| Gen Con and Wizards reconcile after extensive marriage counseling |
[May. 19th, 2008|03:40 pm] |
I'm happy to report that Gen Con and Wizards of the Coast are feeling much better about their marriage now that they have openly and honestly discussed their relationship issues.
To quote Gen Con, from an giddily exuberant email she sent me this afternoon:
Gen Con is pleased to announce that once again Wizards of the Coast, Inc., will be a co-sponsor of Gen Con Indy. Fans of all ages come to Gen Con each year to see and experience the latest in analog and digital gaming, and Wizards’ participation is a highlight for many fans. This year, Wizards of the Coast will be showing off their latest offerings, including the release of Dungeons & Dragons® 4th Edition.
“We are so pleased to have Wizards of the Coast once again be a sponsor of Gen Con. Its long history with the show, as well as the popularity of its products makes it an integral part of the entire Gen Con experience,” said Adrian Swartout, president of Gen Con.
At Gen Con this year, Wizards of the Coast will be celebrating the newly released D&D® 4th Edition by debuting the new Living Forgotten Realms® campaign as well as 20 years of the Legend of Drizzt™. New York Times best-selling author R.A. Salvatore will be signing sample chapters of The Pirate King, the second book in the Transitions trilogy and sample chapters of The Stowaway, co-authored with his son Geno Salvatore.
So, it looks like there's a lot to look forward to this August (not including signings by that hack R.A. Salvatore). |
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| GenCon 2008 - the good, the bad, and the weird |
[May. 6th, 2008|11:49 am] |
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) ivan_groznii has been keeping me updated on Gencon news, some of which is a little troubling. But first, the good . . .
HEY, ERIN! GUESS WHAT??? REBECCA GUAY IS GOING TO BE AT GENCON! I know, I'm excited, too. She's flat out one of the best Magic/fantasy artists working today.
Now, the bad . . .
So, it looks like Wizards of the Coast might not be attending GenCon at all. I'll let that percolate for a sec. Yeah, Wizards might not be participating in GenCon. Sure, they don't technically own it anymore, but that's still kind of like saying "Lucasfilm has decided not to participate in this year's Star Wars Celebration." TSR, back before WotC acquired them (and long before WotC was acquired by Hasbro), created the Geneva Convention to promote D&D and their other fantasy games. Even up until last year, their giant castle and Gleemax the psychotic brain creature were the centerpieces of the exhibition hall. I'm just having trouble imagining what GenCon would look like without them.
Now, the weird . . .
Before you get too worried, let me say that WotC has not officially declared that they won't be attending GenCon. In fact, they haven't officially declared anything at all. They just haven't scheduled anything. Three months left to go and apparently they haven't decided one way or another if they'll be going. Why?
The rumors are swirling. It could have something to do with this lawsuit that Lucasfilm filed against GenCon. As ivan_groznii reminded me, Hasbro makes all of the Star Wars toys and WotC makes the Star Wars RPG and miniature game. So, by pissing off Lucasfilm, GenCon could very well have pissed off all of Hasbro.
Of course, this is all idle speculation. Hopefully WotC will remember that GenCon attendees are their biggest fans and they will do the right thing. |
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| I AM IRON MAN! |
[May. 2nd, 2008|10:35 am] |
UPDATE: According to rottentomatoes.com, as of today, Iron Man is the best-reviewed movie so far this year, with a whopping 95% approval rating from critics.
I can't freaking wait to see this movie. It looks like so much fun and it's been getting absolutely glowing reviews.
Case in point, The Onion AV Club: "Iron Man finds a . . . palatable, audience-friendly balance between delirious spectacle and tortured introspection thanks largely to Downey, a great actor who's also a great entertainer."
I find it encouraging that reviews aren't just mentioning "cool action" and "awesome FX," but the actual human element as well.
Have any of you seen this? Is it as good as it looks???
PS: I hope they play Black Sabbath at some point during the movie. Doing otherwise would be a missed opportunity. |
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| Oh Batman, I worship at your feet! |
[Apr. 26th, 2008|01:37 pm] |
Is it July yet, is it July yet, is it July yet, is it July yet, is it July yet???
I love the tagline on that poster. Looks like we should expect a darker, less noble Batman, and that's the way I like him! I'm envisioning Batman-as-terrorist, which isn't really so far from Batman-as-"the terror that flaps in the night," when you think about it.
Also, the casting in this movie looks amazing. We all know about Christian Bale as Batman, Michael Caine as Alfred, and Gary Oldman as (future Commissioner) Gordon. And, of course, there's poor Heath Ledger looking positively maniacal as the Joker. Plus, that cardboard cutout that's married to that one scientologist is being replaced as Rachel Dawes by Maggie Gyllenhaal, who can, you know, act. And thank God, because all signs point to Rachel having a much larger more central part in this film, since she works with Harvey Dent.
Speaking of whom . . . who in the world could be more perfect for Harvey Dent than Aaron Eckhart? That man practically holds the patent on slimy, oily businessmen. He's a truly inspired choice for the part.
This movie will rock.
Confidential to The Strokes: where have you been all my life? |
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| A Dance With Brendans |
[Apr. 1st, 2008|04:51 pm] |
In case any of you have forgotten, George R. R. Martin will be at the Radisson Hotel this Saturday, April 5th, at 3:00 pm to read from his next book, A Dance With Dragons.
You should all come with me to listen to him speak and help me celebrate my birthday. :)
EDIT: Things just get better . . . Not only will GRRM be at Odysseycon but Patrick Rothfuss will as well! In case that name means nothing to you, he's the author of The Name of the Wind, a book I am actually planning to finish tonight after work. Fortuitous, huh? I'll save ranting about how amazing it is for another post, but let me just say that it's the darker, more mature fantasy that Harry Potter could have been. On the surface, if I described a young man going to wizard university to learn the secrets of magic, I'm sure you'd think "eh, Harry Potter rip-off," but it's fantastic and deep and engrossing in its own right. Too bad it's only part one of a trilogy and I'll have to pine for the next book to come out. |
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| Final Errata for D&D 3.5 |
[Apr. 1st, 2008|04:45 pm] |
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Finally, 3.5 will be 4th Edition compatible
Oh yes, I know you've been waiting for it. . .
Player's Handbook & Monster Manual errata
I think my favorite section is: Page 71-72 – Diplomacy [Substitution]
Replace text with “Roll for initiative.” Page 74 – Forgery [Substitution]
Replace text with “You actually trained in this skill? Well, roll for initiative.” Page 74 – Gather Information [Substitution]
Replace text with “Roll for initiative.” Page 81 – Sense Motive [Substitution]
Replace text with “Roll for initiative.”
It's true! 4th Edition will be nothing but combat!
Hehehe. Thanks again to ivan_groznii for bringing this to my attention. |
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| 2.5 stars is the new 5 anyway . . . |
[Mar. 28th, 2008|08:38 am] |
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Not that I ever put much stock in music reviews, but when I discovered that Rolling Stone rated the two most recent albums I purchased at 2.5 stars each [hey, that's a total of 5, right? so that's good!], I started to wonder just what kind of metric they're using to measure an album's quality.
Now, I know the old "how come band X got 2.5 stars for their album when Britney Spears' new album Blackout got 3.5?" argument has been done to death; I know that very few people would actually argue that star ratings are meant to be some kind of objective score that will allow you to rank albums in order from best to worst. I know these things, but I think the words of these reviews can be very telling.
For example, in her review of the aforementioned Spears effort, Melissa Maerz praises its ability to "bring back the stellar heavy-breathers of her youth." Plus, Britney says "motherfucker" a couple of times. My God, people! Call your mother, cuz the revolution is being televised and Britney's booty is leading the charge! Or--not. Seems to me this is just the same shit on a different day. Honestly, I didn't know I was supposed to be missing the "heavy-breathers" from the heyday of Britney's youth.
Meanwhile, Serj Tankian's Elect the Dead might not change lives, might not even radically change the world of music, but at least it's interesting. At least it's different. Sure, in its earnest wackiness, it occasionally dips into self-parody, but at least it reaches.
The same could be said for Maynard Keenan's 79th recorded side project, Puscifer. Their new album V is for Vagina might lack the gravitas *cough*pretension*cough* of Tool, but it's dark and sexy and almost infinitely listenable. Is it shallow? Maybe a little. But I bet it's a hell of a lot less shallow than most of its competition.
I guess what worries me is that Rollling Stone seems content to praise bands for giving people exactly what the majority of them want, mindless booty-shaking music, while punishing many bands that try something new, that reach beyond the comfort zone and expand their repertoire into areas most of us didn't even know existed. |
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| Twas the night before Hogswatch . . . |
[Mar. 18th, 2008|01:25 pm] |
For all you Discworld fans out there . . .
We watched the first half of The Hogfather last night and it was completely awesome. I can't wait to see the rest of it tonight.
I was more than a little disappointed by the slightly chintzy animated version of Weird Sisters, which I felt was fairly faithful to the plot of the book, but not particularly funny.
However, The Hogfather is totally delightful. I think a 3-hour miniseries is the perfect medium for the Discworld novels. Trying to fit any of the stories into a 2-hour theatrical timeframe would mean cutting all of the funny little injokes and gags that make Discworld so beloved in the first place. So, does the plot of The Hogfather meander? Hell yes, it does! And I'm glad for it, because we get the chance to see all sorts of hilarious but completely unnecessary moments, most of which involve Unseen University. We get to watch the Arch-Chancellor unbrick an ancient sauna and discover the world's most terrifying bidet; we are introduced to Hex, the Discworld's first computer (the movie's website proudly displays the logo Hex: Anthill inside in the Intel font); we see Susan club a monster then calmly reassure a young girl's parents that they're just playing pretend; and much, much more.
To sum up, if you like Discworld at all or you want to find out what all the fuss is about, go rent The Hogfather right away.
Plus, coming this Sunday to British television . . . The Colour of Magic! I'll report back on how it is as soon as I can procure a copy of it. :) |
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| AMBIGUITY: or, OMG John Locke is a cylon! |
[Mar. 10th, 2008|01:07 pm] |
I have been watching a lot of Lost recently and a lot of Battlestar Galactica and I have noticed one striking similarity: both shows feature a primary villain that is both morally ambiguous and, at times, quite sympathetic.
[NOTE: before you read the following and/or post, keep in mind that I have only seen 2.5 seasons of Lost and slightly under 2.5 seasons of Battlestar Galactica, so my comments might seem humorously ignorant or out-of-date. Please forgive my ignorance and, for the love of God, Don't post any spoilers!]
*ahem* Minor spoilers ahead.
First, Battlestar Galactica: unlike, say, Terminator, in which Skynet gains self-awareness and decides that the best thing for computer-kind to do is blow the puny hu-mons off the face of the planet, the cylons have a far more subtle and ambiguous agenda. At firt glance, they seem very similar--the series opens with damn near every hu-mon in the universe being vaporized by the cylons--but the more we see of the cylons the more it becomes clear that they don't really want to destroy humanity at all. If the destruction of humanity was their goal, they certainly have enough secret agents and firepower to have accomplished it long ago. Instead, now that they pull the strings, they seem content to lead humanity, to shape us and mold us to their will. At times, Number Six's speeches become strangely religious, leading us to wonder, are the cylons destroying humanity, or are they saving it? And, further, if they fervently believe they are saving humanity, how much can we really fault them? We're the ones who gave them intelligence in the first place.
From a different angle, the ongoing subplot involving Boomer's realization of her own lack of humanity, and how the others respond to it, often casts her as the victim and the humans around her as the cruel and intollerant ones.
Finally, the cylons never seem to totally agree on anything. They discuss amongst themselves, tempers flair, and things go wrong. They seem to be a far cry from the hive mind of the Borg.
On to Lost: I won't pretend to offer a comprehensive overview of the Others, because I don't claim to really understand who they are or what they're doing, but from what I've seen of the 3rd season, they are also prone to disagreement. Juliet is especially sympathetic to the newcomers and seems as likely to help them as to hinder them. Like the cylons, most of the Others seem content to simply observe the newcomers and occasionally guide them, rather than assault them and destroy them. Though they are undeniably manipulative (as are they cylons), the question of how much they are helping and how much they are hindering still lingers.
So, to sum up . . . why do you think it is that two such popular shows have created villains with such marked similarities? Is it that we live in a time when the idea of Good vs. Evil is too hard to swallow? Do we need entertainment in which even the robotic villains have human desires and motivations? |
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| Believe it or not, Web, I'm still alive. Also, ANIME! |
[Feb. 28th, 2008|09:46 am] |
This message is pretty specifically tailored to those of you crazy enough to show up every week at my house and watch hours of anime on my big screen TV but, for the rest of you, I just wanted to make sure you all know that I'm still alive . . . even though I never post.
Work is going well. I'm near the end of my third (and final) week of my primary application camp. I have two more tests to take and one more large project to complete, then I'll be certified, which pretty much means that they'll give me a certificate and I can do three or four more weeks of preparation before I get to any real work. Still, it's been quite enjoyable and I think I'm catching on pretty well to how the software works. Also, I've started decorating my office with posters from Planet Terror. I was looking at them yesterday and I realized that they actually fit pretty well into the whole health care theme. I mean, one poster depicts a nurse getting ready to give you a shot and the other highlights a recent amputee. :)
On to anime club:
We have a lot of choices for things to watch, so I've compiled a short list of what I think we should either continue or preview this week:
1. Rahxephon. Yes, finally finally we'll get back to watching this.
2. Ghost Hound. Even though the first episode was pretty slow moving, I think we should give this one a couple more episodes to play out before we decide whether or not we'll continue it. The pedigree alone (Production IG, Masamune Shirow, Chiaki Konaka) is enough to make me think it's worth pursuing. Plus, Nathaniel swears it picks up speed.
3. The microbe show. You know which one I'm talking about. Worth it to see Erin squeal with delight every time a CG microbe squiggles and squirms across the live action background.
4. Devil May Cry. Need I say more? I've got the first 8ish episodes ready to watch, so I think we should give it a try.
5. The rest of the Hellsing OVAS. Does anyone have these yet? Matt? Matt?.
Others: Code Geass. Haven't seen it, but someone at work described it as Clamp-does-giant-robots, which is a pretty sweet high concept. However, our "giant robot" slot is currently being filled by Rahxephon, so maybe this could wait a while.
And, of course, Battlestar Galactica. :D
Comments? |
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| Update time |
[Jan. 31st, 2008|11:01 am] |
I start my new job as a technical writer at Epic on Monday. I'm very excited about it, even though I know the workload will be considerable. Most of the comments I've gotten from people around the hardware store sound something like this: "Epic? Congratulations! They're a great employer with great benefits. But . . . well, get ready to work very, VERY hard." So, that should be interesting.
Also, I bought a car yesterday. It's a 2002 "tan" (pale gold) Honda Accord. It has a lot of miles on it, but it's in very good condition, and the price was right. Buying a car seems like another one of those bourgeois rites of passage, along with graduating high school, graduating college, finding a career, and getting married. If everything at Epic pans out and I like the work, I guess I've done 3 of the 4, so there's really no hope for me. |
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| The Devil's Dial |
[Dec. 15th, 2007|11:44 am] |
Well, opening weekend is over and The Golden Compass was damn near knocked out in the first round. Clocking in at well over $150 million, it was always going to be a big target, one which Catholic leaders such as William Donohue have had an easy time pummeling. Their logic runs kind of like this: If the film is popular and lots of children watch it, they will be encouraged to read the novels, which are atheistic and anti-Catholic.
See the problem? Even without seeing the movie (which is good, but has its flaws, such as being neutered of almost all religious content), thousands of people have shunned it just for bearing the same title as the novel. The bottom line? The film's opening weekend returns were modest at best, which means that the "sins" of the father will most likely be visited upon the sons. Put another way, the possibility of forming a sacred movie trilogy is evaporating as quickly as a dead man's daemon. In a game where only returns in the hundreds of millions are viable, a tendency toward inoffensive and family-friendly content will prevail. Don't worry, folks, Disney's aw-gee Christian-friendly series, The Chronicles of Narnia, is perfectly safe. |
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| Happy Turkey Day, everyone! |
[Nov. 14th, 2007|11:28 pm] |
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Now eat yourself stupid. The King of the Turkey People commands it! |
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| The Golden Compass: or, DEATH TO CHRISTIANS!!! |
[Nov. 13th, 2007|01:23 pm] |
So, is anyone else just about fed up with the accusations that the film of The Golden Compass will either be:
a) a watered-down piece of Disneyfied crap
or b) anti-religious crap that no good Christian should see?
As for accusation A, I've read interviews with the director and I find him intelligent and committed enough to keep the "dark" stuff in. For example, in Weitz' on words:
"The darker aspects – they must be preserved from any desire to sugar-coat them or water them down. The villains of the piece wish to destroy children’s souls for their own good. That is about as foul a crime as one can imagine in any book or film and it is necessary that severing, and its metaphorical connotations, be protected from focus-groups and marketers. Lyra’s parentage, the suffering she fights her way through, the land of the dead, the oppressive power of the Magisterium…all must remain. As for the manner in which they should be addressed, they must be done so with human sympathy, in terms of the emotions of the characters, without unnecessary bombast, without souping them up with sweeping violins. They must be dealt with in light of an understanding that gulf in scale between the cosmic and the personal must be bridged as well as Pullman bridges it."
As for accusation B, I have read the whole trilogy and I still don't see what's so atheistic about it. I mean, God and the angels are very real characters in the series. Some of them might be corrupt (like Milton's Lucifer), but they're there. The book's only real crime is arguing that perhaps some changes could be made; that when we find corruption in the church, our duty is to stamp it out, for the good of everyone involved, no matter the cost.
Any other thoughts on the matter? If you've read the series, do you think it's utterly anti-religion, or is it merely anti-establishment? Do you think the movie (wide release, December 7th, 2007) will be good? |
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| Spaaaaam |
[Nov. 12th, 2007|07:02 am] |
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To email me, I recommend using brsteele at uwalumni.com because my student email address is being turned off this week. |
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| TV junkie |
[Nov. 8th, 2007|07:42 pm] |
Quick TV update:
Still watching The Office, and it's still funny as hell, but . . .
[there's always a but] I don't know, this season seems more absurd. Like, after 3 seasons, they aren't content to sit around pulling pranks in the office. There are more shocks, more gross out moments and more bizarre twists. Andy's nipples bleed excessively, Michael kidnaps a pizza delivery boy for failing to honor a coupon, and Dwight attempts to blow up one of the Dunder Mifflin branches with Molotov cocktails, to name just a few "whaaaa?" moments.
Meanwhile, I finally ignored the title, pretended not to see the cover of the box (which looks like any generic high school drama), set aside the premise (Nancy Drew, anyone?) and sat down with Gavin's Veronica Mars DVDs.
Well, damn. As the whole universe seems to know by this point, that show rocks like nobody's business. It's almost absurdly well-written, and the characters are actually likeable enough to care about. I guess I'll have to add it to my list of must-watch shows. Too bad it's already been cancelled. |
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