On October 19, 2008 I made the bold declaration that Roger von Oech’s Ball of Whacks is “the greatest fidgety widget of all time”. I invited readers to comment on favorite fidgets or perhaps suggest something better than the Ball of Whacks. Since no one said anything I’m free to assume that I have revealed one of the great universal truths of our time, that when it comes to fidgeting, the Ball of Whacks is the only way to go. Imagine my surprise and excitement when offered the opportunity to play with the follow-up to the Ball of Whacks, the X-Ball.

Oh, the posts I had lined up for this week, but the unthinkable happened. For the first time in, I swear this is true, 20 years I was laid up with the stomach flu. Not the oh my tummy is a little upset and I have a fever kind of flu, the one where I now know all the subtle nuances that my bathroom has to offer kind of stomach flu. When lying on your bathroom floor you discover odd things like, I should probably dust the ceiling vent and clean the overhang of my sink. Now that I’m up, and almost running, let me tell you about what could have, should have, would have been if not for this vile, evil flu.

It’s been several months since Steve Kenson was kind enough to talk about gaming with The Magical Buffet. Since then so much has happened that Steve sent us a little note to share with everyone to let us know what he’s been up to and what’s coming next.

Lady Passion, High Priestess of Coven Oldenwilde and co-author of “The Goodly Spellbook: Olde Spells of Modern Problems”, shares her thoughts on the Wiccan Rede.

That’s the tagline for the company Acme Wand Supply, LTD. This is truly a website for the spellslinger. Any wand company that has a cowboy wielding a wand on its homepage is going to get me to take a peek.

In December of 2006, shortly after The Magical Buffet launched, I wrote an article about the Wheel of Life. I found this visual roadmap to enlightenment fascinating and have wanted to revisit Tibetan Buddhism ever since. Well, hold onto your wheels Buffet fans because after roughly two years Buddhist symbolism is back! It’s time to look at the Wheel of Law.

On March 6, 2009 a long awaited movie adaptation of the graphic novel (collected comic book series) “Watchmen” will be in theaters. What started as a project originally tapped director Terry Gilliam stated was impossible to translate to film is now being brought to the big screen by director Zach Snyder of “300” fame. Those of you who know comic book fans, who at this point are in a near ecstatic state, may find yourself wondering, what is the big stinkin’ deal about “Watchmen”?

As most of you know, I’m a huge fan of Joss Wheadon, the creator of the television shows, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Angel”, and “Firefly.” During the writer”s strike he put together a mini-movie musical called “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”. Those of you that watched “Buffy” know that Wheadon can craft a clever musical thanks to the episode “Once More, With Feeling.” Once you see him do a musical set in the show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” it’s not hard to imagine an entertaining musical about an aspiring super villain named Billy.

Needless to say, I really liked “Dr. Horrible”. Like, a lot. So much so, that I found the task of trying to sum up my affection for it in a clever blog post for The Magical Buffet to be an impossible undertaking. Thankfully, my friend Alex, who has his own webcomic “Completely Hypothetical”, was able to express my thoughts on this subject.

It’s President’s Day here in the United States. Take 3 minutes to enjoy it!

Author Ellen Evert Hopman shares Alder lore.