eight million dollars in annual sales, a figure that would rise to thirty million later in the decade. TSR, the company created by Gygax and Don Kaye, in 1973, became the preëminent purveyor of role-playing games in the world, signing a distribution deal with Random House and spinning off a Saturday morning cartoon on CBS.”
That article is really worth a read, if you have some time – it’s not long by New Yorker standards – because it goes in depth into all the crazy accusations regarding D&D’s negative impact on young minds, sort of the same thing we hear today about violent video games.
Even rap-hating Tipper Gore got in on the action and connected D&D to satanism and the occult, which was included in a “60 Minutes” segment in which Gygax called all the many accusations about his game’s corruption influence “nothing but a witch hunt.”
The article also reveals that Gygax was a pretty interesting cat. He was a high-school dropout who never had a driver’s license (?!) and joined the Marines, who married twice, had six kids, and “turned an obsession with military war-gaming into a worldwide phenomenon, started a successful company from which he was later pushed out only to return and then be bought out once again.”
Even the name “Gygax” screams “gamer”. Or maybe that’s just me? Anyway, D&D might have been his most successful enterprise, but it wasn’t the only game he created. Others sported names like “Chainmail,” “Dangerous Journeys”, and “Lejendary Adventure” (sic).
He’s also known for creating an organization of “wargaming clubs” (says Wikipedia) and founding the Gen Con gaming convention
Gygax, known to many as the “father or the modern role-playing game,” was born on this day in 1938 in Chicago, IL. He was a tough guy, having suffered two strokes in 2004 and narrowly avoided a subsequent heart attack. He was later diagnosed with an abdominal aortic aneurysm and died in March 2008.
Gygax didn’t live to see D&D make a resurgence in popularity, which has been attributed both to the pandemic-related lockdowns and a recurring role in the hit TV series “Stranger Things.” If you’re a diehard fan, or maybe just D&D curious, today is a good day to indulge your inner role-playing nerd, because it’s Gary Gygax Day.
Temperatures will be creeping back up into the high 80s with intervals of clouds and sun today.
In the headlines…
A new CNN poll finds 75% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters want the party to nominate someone other than President Joe Biden in the 2024 election, a sharp increase from earlier this year.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg received slightly more support compared to Biden among likely 2024 New Hampshire Democratic primary voters when asked their first choice for president, according to a new poll released yesterday.
Biden’s favorability ratings are at an all-time low among residents of the state that holds the nation’s first presidential primary, according to the University of New Hampshire poll.
Biden is considering extending a pause on student loan repayments for several more months, as well as forgiving $10,000 in student loan debt per borrower, as he seeks to appeal to young voters ahead of the November midterms.
The White House said Biden is mulling whether to extend the pause on federal student loan payments and whether to forgive student loans on a broader scale ahead of a pandemic-related moratorium on payments that are set to resume on Aug. 31.
Biden will speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping tomorrow amid fresh tensions over Taiwan, according to people familiar with the matter.
National security officials are quietly working to convince House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the risks her potential trip to Taiwan could pose during a highly sensitive moment between the self-governing island and China.
Biden’s physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor declared his patient is “almost completely” symptom-free after receiving treatment for COVID-19 — as reporters continue to slam the White House for not letting O’Connor take questions.
O’ Connor said Tuesday that Biden has completed his five-day course of the Covid antiviral Paxlovid and “now feels well enough to resume his physical exercise regimen.”
Two newly published studies take totally different approaches but arrive at the same conclusion: The Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China, was most likely the epicenter for the coronavirus.
China’s central metropolis of Wuhan temporarily shut some businesses and public transport in a district with almost a million people, as the city where the pandemic first emerged raised vigilance after several new infections.
A fall COVID-19 booster campaign has yet to take shape in the U.S., even as the country is experiencing a sharp surge in cases amid the dominance of the BA.5 variant.
A new study has found that there is a broader range of symptoms than originally thought for long Covid, including hair loss, loss of libido, incontinence and erectile dysfunction in men — and some people are more susceptible than others.
Facebook-parent Meta is weighing whether to relax its policies against Covid-19 misinformation, proposing a shift from removing false claims to simply labeling or demoting them.
The United States now leads the globe in confirmed monkeypox cases, new data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has revealed.
The U.S. has reported about 3,600 confirmed or suspected monkeypox cases, federal data showed.
The spread of monkeypox in the U.S. could represent the dawn of a new sexually transmitted disease, though some health officials say the virus that causes pimple-like bumps might yet be contained before it gets firmly established.
Countries across Asia are on high alert for monkeypox, screening travelers and scrambling teams of medics, as they report their first cases of the virus, now identified as a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to the president, said that now is the time to get a handle on monkeypox since it is a virus health communities are familiar with, and the federal government must combat homophobic stigma attached to it.
New York and its formidable public health infrastructure stand as a bulwark against the emerging monkeypox epidemic, but the city is struggling to combat the rare viral infection while also keeping stubborn coronavirus variants in check.
Former President Trump returned to Washington, D.C., for the first time since he departed the White House under a cloud of controversy, teasing out a vision for a GOP-controlled government as he nears a decision on running for president again in 2024.
Trump stayed on script for most of the 90-minute speech. But he couldn’t resist veering into his false claims that he really won the 2020 election, calling the vote a “disgrace,” and teasing his plans to announce another presidential bid in 2024.
In competing speeches after a week of revelations related to Jan. 6, 2021, Trump portrayed the country as overwhelmed by crime, while Mike Pence tried to draw subtle distinctions with his former ally and current rival.
Pence called for a ban on abortion in all 50 states in a speech to a conservative student group as he burnishes his pro-life credentials.
Previously undisclosed communications among Trump campaign aides and outside advisers provide new insight into their efforts to overturn the election in the weeks leading to Jan. 6.
Federal prosecutors have directly asked witnesses in recent days about Trump’s involvement in efforts to reverse his election loss, suggesting that the Justice Department’s criminal investigation has moved into a more aggressive and politically fraught phase.
A Trump supporter who pounded police with poles during the 2021 Capitol attack was sentenced to 63 months behind bars, tied for the longest sentence handed out to Jan. 6 rioters.
Two Democratic lawmakers called for the Department of Homeland Security inspector general to step aside from investigating missing Secret Service phone records, questioning his handling of the probe.
Trump is slapping 9/11 survivors in the face by hosting a Saudi Arabia-hosted golf tournament at his New Jersey resort less than 50 miles from Ground Zero, angry family members said in a new television ad.
The future of Russia-U.S. cooperation in outer space grew uncertain as the new head of Russia’s space agency announced that Russia would leave the International Space Station after its current commitment expired at the end of 2024.
White House officials said the U.S. is exploring how to “mitigate” Russia’s potential exit from the International Space Station, though they noted Moscow has not provided D.C. with formal notification of its intent to withdraw from the collaboration after 2024.
European Union energy ministers hammered out a deal to curb their natural gas consumption, finding enough common political ground for a quick compromise intended to avert an energy meltdown as Russia toys with the union’s fuel supplies.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law legislation removing “mentally retarded” as an official term from state laws overseeing everything from alleged crimes to the arts.
The measure was part of a package of new laws signed into law by Hochul at a cerermony in New York City on the 32nd anniversary of the passage of the federal Amercians with Disabilities Act.
Hochul claimed that she supports law enforcement ” 100%” — despite cozying up to vocal supporters of the “Defund the Police” movement as part of her election bid.
The governor, facing a deluge of criticism from Republicans over the state’s cashless bail system, vowed to support — and fully fund — law enforcement as she spoke at the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference.
After securing approval from the board of the Empire State Development Corp. — the state agency overseeing the development initiative — the proposal now heads to the Public Authorities Control Board for a final vote today.
The 11 nominees to the state’s new ethics panel are being asked about their relations with the Fourth Estate as part of a lengthy confirmation process.
Progress on creating the new commission to replace the defunct JCOPE has been slow, leaving the state without any ethics panel at all.
A former senior policy advisor for ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sid Wolf, died Sunday after being ordered out of a Lyft vehicle on an active highway in Dewey Beach, Del., authorities confirmed.
“Shocked & saddened to hear this tragic news,” Cuomo tweeted about his former senior policy advisor. “Sid was a phenomenal public servant who worked relentlessly for the betterment of all NY’ers.”
Chris Cuomo denied any wrongdoing in his first television interview since being canned from CNN last year over his role in advising his older brother, Andrew Cuomo, throughout the then-governor’s sexual harassment sandal.
The decision to release the suspect who attacked GOP gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin was seen by some Democrats as a ploy to fuel the Long Island congressman’s anti-crime campaign.
The man accused of attacking Zeldin at a Rochester campaign stop, David Jakubonis, 43, told investigators he’d been drinking that day and didn’t know who the congressman was, according to a federal criminal complaint filed.
Zeldin continued to rail against New York’s bail laws while defending the upstate prosecutor, Monroe County DA Sandra Doorley, whose office was responsible for charging the man accused of attacking the GOP gubernatorial candidate last week.
GOP state Sens. Tom O’Mara and Anthony Palumbo sent a letter to Hochul to address funds that are being distributed to district attorney’s offices in the state aimed at “easing the burdens created by bail reforms.”
The Democratic Party’s gerrymander debacle has created an extraordinary situation: New Yorkers are allowed to switch their party affiliation at the ballot booth on Aug. 23 to vote in another party’s primary elections.
More than $200 million in cuts to New York City public schools have been put on hold by a Manhattan judge, the latest move in an escalating fight over how to fund schools that involves Mayor Eric Adams, the City Council and a group of parents and educators.
Mayor Eric Adams is demanding that Hochul call an emergency session of the legislature to reform criminal justice laws after two 16-year-olds were freed without bail after brutally assaulting two transit cops who stopped them for fare evasion.
Adams called the latest caught-on-camera attack on an NYPD cop a “clear case” for rolling back New York’s controversial bail reform law in order to crack down on violent criminals.
Adams announced his administration’s plan for new initiative “NYCBenefits”, a program that utilizes multi-agency and cross-sector efforts to connect thousands of eligible New Yorkers to billions of dollars of government benefits due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The mayor vowed to hunt down the three gun-toting suspects who robbed a preacher friend of his in the middle of a live-streamed church sermon in Brooklyn over the weekend.
Adams is expected to announce that he is onboard with plans for a 25,000-seat soccer stadium to be built near Citi Field that will be home to the New York City Football Club, sources close to the situation said.
Adams and NYC Health + Hospitals announced the launch of a new student loan forgiveness program for behavioral health providers, funded by a $1 million contribution from an anonymous donor.
As the number of homeless families seeking shelter in New York City steadily rises, Adams announced a new push to find more spots for beds across the city.
Dozens of Big Apple businesses will collectively dedicate more than $8 million for services aimed at tackling the city’s dire homelessness problem, the mayor said.
About 44 percent of the available units in Manhattan currently come from tenants priced out of apartments they leased in 2020 and 2021, as landlords demand huge sums for those units, according to a new StreetEasy report.
Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger has agreed to meet on the steps of Corpus Christi Church in Round Lake on Sunday with a 47-year-old man who was allegedly sexually abused as a child by a former priest.
State forest rangers last week rescued a 17-year-old hiker from Delaware who was suffering from a seizure, as the hiker was attempting to climb 22 of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks in a week.
A raging debate over free speech is materializing in Schenectady over three words: Black Lives Matter.
Giant hogweed is a terrestrial invasive species that causes severe burns. An Invasives Strike Force crew is working toward eliminating it from the Hudson Valley.
The Premier Lacrosse League will again open its season at the University at Albany in 2023.
Hudson Valley Community College says it is beginning to see results from several international trips officials have taken, efforts that they say have brought in hundreds of additional students after some criticism about the expensive travel.
Teva Pharmaceuticals, one of the country’s biggest manufacturers of generic opioids, announced a settlement in principle with some 2,500 local governments, states and tribes over the company’s role in the deadly, ongoing opioid epidemic.
Tony Dow, who delighted audiences as big brother Wally Cleaver on the 1950s and ‘60s sitcom “Leave It to Beaver,” is still alive in hospice care, despite his own management team posting on social media yesterday that he had died.
The Choco Taco, a decades-long staple of vending machines and ice cream trucks, has been discontinued, according to an announcement by Unilever-owned Klondike
