I have a deep, dark secret I’ve been keeping from folks. One that I’m sure would leave family wondering where they went wrong, and loved ones wringing their hands and lamenting, “Amon, we thought we knew ye!” What could possibly stain the soul of an otherwise affable fellow such as myself?

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My good friends and fellow kinship-mates at Council of Eriador have elected yours truly as the community’s newest officer, editor-in-chief of the MyLOTRO weblog for CoE, and assistant recruitment guy.  I can only assume by this that they have collectively lost all reason or good taste, but nevertheless, I accepted the appointment!

I will be updating the kinship’s blog space at MyLOTRO.com (you can navigate there by selecting the LINKS at the top of this page), and bringing the latest events, commentary, and community spotlights to the forefront. I may also use it in my plans to take over the world and hand it over to our bunny overlords, but those plans are still sketchy right now.

In all seriousness, thanks to Maliki, Linwe, SmilingBandit and all the officers and members of Council of Eriador for their vote of confidence.  It truly is an honor and a privilege to serve among you all.

In my last post, I was elated at having my best friend join me in Middle-earth.  Well, the good news just keeps on coming!  A mutual friend of both of ours… from back in the Everquest and Dark Age of Camelot days, has just arrived in Arda for some Third Age butt-kicking!

The Three Amigos, back together again!  w00t!

My bestest bud in the whole world finally returned to Middle-earth this week, and I couldn’t be happier!  “Tredoc”, the wee Hobbit hunter, has been brought out of mothballs and already has hit 21!  Together with Rhaknor, the three of us are old Dark Age of Camelot (DAoC) guildmates.  So it was a real pleasure for all three of us to be back together again.

I’m so proud of my friend.  He’s an Iraq war veteran, devoted family man, and the best bro a guy could have.  And if I sound a little gushy, it’s because he’s stuck with me through some pretty mean times over the years. That sort of friendship goes almost unheard of, and certainly unheralded in today’s “disposable everything” society.  Thanks, bro!

Now, rumor has it another old friend of ours…another refugee from EQ and DAoC (and even that other game which shall not be mentioned) may be tramping the soil of Arda soon!  So this could be very interesting to have our old gang together again after so many years!

So if you see little Tredoc, or his Elf Runie Silverice, running around…be sure to /mock and /burp him.  He really likes that!

As posted by Sapience, Man of a Thousand Titles and Holder of the coveted Pew-Pew Avatar:

We want to thank everyone who voted for us during MMORPG.com’s Reader’s Choice Awards. Because of your support we not only won, but we won big!

“With a stunning 46% of the vote, the winner of the Favorite MMO Studio of 2008 was Turbine.”

You like us! You really like us!

Well of course we do, silly Blue-name!  Now about those White Dye pots you promised…

I regularly get my e-mail inbox stuffed with pretty useless “suggestions” from places like Amazon.com to check out this or that product, trinket, or gadget. More often than not lately, especially after the holidays, I just delete them out-of-hand. For some reason, I opened the one I got this morning. I’m not normally a material-oriented guy, but I covet this keyboard!

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The new First Quarter calendar wallpapers are now available on Turbine’s wallpaper page. Enjoy!

While traveling the highways and forgotten byways earlier this year through upper Ered Luin, I happened upon a frosty fellow and stopped to capture his image by starlight.  I thought it would make a fitting means of expressing our kinship’s warmest holiday greetings to one and all.  Enjoy!

Issued by The National Weather Service
Binghamton, NY
11:13 am EST, Fri., Dec. 19, 2008

… WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EST TONIGHT…

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EST TONIGHT.

SNOW WILL CONTINUE… HEAVY AT TIMES… THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS AND INTO EARLY THIS EVENING BEFORE TAPERING OFF TO SNOW SHOWERS BY MIDNIGHT. SNOWFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR WILL BE POSSIBLE… WITH THE HEAVIEST SNOW EXPECTED BETWEEN 1 AND 6 PM.

TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF BE 6 TO 10 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED… WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE IN THE HILL TOWNS SOUTH OF THE THRUWAY AS WELL AS THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF CORTLAND… CHENANGO AND OTSEGO COUNTIES.

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL… KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT… FOOD… AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.

I have a couple of confessions to make.  First, I can be a big kid around Christmas time.  Never mind I’ve seen this annual cycle of celebration well over forty times.  I still like the bright lights and decorations and tinsel and what-have-you.

Festive Holiday Wallpaper

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