In my ever expanding quest to become a game designer, I have become an editor on the staff of the unofficial Savage Worlds Fanzine Sharkbytes. I am the 50 Fathoms editor. 50 Fathoms is Savage Worlds' piratical setting and I have had fun as the editor.
Long story short, my first edited article is in the newest issue (Volume 2, Issue 1).
If you have any interest...my first published article was in the February '05 Nibbles issue. It was an article on how to incorporate introduction, cutscenes, and flashbacks into game sessions.
After its long hiatus, it is good to see Sharkbytes back in print and I have already gone hard to work editing the next 50 Fathoms article. I am even writing a few, though not 50 Fathoms, of my own.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Baseball stories not currently being covered
With the Barry Bonds saga dragging on the national media seems to be mostly ignoring some of the better baseball stories going on throughout the league. This is not to say they are not being covered but not being given their due. The following list is in no particular order:
Albert Pujols: Now he is being covered but not to the degree that McGuire or Bonds were when they were on their record setting pace. Currently, he has 25 homeruns and 64 rbis at the end of May, if Albert keeps it up he will hit 79 home runs and have 202 rbi's by the end of the season. A mind boogling season - perhaps the best of all time.
Brandon Webb: Quietly leads the league with 8 wins. He has been dominant throughout the season and should start for the National League in the all star game. His ground ball to flyball ratio has been disgusting. His 2.18 ERA and 1.08 whip are nothing to sneeze at.
The Detroit Tigers: They have been in a word awesome. Jim Leyland has turned around a franchise in desperate need of a new direction. The pitching is good and their lineup produces runs. They are a nice change to the teams normally associated with the elite of the sport.
Nomar Garciaparra: After a couple of years of injury he has made a smooth transition to first base and is hitting lights out in Los Angeles. Nomar hasn't been playing as long as everyone else but he is hitting over .360 and has favorable rbi's with the league even with his time off for injury.
Johnathan Papelbon: The Boston rookie has moved into the closer's role and has given up one earned run all year. His microscopic whip and era (0.35 era and 0.58 whip) have helped Boston stay at or near the top of the AL East
Ryan Howard: This second year first baseman from Philadelphia is tearing up the National League with 18 homeruns and 47 RBI's through May. He simply crushes the ball - get used to the name it will be around awhile.
Hanley Ramierez: Rookie starting shortstop for the Florida Marlins is hitting .315 with 43 runs and 16 stolen bases in his debut season. He runs and scores, just what you want out of a lead off hitter. Additionally, he is a legitimate threat on the bases, rivaling Carl Crawford, Jose Reyes and Scott Posednick for steals. A true consideration for rookie of the year.
the National League West: After a season where only one team was above .500 for the year, after two months every team is .500 or better. Thats what I call a turn around.
Whatever your take on Bonds, he looks old these days and in my humble opinion now that he has taken the next hurdle lets see more of some other stories.
Albert Pujols: Now he is being covered but not to the degree that McGuire or Bonds were when they were on their record setting pace. Currently, he has 25 homeruns and 64 rbis at the end of May, if Albert keeps it up he will hit 79 home runs and have 202 rbi's by the end of the season. A mind boogling season - perhaps the best of all time.
Brandon Webb: Quietly leads the league with 8 wins. He has been dominant throughout the season and should start for the National League in the all star game. His ground ball to flyball ratio has been disgusting. His 2.18 ERA and 1.08 whip are nothing to sneeze at.
The Detroit Tigers: They have been in a word awesome. Jim Leyland has turned around a franchise in desperate need of a new direction. The pitching is good and their lineup produces runs. They are a nice change to the teams normally associated with the elite of the sport.
Nomar Garciaparra: After a couple of years of injury he has made a smooth transition to first base and is hitting lights out in Los Angeles. Nomar hasn't been playing as long as everyone else but he is hitting over .360 and has favorable rbi's with the league even with his time off for injury.
Johnathan Papelbon: The Boston rookie has moved into the closer's role and has given up one earned run all year. His microscopic whip and era (0.35 era and 0.58 whip) have helped Boston stay at or near the top of the AL East
Ryan Howard: This second year first baseman from Philadelphia is tearing up the National League with 18 homeruns and 47 RBI's through May. He simply crushes the ball - get used to the name it will be around awhile.
Hanley Ramierez: Rookie starting shortstop for the Florida Marlins is hitting .315 with 43 runs and 16 stolen bases in his debut season. He runs and scores, just what you want out of a lead off hitter. Additionally, he is a legitimate threat on the bases, rivaling Carl Crawford, Jose Reyes and Scott Posednick for steals. A true consideration for rookie of the year.
the National League West: After a season where only one team was above .500 for the year, after two months every team is .500 or better. Thats what I call a turn around.
Whatever your take on Bonds, he looks old these days and in my humble opinion now that he has taken the next hurdle lets see more of some other stories.
Joe Bob Briggs Imitates Cinerati
Look at the theme he chose for his blog!
In all honesty, Joe Bob's Week in Review has been long in need of the kind of interactivity that blogs allow. Go on over and give him a holler.
In all honesty, Joe Bob's Week in Review has been long in need of the kind of interactivity that blogs allow. Go on over and give him a holler.
Community Rundown
Here are the stories being covered by the Pop, Pop, Pop Culture Community this week so far.
We, of course, have discussed X3 and Xombies and will soon discuss the Wild Cards series in greater detail.
- Perrero has their usual blogburst, expect the unexpected.
- Shouting Into the Wind discusses why Taylor Hicks Matters.
- DISContent discusses Memorial Day and Hershel Gordon Lewis
- Monitor Duty discusses Strangers in Paradise
- News on the March discusses Google, the Simpsons, and Jules Verne.
- Gone Hollywood disses Michele Rodriguez for being released from prison and praises Naomi Watts for her philanthropy.
- Our friends at the Ziggurat of Doom discuss propaganda, X3, and how vampires are protesting hamburgers at White Castle
- The Shelf apologizes for the lack of a Memorial Day post on Memorial Day and has a few comments about his opinions regarding An Inconvenient Truth
- The Hungry Ghost reminds us to read the Axis of Time series and presents an opportunity for all you burgeoning 35mm Hong Kong Print collectors out there.
We, of course, have discussed X3 and Xombies and will soon discuss the Wild Cards series in greater detail.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Added Community Members
Per Request I added Gone Hollywood to our community. I also added Monitor Duty, though they didn't ask.
We still need a "logo" for our community. Any volunteers?
If not, I'll have one up by the end of next week.
We still need a "logo" for our community. Any volunteers?
If not, I'll have one up by the end of next week.
Weekend Update and Recent Purchases
I, like 12 million other Americans (based on $10 a ticket), went to see X-Men III this weekend. Geek that I am, I had already read the novelization
by Chris Claremont (Chris Claremont!) so I knew what to expect which was both good and bad. My opinion of the film is largely the same as Bill Cunningham's over at DISContent so in the effort to avoid redundancy I will only describe where my opinion expands on his own.
Matt Forbeck has a recommendation post on "Jonny Magic and the Card Shark Kids by David Kushner. It’s the story of how Jon Finkel, a Magic: The Gathering player, went from high-school nerd to world champion, joined a casino blackjack card-counting team." Sounds like the next book to be added to my reading queue. I used to work at a casino, I play a lot of games as you know, and I am a fan of poker books.
As you may have noticed, I have updated the sidebar to include The Flash television series, a Cure anthology CD set, a novel by James Barclay, and a wargame based on Lord of the Rings. Quick rundown...
I loved The Flash television series when it came out and the life and death of Barry Allen frame my favorite era of comic books. When Barry Allen died in 1985 it, among other things, heralded the era of "important" comics and the slow death of comics that are fun. To often comics have lost their sense of providing pleasure and have replaced it with a desire to create "art." This has led to many very good series, but it has also relegated the medium to obscurity. The television show was a reminder of those old, good times. I hope when I get around to watching the episodes that they will hold up.
The Cure anthology is a collection of the band's B-Sides and it constitutes 4 of the six slots in my cd changer in my car.
James Barclay is one of the few authors who could base a series of novels on a roleplaying campaign and have it be entertaining. His Raven series is based on his old Dragonquest campaign. It is fun and imaginative fluff and I have "borrowed" liberally from it in my home campaigns.
War of the Ring is a very good wargame based on the Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien. You can play the game with simplified or advanced rules (I recommend advanced). The most innovative feature of the game is the need for both players to keep track of how well the Fellowship is doing, in addition to strategic decisions.
by Chris Claremont (Chris Claremont!) so I knew what to expect which was both good and bad. My opinion of the film is largely the same as Bill Cunningham's over at DISContent so in the effort to avoid redundancy I will only describe where my opinion expands on his own.As Bill states quite convincingly, the movie lacked texture. Where I most agree with this assessment is in the "cure" storyline. While Storm assures the audience, and her fellow mutants, that "there is nothing wrong with us," she is only correct with regard to a certain group of mutants. There is nothing wrong with mutants who have a beneficial mutation, like the X-men and the Brotherhood of Evil mutants. Her statement is important from a Civil Rights perspective, which has been the undercurrent of the X-men since day one, but from an evolutionary/medical one it is folly.
The movie attempted to show some of the potentially detrimental effects in it's highly underused Rogue narrative, but failed to represent the stakes properly. While there is tragedy in Rogue's inability to touch anyone without possibly killing them, she does also benefit by the temporary assimilation of their superpowers (if they have any) as well. Her mutation is a mixed bag, both benficial and detrimental. This lowers the emotional impact of any conflict she may be experiencing regarding wanting to "kiss her boyfriend." The impact is even less for fans of the comic series, in which Rogue has already "assumed" the power set of Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) in addition to her own and has fragments of Danvers' personality as well. The audience needed to see mutants with truly detrimental mutations, things that would make them evolutionary dead ends. While fear of power in wrong hands is one motivation for anti-mutant racism, mere difference is another and the most dramatically compelling. Thus the movie should have also included neutral, but cosmetically unappealling, mutations as well.
To be fair, the comics are rarely better than the movie was with this issue. In fact, the best example of this kind of social commentary is in the Wild Cards series edited by George R.R. Martin. In that series, there are three sets of mutations caused by an alien virus. The first creates what are known as Aces, your typical superheroes. The second creates Jokers, people with physically negative or even detrimental mutations. Lastly come the Black Queens, those who are killed by the mutation they acquire.
If not all mutations are beneficial, you have room for drama. If that is the case there is a legitimate reason for the creation of a "cure" but tension is created when that cure is then used as a weapon by intolerant leadership.
I also thought the movie dropped the ball on the tension hinted at at the end of X-men 2 where the Professor had essentially almost killed all non-mutants. That and a couple of editing/dialogue problems and the possible need for more creative use of special effects funds.
Other than that, good stuff. Fast, Furious, and Fun.
Matt Forbeck has a recommendation post on "Jonny Magic and the Card Shark Kids by David Kushner. It’s the story of how Jon Finkel, a Magic: The Gathering player, went from high-school nerd to world champion, joined a casino blackjack card-counting team." Sounds like the next book to be added to my reading queue. I used to work at a casino, I play a lot of games as you know, and I am a fan of poker books.
As you may have noticed, I have updated the sidebar to include The Flash television series, a Cure anthology CD set, a novel by James Barclay, and a wargame based on Lord of the Rings. Quick rundown...
I loved The Flash television series when it came out and the life and death of Barry Allen frame my favorite era of comic books. When Barry Allen died in 1985 it, among other things, heralded the era of "important" comics and the slow death of comics that are fun. To often comics have lost their sense of providing pleasure and have replaced it with a desire to create "art." This has led to many very good series, but it has also relegated the medium to obscurity. The television show was a reminder of those old, good times. I hope when I get around to watching the episodes that they will hold up.
The Cure anthology is a collection of the band's B-Sides and it constitutes 4 of the six slots in my cd changer in my car.
James Barclay is one of the few authors who could base a series of novels on a roleplaying campaign and have it be entertaining. His Raven series is based on his old Dragonquest campaign. It is fun and imaginative fluff and I have "borrowed" liberally from it in my home campaigns.
War of the Ring is a very good wargame based on the Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien. You can play the game with simplified or advanced rules (I recommend advanced). The most innovative feature of the game is the need for both players to keep track of how well the Fellowship is doing, in addition to strategic decisions.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Like Zombie Movies? Try Xombie!
Every now and again, I find some treasure that has been sitting in the interwebosphere for sometime. After finding these treasures, I am usually baffled at how I could ever have missed the treasure in the first place.
Xombie is one of those little treasures and I have Matt Forbeck (one of my favorite game designers) to thank for the introduction.
Xombie is a flash animation film about a world taken over by zombies and her search for who she is, where she is from, and where the heck other humans are. She is aided by a self-aware Zombie (and his dog), among others, in her journey. The self-aware zombie bit is very reminiscent of George Romero's comic Toe Tags (which featured awesome Bernie Wrightson covers) which featured a similar character. Though Xombie's first chapter predates the Romero comic series.
Xombie creator James Farr's release schedule is a little on the slow side, but all in all this is light-hearted zombie goodness.
Friday, May 26, 2006
When Fantasy Baseball Isn't Enough
I love Fantasy Baseball, as you know I put out a public invitation a while back for anyone who wanted to join my Yahoo! league. No, I'm not a master level rotiserrie player who plays for real money. I would be pwned so fast it wouldn't be any fun. I am, however, a person who likes to fantasize about being a big league GM like Paul Depodesta and Fantasy Baseball is one of the ways to meet this fantasy.
By the way, Fantasy Baseball, in no way encapsulates the fantasy of actually playing Major League Baseball. That fantasy is manifest in peoples obsessions with Orosco Numbers (the number of players your age or older still in the Major Leagues) and agressive participation in Fast Pitch Softball Leagues.
For all that I love the way Fantasy Baseball enhances the pleasure I get from watching baseball, it does have its weaknesses. For the past couple of years three pitchers in the Major Leagues have performed well, but been less useful than one would imagine in fantasy leagues. The pitchers are Brandon Webb, Tom Glavine, and Jake Peavy, especially Peavy and Webb. The fact is that these pitchers have "earned" an insuffient number of wins based on ERA performance. In other words, if they played for different teams they would have won more games. Take Jake Peavy 2004 and 2005, for those years he went 15 and 6 in 27 games and 13 and 7 in 30 games. Winning records to be sure, but his ERA's were 2.27 and 2.88 and these were with having to face a healthy Bonds in 2004 and make a few healthy visits to Denver for the duration. Sub 3 ERAs in the modern era are something to be awed by and shouldn't result in sub-20 win seasons. Chris Carpenter, who played for a better team, had a 2.85 ERA in 2005 and won 21 games. A similar story for Roy Oswalt who won 20 with a 2.94 ERA (though he also lost 12). As an aside, those who think great pitchers are a thing of the past you really ought to look at the birthdates on these guys, only Carpenter is over 30.
Needless to say, the pitchers stats don't reflect their individual quality, nor do they reflect how they would perform if they were backed by the supporting team I selected on my fantasy team. So Fantasy Baseball is a less than accurate simulation of GM activity, it is a great fan supplement, but not a fantasy fulfiller.
The diligent GM fantasist goes out and buys APBA baseball and/or Stratomatic Baseball, or one of a cadre of similar products. These are great products to be sure, but there is one step beyond these. There is a product that not only allows team selection, uses park modifiers, but also includes computer based trades and the ability to control concession prices. I am, naturally, refering to the excellent Baseball Mogul series of games.
I have been playing the Mogul series of games every baseball season for a few years now and I find it to be entirely engrossing. It captures not only the fantasy of being a GM, but of being an owner and on the field manager. Each season the program has evolved leaps and bounds over the previous season and the program was robust to start. At $19.95 the game is a steal.
When I first played the game you could make decisions about lineups on a day by day basis, make trades, and modify the financial aspects. Since that time the game has evolved so that you can "call" individual pitches for your pitchers to throw (with pitch placement) and have batters guess what pitch and where the opposing pitcher is going to throw. The level of detail is amazing and it is truly a fantasy version of being a GM. You can play "what if" seasons for the entire history of baseball (up to the year of the edition of the game) for the price of $19.95. To play prior years in APBA or Stratomatic you must buy prior year card sets, though they allow for inter-generational fantasy play which Mogul lacks as a "hard wired" function. You can use old players, but you have to enter their stats manually which takes about a minute.
Oh and if you fantasize about playing the game, you can enter your high school statistics and draft "yourself" onto the team you are managing.
Good stuff.
By the way, Fantasy Baseball, in no way encapsulates the fantasy of actually playing Major League Baseball. That fantasy is manifest in peoples obsessions with Orosco Numbers (the number of players your age or older still in the Major Leagues) and agressive participation in Fast Pitch Softball Leagues.
For all that I love the way Fantasy Baseball enhances the pleasure I get from watching baseball, it does have its weaknesses. For the past couple of years three pitchers in the Major Leagues have performed well, but been less useful than one would imagine in fantasy leagues. The pitchers are Brandon Webb, Tom Glavine, and Jake Peavy, especially Peavy and Webb. The fact is that these pitchers have "earned" an insuffient number of wins based on ERA performance. In other words, if they played for different teams they would have won more games. Take Jake Peavy 2004 and 2005, for those years he went 15 and 6 in 27 games and 13 and 7 in 30 games. Winning records to be sure, but his ERA's were 2.27 and 2.88 and these were with having to face a healthy Bonds in 2004 and make a few healthy visits to Denver for the duration. Sub 3 ERAs in the modern era are something to be awed by and shouldn't result in sub-20 win seasons. Chris Carpenter, who played for a better team, had a 2.85 ERA in 2005 and won 21 games. A similar story for Roy Oswalt who won 20 with a 2.94 ERA (though he also lost 12). As an aside, those who think great pitchers are a thing of the past you really ought to look at the birthdates on these guys, only Carpenter is over 30.
Needless to say, the pitchers stats don't reflect their individual quality, nor do they reflect how they would perform if they were backed by the supporting team I selected on my fantasy team. So Fantasy Baseball is a less than accurate simulation of GM activity, it is a great fan supplement, but not a fantasy fulfiller.
The diligent GM fantasist goes out and buys APBA baseball and/or Stratomatic Baseball, or one of a cadre of similar products. These are great products to be sure, but there is one step beyond these. There is a product that not only allows team selection, uses park modifiers, but also includes computer based trades and the ability to control concession prices. I am, naturally, refering to the excellent Baseball Mogul series of games.
I have been playing the Mogul series of games every baseball season for a few years now and I find it to be entirely engrossing. It captures not only the fantasy of being a GM, but of being an owner and on the field manager. Each season the program has evolved leaps and bounds over the previous season and the program was robust to start. At $19.95 the game is a steal.
When I first played the game you could make decisions about lineups on a day by day basis, make trades, and modify the financial aspects. Since that time the game has evolved so that you can "call" individual pitches for your pitchers to throw (with pitch placement) and have batters guess what pitch and where the opposing pitcher is going to throw. The level of detail is amazing and it is truly a fantasy version of being a GM. You can play "what if" seasons for the entire history of baseball (up to the year of the edition of the game) for the price of $19.95. To play prior years in APBA or Stratomatic you must buy prior year card sets, though they allow for inter-generational fantasy play which Mogul lacks as a "hard wired" function. You can use old players, but you have to enter their stats manually which takes about a minute.
Oh and if you fantasize about playing the game, you can enter your high school statistics and draft "yourself" onto the team you are managing.
Good stuff.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
An Image of Oreo
David Chute asked if my wife had drawn any pictures of our dog Oreo, so here is a picture Jody drew of her not too long ago. Jody drew the picture from memory. Oreo died on August 1, 2002 at the ripe age of 20, she would have been 21 in a couple weeks. We loved her very much and still miss her. Oreo would love Glendale.
My Anniversary Was Magical and So Was The Magic Castle
Last Thursday, as you all know, was my wife and my ninth wedding anniversary. Before I went to work my wife recommended that I wear a suit and tie to work so that I would be ready for our dinner. In years past I have planned the anniversary dinner, but this year Jody "demanded" the privilege. She then asked me if I was "excited" about our dinner. I responded calmly that I was very much looking forward to a romantic evening with my wife.
She scowled and said, "but are you excited about where we are going?"
I told her that I didn't know where we were going and I once again assured her that I was looking forward to a very romantic evening.
Once more the scowl.
So I asked, "okay...where are we going?"
"It's a surprise," she giggled, then she hugged me and skipped off to her car. All of which left me wondering what she had planned. Too be honest, I didn't put much thought into it for most of the day. It wasn't until I was on the road from Glendora to the Paramount Lot (the Marx Building for JC and Wolf) that I began to really attempt to guess at the surprise.
Jody called my cell while I was on the road, "any guesses?"
"Do you really want me to guess or do you want me to be joyously surprised when I get to your office?"
"I want you to be joyously surprised."
"Then I'll wait until I get to your office and react to the news." I can hear the grimmace on the other end of the cell.
All of this has finally caused me to really think about where Jody has planned for us to go to dinner. What could be this important? Think, think, think. We went to Spago for Jody's birthday and it was great, but even that wasn't as big a deal as Jody was making this evening. Hmm...other than Disneyland, for which one evening wouldn't be enough, what place would be special enough to make Jody giggle?
I finally decided that it must be the Magic Castle. I am a big fan of magic and have always wanted to go there. Jody received an invitation from a member over a year ago and we have been unable to use it. It was featured in a Columbo episode (Jody's favorite show ever). I hoped I was right and tried to brace myself for any disappointment.
I arrive at her boss's office and Jody is busy in the phones, but she has time to hand me a hand made anniversary card. She smiles broadly and says, "open it!"
This is what I see.
Well, this and the invitation to the Magic Castle. I had been right and I laugh out loud, "Awesome," I am Gen X after all, "I hoped this is where we were going to go."
"Good thing we are then," she laughed.
Jody's playfulness was fun, but the Magic Castle was better than I expected. We ate dinner at their steakhouse. It's no Spago, but eating there meant we didn't have to pay for the "Palace of Mystery" show.
When you go to the Magic Castle, which requires an invitation and reservations, there are basically four venues where performers baffle and amaze you. At least they try to baffle and amaze you.
There is the Close Up Gallery where magicians give performances every 45 minutes or so for the duration of the evening. This is where you will see card tricks, sponge ball manipulations, and coin tricks. You know what I am talking about, all the slight of hand trick you can imagine might be performed here.
There is the Parlour of Prestidigitation where everything inbetween close up and stage performance is done. In the Parlour you will experience Mentalism and the types of tricks you might imagine experiencing in a Victorian living room.
Then there is the Palace of Mystery where stage magic is performed. This can be everything from "large" slight of hand tricks and animal tricks to large mechanical tricks like the famous sawing the woman in half trick.
Finally, there is the W.C. Fields bar where the bartender does a continuous demonstration of barside magic. As you can probably guess the majority is close up magic, but humor is a big part of this experience as is drinking.
We had a great time. We watched two perfomers in the Close Up Gallery (Paul Green and David Stryker) one "early" performer and one "late" performer. At the Palace of Mystery show we saw Shoot Ogawa and George Saterial. We even hung out at the W.C. Fields bar for a while. Sadly, we weren't able to catch one of the shows at the Parlour, it was a Thursday and there was no midnight performance in the Parlour.
All the magic was excellent, but the magician who most impressed me was David Stryker. He performed a couple of "classic" manipulations, but with awesome fluidity. He was worth the very late stay and was not only a skilled magician, but an approachable and friendly one as well.
Oh...and before I forget. In addition to the magic, Jody and I were able to do some gawking as well. Neal McDonough was there with friends, as was Sam Jones III. If you are a comic book geek, you might appreciate that McDonough was the voice of Firebrand on an episode of Marvel Action Hour: Ironman and was the voice of Bruce Banner on the 90s animated series. Thought I was going to mention Smallville, didn't you.
She scowled and said, "but are you excited about where we are going?"
I told her that I didn't know where we were going and I once again assured her that I was looking forward to a very romantic evening.
Once more the scowl.
So I asked, "okay...where are we going?"
"It's a surprise," she giggled, then she hugged me and skipped off to her car. All of which left me wondering what she had planned. Too be honest, I didn't put much thought into it for most of the day. It wasn't until I was on the road from Glendora to the Paramount Lot (the Marx Building for JC and Wolf) that I began to really attempt to guess at the surprise.
Jody called my cell while I was on the road, "any guesses?"
"Do you really want me to guess or do you want me to be joyously surprised when I get to your office?"
"I want you to be joyously surprised."
"Then I'll wait until I get to your office and react to the news." I can hear the grimmace on the other end of the cell.
All of this has finally caused me to really think about where Jody has planned for us to go to dinner. What could be this important? Think, think, think. We went to Spago for Jody's birthday and it was great, but even that wasn't as big a deal as Jody was making this evening. Hmm...other than Disneyland, for which one evening wouldn't be enough, what place would be special enough to make Jody giggle?
I finally decided that it must be the Magic Castle. I am a big fan of magic and have always wanted to go there. Jody received an invitation from a member over a year ago and we have been unable to use it. It was featured in a Columbo episode (Jody's favorite show ever). I hoped I was right and tried to brace myself for any disappointment.
I arrive at her boss's office and Jody is busy in the phones, but she has time to hand me a hand made anniversary card. She smiles broadly and says, "open it!"
This is what I see.
Well, this and the invitation to the Magic Castle. I had been right and I laugh out loud, "Awesome," I am Gen X after all, "I hoped this is where we were going to go."
"Good thing we are then," she laughed.
Jody's playfulness was fun, but the Magic Castle was better than I expected. We ate dinner at their steakhouse. It's no Spago, but eating there meant we didn't have to pay for the "Palace of Mystery" show.
When you go to the Magic Castle, which requires an invitation and reservations, there are basically four venues where performers baffle and amaze you. At least they try to baffle and amaze you.
There is the Close Up Gallery where magicians give performances every 45 minutes or so for the duration of the evening. This is where you will see card tricks, sponge ball manipulations, and coin tricks. You know what I am talking about, all the slight of hand trick you can imagine might be performed here.
There is the Parlour of Prestidigitation where everything inbetween close up and stage performance is done. In the Parlour you will experience Mentalism and the types of tricks you might imagine experiencing in a Victorian living room.
Then there is the Palace of Mystery where stage magic is performed. This can be everything from "large" slight of hand tricks and animal tricks to large mechanical tricks like the famous sawing the woman in half trick.
Finally, there is the W.C. Fields bar where the bartender does a continuous demonstration of barside magic. As you can probably guess the majority is close up magic, but humor is a big part of this experience as is drinking.
We had a great time. We watched two perfomers in the Close Up Gallery (Paul Green and David Stryker) one "early" performer and one "late" performer. At the Palace of Mystery show we saw Shoot Ogawa and George Saterial. We even hung out at the W.C. Fields bar for a while. Sadly, we weren't able to catch one of the shows at the Parlour, it was a Thursday and there was no midnight performance in the Parlour.
All the magic was excellent, but the magician who most impressed me was David Stryker. He performed a couple of "classic" manipulations, but with awesome fluidity. He was worth the very late stay and was not only a skilled magician, but an approachable and friendly one as well.
Oh...and before I forget. In addition to the magic, Jody and I were able to do some gawking as well. Neal McDonough was there with friends, as was Sam Jones III. If you are a comic book geek, you might appreciate that McDonough was the voice of Firebrand on an episode of Marvel Action Hour: Ironman and was the voice of Bruce Banner on the 90s animated series. Thought I was going to mention Smallville, didn't you.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Sofia Coppola Panned at Cannes
Anyone who has seen Lick the Star will not be surprised to read that her latest film, Antoinette, was booed at Cannes.
I have always wondered why anyone could have liked the Oscar Award Winning film Lost in Translation, which I always thought would be bettered titled Sofia Coppola Thinks Japanese Are Weird. I found it to be an almost intolerably shallow and self-centered film. Some of the "deep thoughts" I was taught by the film include:
Bad News Bears Go To Japan showed a more sympathetic and subtle representation of Japanese culture than Lost in Translation. In fact, if you seen Lick the Star you see that the themes of Translation are pretty much the same as those of Star, namely alienation and loneliness. Translation was directed at the same slow, dull, pace as Star and I have never thought that drawn out and boring meant subtle. The Academy obviously disagreed.
When I first saw a preview for Antoinette, I was watching Tristan and Isolde, I burst out laughing at how absurd the film was advertised to be. What I saw was a pretentious couple of minutes of direction in the style of Star that was supposed to be about Marie Antoinette. I guess my imaginings of the film were not far off base, given the reaction at Cannes. I don't know. I'll have to see for myself. The question is whether the "rollicking rock-n-roll" soundtrack is enough to get me to see it in the theater or whether I will wait for Netflix.
Hmm...I wonder if this film will be about a young woman who feels alienated and alone?
I have always wondered why anyone could have liked the Oscar Award Winning film Lost in Translation, which I always thought would be bettered titled Sofia Coppola Thinks Japanese Are Weird. I found it to be an almost intolerably shallow and self-centered film. Some of the "deep thoughts" I was taught by the film include:
- Look Japanese go to weird strip clubs that make Sofia feel uncomfortable.
- When in one of the most exciting cities in the world, it is best to stay in your hotel room and mope.
- Even your Japanese friends are weird.
- Bill Murray is a good enough actor to make people like a poorly directed film
Bad News Bears Go To Japan showed a more sympathetic and subtle representation of Japanese culture than Lost in Translation. In fact, if you seen Lick the Star you see that the themes of Translation are pretty much the same as those of Star, namely alienation and loneliness. Translation was directed at the same slow, dull, pace as Star and I have never thought that drawn out and boring meant subtle. The Academy obviously disagreed.
When I first saw a preview for Antoinette, I was watching Tristan and Isolde, I burst out laughing at how absurd the film was advertised to be. What I saw was a pretentious couple of minutes of direction in the style of Star that was supposed to be about Marie Antoinette. I guess my imaginings of the film were not far off base, given the reaction at Cannes. I don't know. I'll have to see for myself. The question is whether the "rollicking rock-n-roll" soundtrack is enough to get me to see it in the theater or whether I will wait for Netflix.
Hmm...I wonder if this film will be about a young woman who feels alienated and alone?
British Computer Animation Company Opens Santa Monica Office
Image Metrics (founded in Manchester, England), the leading provider of computer-based facial animation solutions to Hollywood and the digital entertainment industries, announced their arrival in North America on Tuesday with the opening of a new office in Santa Monica, CA. Image Metrics technology has been used in many motion picture and gaming projects including Polar Express and Grand Theft Auto. Company CEO Andy Wood discussed the growth of Image Metrics.
"Over the Past 7 years, Image Metrics has quickly evolved from a company providing image analysis solutions for the medical industry into a specialist in entertainment facial animation technology. The opening of our offices in Santa Monica signifies our commitment and desire to be a part of the future of digital animation and to share our technology and knowledge with those who also seek to push the boundaries of this ever-evolving space," said Wood. "We provide the actor and director the missing tools they need in the animation process to communicate with a strictly non-creative entity such as a computer."
The company was founded in Manchester, England and has developed the only technology that digitally maps a human performance to an animated character. This technology supersedes contemporary motion capture systems because it is not reliant upon traditional techniques such as markers that restrict the performance of an actor and limit the creative control of the director. Image Metrics claims their technology "has simplified a traditionally labor-intensive, time-consuming, and expensive process while enhancing the artistic skills that exist within that process."
"Over the Past 7 years, Image Metrics has quickly evolved from a company providing image analysis solutions for the medical industry into a specialist in entertainment facial animation technology. The opening of our offices in Santa Monica signifies our commitment and desire to be a part of the future of digital animation and to share our technology and knowledge with those who also seek to push the boundaries of this ever-evolving space," said Wood. "We provide the actor and director the missing tools they need in the animation process to communicate with a strictly non-creative entity such as a computer."
The company was founded in Manchester, England and has developed the only technology that digitally maps a human performance to an animated character. This technology supersedes contemporary motion capture systems because it is not reliant upon traditional techniques such as markers that restrict the performance of an actor and limit the creative control of the director. Image Metrics claims their technology "has simplified a traditionally labor-intensive, time-consuming, and expensive process while enhancing the artistic skills that exist within that process."
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Pop, Pop, Pop Culture Community Membership Rules
Cinerati is looking for a few good websites devoted to the discussion of popular culture, in all its beautiful forms. To become a member of our Truth Laid Bear Community all you need to do is apply and meet the following criteria:
- Your site must focus on some aspect of popular culture. It doesn't matter if you have a site that tries to cover everything, or one that just talks about the Nintendo Wii. All that matters is that your site cover an aspect of popular culture as its primary focus.
- You must post on a semi-frequent basis. By this I mean that you must post at least once a week.
- You must link to the other sites in the Community and it would be great if you read them as well.
- You must be willing to participate in a cross-blog discussion once a month. Each month Community members will nominate and select a topic related to popular culture to discuss and will write a piece related to said topic. If the subject is out of your field, your post can be brief but should direct traffic to other sites in the Community.
- You must post the Community Banner prominently and proudly on your page (when it is available.
- If you have "non-family friendly" material, a disclaimer would be nice.
- The Community Administrator reserves the right to add additional criteria.
Pop, Pop, Pop Culture Community Established
I have begun the set up process for the Pop, Pop, Pop Culture Community. We are designated in the Culture category on the Truth Laid Bear Community Page. I have taken the role of community administrator and that means I need to solicit and delegate. So first things first, here is a list of the current community members:
I have already made some updates to the community, but the page only updates every few hours so be patient.
With the creation of a new community there are a couple of things that still need to be done.
First we need a "homepage" for the community.
Second we need someone to design the homepage and include links to all the member sites and an RSS feed of all the posts coming from our individual sites, a kind of news hub if you will. We could even add a message board, if we wanted, but I think comments sections are sufficient.
Third, we need to solicit more members. So if you know a site that discusses pop culture get them to shoot me an email and if they meet the criteria (I will post that above) then I will gladly add them.
Fourth, we need a "community banner" to be posted on the TTLB website, our own websites, and the community website.
With that in mind I am asking for volunteers and making the following proposal. We can if everyone wants use http://cinerati.net as our hub page.
I have already made some updates to the community, but the page only updates every few hours so be patient.
With the creation of a new community there are a couple of things that still need to be done.
First we need a "homepage" for the community.
Second we need someone to design the homepage and include links to all the member sites and an RSS feed of all the posts coming from our individual sites, a kind of news hub if you will. We could even add a message board, if we wanted, but I think comments sections are sufficient.
Third, we need to solicit more members. So if you know a site that discusses pop culture get them to shoot me an email and if they meet the criteria (I will post that above) then I will gladly add them.
Fourth, we need a "community banner" to be posted on the TTLB website, our own websites, and the community website.
With that in mind I am asking for volunteers and making the following proposal. We can if everyone wants use http://cinerati.net as our hub page.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Cinerati: The Origin Continue...The Last Samurai and Thomas Hibbs
As I mentioned in the first origin post, I had wanted to create a blog to discuss movies and popular culture, but in order to commit to writing commentary (even inane commentary) on a semi-frequent basis.
March 15, 2004 I re-read an article by Thomas Hibbs, author of Shows About Nothing, which really set my low art loving furnace aflame. I had to respond to Hibbs degredation of the Last Samurai and the films of Quentin Tarantino (whose work I firmly find to be high art, not low). Without further ado, here is that first article.
I didn't mention in the article, because I didn't think of it at the time, while Hibbs is right that Kurosawa influenced American Film, let us not forget that Yojimbo was a Samurai version of Dashiell Hammett's story Red Harvest.
March 15, 2004 I re-read an article by Thomas Hibbs, author of Shows About Nothing, which really set my low art loving furnace aflame. I had to respond to Hibbs degredation of the Last Samurai and the films of Quentin Tarantino (whose work I firmly find to be high art, not low). Without further ado, here is that first article.
In the Shadow of Kurosawa
By Christian Johnson
I can still remember the first time I saw Rocky Horror Picture Show. There I was, a “virgin” watching rolls of toilet paper flying and getting wet from squirting water when I realized that I was sitting surrounded by an audience that didn’t “get it.” Here they were talking, mocking, and interacting with a film that was hilarious on its own merits. Somewhere in all the chaos I managed to watch a parody of some of my favorite classic Hollywood horror films. I had a similar, though drier, experience when I watched John Water’s Cecil B. Demented in a theater full of people who didn’t know who William Castle was.
I experienced the same frustration when I read Thomas Hibbs’ recent article regarding Quentin Tarantino’s most recent film Kill Bill vol. 1 and the Tom Cruise blockbuster The Last Samurai ( Kurosawa Kills Bill). In particular, I took issue with his claim that “despite their critical acclaim and their purported desire to be faithful to Japanese sources, these films are but vulgar distortions of Japanese film culture, especially the work of Akira Kurosawa.” I was surprised by my reaction because I have more respect for Professor Hibbs than I do for most of the celebrated “cinerati” who, like me, enjoyed these two films. You see, I think that the Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Culture is on to something with regards to America’s elites having a disturbing affection for nihilism. So my reaction did not originate from a disagreement about the merits of these films with regard to virtue or an expression of human excellence. To be fair, I don’t know what his opinions are regarding The Last Samurai as a film about virtue, but I have a fair idea regarding Kill Bill. My frustration stemmed from his accusation that these films were “distortions” of a genre “especially” the work of Akira Kurosawa.
This leads me to ask two questions. First, are these films a “distortion of Japanese film culture?” Second, are these films “especially” referencing the work of Akira Kurosawa? I refuse to address any other of the statements made in Hibbs’ article because they provide a wonderful introduction to the works of an inspirational filmmaker. Though I do think that Hibbs was remiss in not mentioning Chushingura by Hiroshi Inagaki as another wonderful film about feudal Japan.
Kill Bill is exactly what it purports to be, a celebration of Japan’s b-movies in the Chambara genre (and to some extent the Wuxia and Kung Fu films of Hong Kong). While Akira Kurosawa’s films (among them Sanjuro, Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Ran) are great films about Samurai culture, they do not stand alone nor are they in the b-list of this genre. Tarantino’s film is closer in tone to the Lone Wolf and Cub and Zatoichi films, but he adds the bloodiness of the films of Kinji Fukasaku whose recent film Battle Royale (based on the book of the same name) is a brutal combination of Lord of the Flies and the Survivor television show. One need only watch a few Sonny Chiba (who stars in Kill Bill and is referenced in True Romance) films to understand that Japan, like America, has an appetite for graphic violence. You cannot claim that a film is a vulgar distortion of a culture based on a case study, a more random sample is needed. I think that if Professor Hibbs takes a random sample of Japanese cinema post 1970, he will find more Hanzo the Blade than Throne of Blood.
Typical of Tarantino, any celebration requires examples of a genre’s influence on Western film. So we have a perverted “Charlies Angels,” called the DiVAs, based on the Five Deadly Venoms by the Shaw Brothers. We have the exaggerated camera use of Sergio Leone used in the fight scene between Uma Thurman and Lucy Liu (the snow covered ground of which directly references the final fight in Chushingura). Tarantino gives us the Tokyo of Black Rain and Godzilla visually reminiscent of the Los Angeles of Blade Runner. We hear the theme song to The Green Hornet and Uma Thurman dressed like Bruce Lee in Game of Death. Through his director’s eye the audience sees the way Western movies, largely b-movies, have influenced Japanese b-movies, which have in turn influenced Western b-movies. We are presented with a dialogue, not a distortion, between two arguably vulgar cultural representations of the action genre.
The Last Samurai is more difficult to defend from Professor Hibbs’ criticism. While the film is infinitely less vulgar than Kill Bill, Edward Zwick appears to be imitating rather than celebrating what he thinks a film about feudal Japan should look like. The palette is reminiscent of Ran as is the tragic nature of its Japanese protagonist. The Last Samurai isn’t a film about feudal Japan, rather it is a film about how an American reacts and views feudal Japan. The framing device makes it apparent that we are watching the memories of an American Civil War veteran struggling to understand Japanese culture. The director has the difficult task of combining genre and cultural messages. How do you balance the need to show both Western and Eastern concepts of military virtue? How do you do this through the eyes of a character who has forgotten Classical virtue and is a product of Machiavellian prudential virtue?
The conflicts for Cruise’s character prevent the director from fully utilizing the Japanese cultural setting and so he abbreviates it. There are moments in the film when Cruise’s character is given advice from the Book of Five Rings a classic samurai text. The advice given him to him regarding sword fighting mirror advice from the 2nd chapter of the Hagakure (published in 1716 at a time when Japan’s Samurai class had experienced 100 years of relative peace), “There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.” The Last Samurai converts the advice into a physical representation during one particular duel between Cruise and a number of ruffians. The camera’s eye captures a perfect combination of single-minded concentration and void.
In the end though, these arguments regarding the merits of Kill Bill and The Last Samurai as examples of Western art encountering Japanese art may be unconvincing to the viewer who might believe that these films represent how we have come to “prefer sorrow over pain, suffering over peace.” To that viewer I can only offer the following.
My first example is one of hope. It is the moment in The Last Samurai when Katsumoto tells Nathan Algren that one could do worse than to spend one’s life looking for the perfect blossom. In this moment, we are told that the pursuit of beauty is a better profession than the pursuit of war.
The second example is one of caution, for it shows that man’s love of pain and suffering over peace isn’t a new one. It is a quote from the 10th chapter of the Hagakure, “If you cut a face lengthwise, urinate on it, and trample on it with straw sandals, it is said that the skin will come off. This was heard by the priest Gyojaku when he was in Kyoto. It is information to be treasured.”
If the first moment is merely a pretentious effort to seem profound, maybe we truly have abandoned the pursuit of a summum bonum. I dread a world in which it is “not the natural sweetness of living but the terrors of death [that] make us cling to life.”
I didn't mention in the article, because I didn't think of it at the time, while Hibbs is right that Kurosawa influenced American Film, let us not forget that Yojimbo was a Samurai version of Dashiell Hammett's story Red Harvest.
I Have Attempted to Create A Pop Culture Community
I received an exciting email a couple of days ago. It appears that with the new design format, The Truth Laid Bear has created a submission form for the creation of blog communities. As you know I have desired to create a community of exceptional magnitude for some time and I am hopeful that my request will be recognized. So far, I have include The Shelf, Pererro, Shouting Into The Wind, The Ziggurat of Doom, Cinerati, and Hungry Ghost as examples of blogs I desire to be a part of the online community.
Obviously, I won't limit membership to those sites, but those were the ones whose "users" I have contacted in the past about a community. I have used the tentative name "Pop, Pop, Pop Culture" as the name of the community.
Here's to wishing us luck.
Obviously, I won't limit membership to those sites, but those were the ones whose "users" I have contacted in the past about a community. I have used the tentative name "Pop, Pop, Pop Culture" as the name of the community.
Here's to wishing us luck.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Netflix and Friends
As you all may or may not know, I am a Netflix member. I am also a Netflix member in search of "friends."
If you are a Netflix customer, shoot me an email at the address in my profile and let's share our intimate movie choices. How far down your queue is Roll Bounce?
If you are a Netflix customer, shoot me an email at the address in my profile and let's share our intimate movie choices. How far down your queue is Roll Bounce?
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Happy Anniversary Jody!
Nine years ago today Jody Lindke and I were married in a lovely ceremony which was followed by an equally lovely, but totally breakneck, honeymoon. Since we were friends for a couple of years before we actually started "dating," it has been a swift nine years filled with adventure.
What about that breakneck honeymoon? What do you mean breakneck?
Okay, okay, I'll tell you.
I could go into greater detail, but you can only write so much during a fifteen minute break.
What about that breakneck honeymoon? What do you mean breakneck?
Okay, okay, I'll tell you.
Jody and I planned our wedding for a year, honeymoon and all. We were to get married at Arlington Gardens, Arlington Gardens Country Garden catered the wedding, a local nursery/small shop area that has a beautiful central area. Our cake was from Josef's conditerei and our honeymoon was going to be at Disneyworld.
But then Jody decided, rightly so, that she wanted to bring her childhood pet into our household. Our apartment let us have cats, but Oreo was a lovely 14 year old and 10 pound dog. Jody missed Oreo, who had lived in Nevada City with Jody's father, and Oreo missed Jody. Oreo was a wonderful addition to our lives, she was love personified, so finding a new place to live was not a burden. It did mean finding a place that allowed dogs and in a short timeline. We found a place and the necessary number of roommates (some friends), but given the short notice our friends couldn't pay the deposit up front. They were able to pay it rapidly after moving in, but not the day (May 1) that we were moving into the new place. This meant Jody and I had to put down the deposit, and this meant no Disneyworld. We still have yet to go to Disneyworld, but that is another story and the perfect gift for a future anniversary.
Having no place to go for our honeymoon turned out to be more of a blessing that a curse. Unbeknownst to us Jody's mother and step-father had arranged for us to spend a few days in the Napa Valley and at Fort Bragg. Both places that have significant emotional importance for Jody. It was a lovely gift. Fort Bragg, BTW, is where they filmed both Overboard (with Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn) and Kindergarten Cop (with der Governator), and a lovely Northern California Costal community. The only drawback was that the arrangements Jody's mom made started on Sunday and we were married on a Saturday. What to do, what to do?
Jody immediately booked us a room at a Hotel Casino up at Lake Tahoe (not the view from our hotel room). We had a wonderful night, watched a magic show, had an exquisite meal and prepared for Napa and Fort Bragg. Family members had also given us spending money for our honeymoon, in addition to the money they gave us for our Wedding. So we planned additional days away, in fact we decided to continue our journey up the coast and to finish our honeymoon in Seattle at the Seattle International Film festival. We drove the north along the California coast and continued to Washington and Seattle. It was a wonderful, and long, drive through redwood forests.
Of course, Jody and I, being who we are we watched a ton of movies along the way in preparation for the festival. We also watched Twister and inordinate number of times. We were gone for about two weeks in total and when we were done we had not a dime to our name (we still had Wedding checks for beginning our lives, but none of those were in the bank) and prayed that the gas in the car would get us back to Reno safely. It took us many days to drive to Seattle as we meandered along seaside roads, but we made it home in a single day. Along the way we learned some interesting facts of life.
- The rain in Washington is very hard to drive in.
- There are apparently no 7-11s in Oregon. A lot of convenience stores, but no 7-11s. We looked frantically, longing for Slurpees, but to no avail. We might have missed them, but it was eerie.
- You cannot pump your own gas in Oregon.
- Twister is a great road trip movie and pretending that you are in the film while driving on the highway is fun.
- Jody didn't really want to go to Law School, rather she wanted to make movies.
- Jody has the uncanny ability to make me smile, inside and out. She still does.
- Oregon rest stops serve free coffee.
- Most importantly, you can make a wonderfully romantic honeymoon from scratch and a spontaneous honeymoon is far more romantic, in my experience, that a prepackaged vacation.
I could go into greater detail, but you can only write so much during a fifteen minute break.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
FTP Annoyances
I have decided I want to host this blog over at cinerati.net, but alas my skillz as a hacker are severely lacking. I have managed to get the information up at ftp://ftp.cinerati.net/cinerati.net/public/index.html, but not at cinerati.net.
Whoever in our community can help me migrate our little blog over to cinerati.net will receive my undying gratitude. Oh, I have made it so we can all have cinerati.net email addresses as well. That was much easier to accomplish.
Whoever in our community can help me migrate our little blog over to cinerati.net will receive my undying gratitude. Oh, I have made it so we can all have cinerati.net email addresses as well. That was much easier to accomplish.
Monday, May 15, 2006
TV Upfronts
FYI, I'm blogging up a storm regarding the TV Upfronts over at my blog.
The upfronts are when the networks unveil their fall lineups to woo advertisers to buy ad spots for their shows. NBC released their schedule today and will be followed by ABC, Fox, CBS and CW.
The upfronts are when the networks unveil their fall lineups to woo advertisers to buy ad spots for their shows. NBC released their schedule today and will be followed by ABC, Fox, CBS and CW.
Sexual Predators Use the Mail, Congress Says, "Hey Let's Close Down the Post Office!"
Tuesday May 9, Congress introduced H.R. 5319 which will restrict access by minors and students to social networking sites on the internet. Sites such as Myspace, Friendster, Facebook, and Essembly would be affected by such legislation as would the potential for internet networking by young people. Such networking has been one of the most exciting events of the past few years, from a political observer standpoint.
What does this have to do with popular culture? Considering that mainstream entertainment sites have been integrating material on to the sites and using them to promote artists and television shows, a great deal. One of the moves Fox was developing was My Network Television which would use MySpace as a promotion and distribution vehicle. In other words, Fox was already viewing social networking sites as alternative/supplemental television networks.
The implications of the bill are large and the legislation is being rushed through Congress. This is one of those cases where a real world serious problem, pedophiles stalking children via the internet, might lead to questionable policy outcomes. I have yet to decide my thoughts on the regulation of social networking sites, but I do believe that laws rushed through Congress are often not the best thought out legal documents.
If you are upset by the legislation you can go to Mobilize.org and follow the steps they offer. If you are in favor of the legislation, you can follow their recommendations but with opposing content.
What are your thoughts?
Below is a copy of the legislation, the Thomas link (the official government link) is above.
What does this have to do with popular culture? Considering that mainstream entertainment sites have been integrating material on to the sites and using them to promote artists and television shows, a great deal. One of the moves Fox was developing was My Network Television which would use MySpace as a promotion and distribution vehicle. In other words, Fox was already viewing social networking sites as alternative/supplemental television networks.
UPDATE: Fox and Burger King are partnering to release episodes of 24, Pinks, and First Hand on MySpace.
The implications of the bill are large and the legislation is being rushed through Congress. This is one of those cases where a real world serious problem, pedophiles stalking children via the internet, might lead to questionable policy outcomes. I have yet to decide my thoughts on the regulation of social networking sites, but I do believe that laws rushed through Congress are often not the best thought out legal documents.
If you are upset by the legislation you can go to Mobilize.org and follow the steps they offer. If you are in favor of the legislation, you can follow their recommendations but with opposing content.
What are your thoughts?
Below is a copy of the legislation, the Thomas link (the official government link) is above.
Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006 (Introduced in House)
HR 5319 IH
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5319
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require recipients of universal service support for schools and libraries to protect minors from commercial social networking websites and chat rooms.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 9, 2006
Mr. FITZPATRICK of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. KIRK, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, and Mr. CASTLE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require recipients of universal service support for schools and libraries to protect minors from commercial social networking websites and chat rooms.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006'.
SEC. 2. CERTIFICATIONS TO INCLUDE PROTECTIONS AGAINST COMMERCIAL SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITES AND CHAT ROOMS.
(a) Certification by Schools- Section 254(h)(5)(B) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)(5)(B)) is amended by striking clause (i) and inserting the following:
`(i) is enforcing a policy of Internet safety for minors that includes monitoring the online activities of minors and the operation of a technology protection measure with respect to any of its computers with Internet access that--
`(I) protects against access through such computers to visual depictions that are--
`(aa) obscene;
`(bb) child pornography; or
`(cc) harmful to minors; and
`(II) prohibits access to a commercial social networking website or chat room through which minors--
`(aa) may easily access or be presented with obscene or indecent material;
`(bb) may easily be subject to unlawful sexual advances, unlawful requests for sexual favors, or repeated offensive comments of a sexual nature from adults; or
`(cc) may easily access other material that is harmful to minors; and'.
(b) Certification by Libraries- Section 254(h)(6)(B) of such Act (47 U.S.C. 254(h)(6)(B)) is amended by striking clause (i) and inserting the following:
`(i) is enforcing a policy of Internet safety that includes the operation of a technology protection measure with respect to any of its computers with Internet access that--
`(I) protects against access through such computers to visual depictions that are--
`(aa) obscene;
`(bb) child pornography; or
`(cc) harmful to minors; and
`(II) prohibits access by minors without parental authorization to a commercial social networking website or chat room through which minors--
`(aa) may easily access or be presented with obscene or indecent material;
`(bb) may easily be subject to unlawful sexual advances, unlawful requests for sexual favors, or repeated offensive comments of a sexual nature from adults; or
`(cc) may easily access other material that is harmful to minors; and'.
(c) Definitions- Section 254(h)(7) is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs:
`(J) COMMERCIAL SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITES- The term `commercial social networking website' means a commercially operated Internet website that--
`(i) allows users to create web pages or profiles that provide information about themselves and are available to other users; and
`(ii) offers a mechanism for communication with other users, such as a forum, chat room, email, or instant messenger.
`(K) CHAT ROOMS- The term `chat rooms' means Internet websites through which a number of users can communicate in real time via text and that allow messages to be almost immediately visible to all other users or to a designated segment of all other users.'.
(d) Disabling During Adult or Educational Use- Section 254(h)(5)(D) of such Act is amended--
(1) by inserting `OR EDUCATIONAL' after `DURING ADULT' in the heading; and
(2) by inserting before the period at the end the following: `or during use by an adult or by minors with adult supervision to enable access for educational purposes' .
(e) Establishment of Advisory Board- The Federal Communications Commission shall establish an advisory board, which shall consist of 8 members appointed by the Chairman of the Commission. Four of such members shall be representative of the private sector and four of such members shall be representative of the Commission, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Crimes against Children Research Center, school boards, and primary and secondary school educators, respectively. The Commission shall provide administrative and clerical support to the advisory board, but members of the board shall serve without compensation. The advisory board shall be terminated at the direction of the Chairman of the Commission.
(f) Publication- After consultation with the advisory board established under subsection (e) and appropriate agencies with experience regarding procedures and actions to prevent minors from being target by adults for predatory behavior, exploitation, or illegal actions, the Federal Communications Commission shall annually publish a list of commercial social networking websites and chat rooms that have been shown to allow sexual predators easy access to personal information of, and contact with, children.
SEC. 3. FTC CONSUMER ALERT ON INTERNET DANGERS TO CHILDREN.
(a) Information Regarding Child Predators and the Internet- Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Commission shall--
(1) issue a consumer alert regarding the potential dangers to children of Internet child predators , including the potential danger of commercial social networking websites and chat rooms through which personal information about child users of such websites may be accessed by child predators ; and
(2) establish a website with a distinctive Uniform Resource Locator to serve as a resource for information for parents, teachers and school administrators, and others regarding the potential dangers posed by the use of the Internet by children, including information about commercial social networking websites and chat rooms through which personal information about child users of such websites may be accessed by child predators .
(b) Commercial Social Networking Websites- For purposes of the requirements under subsection (a), the terms `commercial social networking website' and `chat room' have the meanings given such terms in section 254(h)(7) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(h)(7)), as amended by this Act.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Cinerati: The Origin.
Regular reader, JC Loophole, wanted to know how Cinerati got started and what our superpowers and secret origins are.
Let me turn the dial back on the wayback machine, step into the Tardis, sit in the Time Machine, and wiggle my fingers going "Wheeeooo, wheeeooo" like Wayne and Garth...
We find ourselves in March of 2004, blogs have been around for some time but have yet to "explode" as they will during the 2004 election cycle. Still Christian is far from cutting edge when he decides to band together with a group of friends to create an online community dedicated to the discussion of popular culture. Christian's plan is to have a pop culture version of National Review's Corner or The New Republic's &c. This website is to be a place where conversations occur, among friends, sometime disagreements will arise, but the conversations will be fun and engaging.
With this dream in mind Christian Johnson, calling himself Number One referring to the television series "The Prisoner," looks to his friends to find possible recruits. The first name that comes to mind is John (Jay) Ford. Not only does Jay share a name with one of the great Western film directors, he is also possessed of a vast database of film obscuria. From AIP to Oscar Award winning films, Jay has a vast knowledge of film. Jay was also Christian's writing partner of a Film Critic column in the Sparks Daily Tribune titled "Celluloid Say-So."
Next in Christian's Mind was Sean Mattie and his Wife Elizabeth. Sean and Elizabeth are an intelligent couple who like watching good movies and have strong opinions. Their more "cultured" tastes would serve as a balance for Christian's agressively "pro-low-art as high-art" philosophy. Christian is pretensiously anti-pretension. Sean and Elizabeth were a good, but shortlived addition to the blog.
Next in the line-up was Christian's good friend Rob. Christian and Rob went to "dealer school" in Reno where they both learned how to steal old ladie's Social Security checks for sleazy accountants and old school thugs. Rob and Christian had also played roleplaying games together and both are huge Saints fans. From Tecmo Bowl to Perfect Weapon to D&D, Rob and Christian have had some good times together experiencing pop culture. His inclusion was a natural.
Meanwhile...back at the Ranch.
Any blog would have to include my co-worker Fritz. Fritz has an affection for the movie Hackers and a love of Formula 1 racing. In addition, he is a fan of 2000 AD and would serve, in some capacity, to internationalize the popular culture references at Cinerati.
Christian's wife would be invited, as would his (and his wife's friend) Colleen would round out the "founders."
A quick rundown of the founders is:
Let me turn the dial back on the wayback machine, step into the Tardis, sit in the Time Machine, and wiggle my fingers going "Wheeeooo, wheeeooo" like Wayne and Garth...
We find ourselves in March of 2004, blogs have been around for some time but have yet to "explode" as they will during the 2004 election cycle. Still Christian is far from cutting edge when he decides to band together with a group of friends to create an online community dedicated to the discussion of popular culture. Christian's plan is to have a pop culture version of National Review's Corner or The New Republic's &c. This website is to be a place where conversations occur, among friends, sometime disagreements will arise, but the conversations will be fun and engaging.
With this dream in mind Christian Johnson, calling himself Number One referring to the television series "The Prisoner," looks to his friends to find possible recruits. The first name that comes to mind is John (Jay) Ford. Not only does Jay share a name with one of the great Western film directors, he is also possessed of a vast database of film obscuria. From AIP to Oscar Award winning films, Jay has a vast knowledge of film. Jay was also Christian's writing partner of a Film Critic column in the Sparks Daily Tribune titled "Celluloid Say-So."
Next in Christian's Mind was Sean Mattie and his Wife Elizabeth. Sean and Elizabeth are an intelligent couple who like watching good movies and have strong opinions. Their more "cultured" tastes would serve as a balance for Christian's agressively "pro-low-art as high-art" philosophy. Christian is pretensiously anti-pretension. Sean and Elizabeth were a good, but shortlived addition to the blog.
Next in the line-up was Christian's good friend Rob. Christian and Rob went to "dealer school" in Reno where they both learned how to steal old ladie's Social Security checks for sleazy accountants and old school thugs. Rob and Christian had also played roleplaying games together and both are huge Saints fans. From Tecmo Bowl to Perfect Weapon to D&D, Rob and Christian have had some good times together experiencing pop culture. His inclusion was a natural.
Meanwhile...back at the Ranch.
Any blog would have to include my co-worker Fritz. Fritz has an affection for the movie Hackers and a love of Formula 1 racing. In addition, he is a fan of 2000 AD and would serve, in some capacity, to internationalize the popular culture references at Cinerati.
Christian's wife would be invited, as would his (and his wife's friend) Colleen would round out the "founders."
A quick rundown of the founders is:
Real Name: Christian Johnson
Secret ID: Number One (Christian has since gone public)
Superpowers: Has a Flash Ring, a Green Lantern Ring, and a Phantom "The Ghost Who Walks" Ring. Superspeed, Super Will, and the ability to "Slam Evil."
Skills/Subject Areas: Christian has opinions about everything, even things he knows absolutely nothing about.
Real Name: Sean Mattie and Elizabeth Mattie
Secret IDs: Cinemattie and Elizabeth
Superpowers: Divine Miracles (Cinemattie) and Objectivist Obfuscation (Elizabeth)
Skills/Subject Areas: Movies and Comic Books.
Real Name: John Ford
Secret ID: (Lurker Only)
Superpowers: Ability to channel the Norse hero Hrafenkel gaining superstrength and a big axe. He also has the ability to look cool in Roy Orbison glasses.
Skills/Subject Areas: While Christian has opinions about everything, Jay actually knows some things.
Real Name: Fritz Hemker
Secret ID: Fritz (yes Liberal Avenger his name really is Fritz)
Superpowers: Lived in New York and liked it, Height (like Giant Man), Superstrength and the ability to crush the faces of evil doers with hurled Water Polo balls.
Real Name: Robert Barker
Secret ID: Rob
Superpowers: Ninja Skillset. Rob is the "Dark Knight" of the crew with Snake Eyes and a kick like a Storm's Shadow. He could kick Michael Dudikoff's butt.
Skills/Subject Areas: RPGs, Movies, 80s Television Shows and the Saints Football.
Underfut ("All she has is the power cosmic yet somehow...it is enough") and Colleen (Phoenix Force) wish to remain anonymous.
I Had Hoped For Questions and Answers...
but I guess I'll have to settle for Question and Answer. I only received on question for this week's Q&A, though I hope that number will increase in the future.
How come you never answer email?
-- David N. Scott
That's a good question, at least coming from David. The quick answer...for the same reason I TiVo things.
The slightly longer answer is that I really only have time to check email when I am at work and I have to prioritize emails. Fifteen minute breaks only give so much time for typing and if I want to rush out a blog post, well I have to push some things down the list.
An even longer explanation is that David's emails to me typically involve attending an event organized at his household. I have been to one of his events and it was a very good time, but two things conspire against my being able to give prompt responses to his invitiations. Well, technically one reason, but two subsets of the same reason. The first is that my wife's and I rarely see each other during the week. Unlike David and his wife Julie, my wife an I work in different towns, let alone different businesses. But that's Southern California for you. I work for a non-profit in Glendora and she works for a writer on the Paramount lot as you can see these aren't next door. But the distance is only a part of the reason I don't see my wife often. The second is that working in the entertainment industry requires a lot of hours. Her current job isn't as bad a William Morris, or when she was working on a small movie, but it is very time consuming. End result is...I make sure to get my daily hour and a half of conversation time with my wife. Sometimes this means staying up late, but it is always worth it.
What about the time I am waiting? I read at the local Starbucks, cook dinner, work on school papers, or watch baseball while reading.
The second reason, an extension of the first as I said, is that I don't know my wife's schedule on a regular basis. Sometimes I don't even know my own. Things can come up at a moments notice and alter our plans. I don't like to commit to events/fun if I don't know if I will be able to or not. Oh, and since weekends are the only time I get to see my wife for more than my joyous hour and a half, I have to see if she can/wants to attend event x with our limited time. She's a nice person and wants to take into consideration all of our possible activities. Thus I can't often answer til the last minute or sometimes not at all due to the whole lack of time thing.
How come you never answer email?
-- David N. Scott
That's a good question, at least coming from David. The quick answer...for the same reason I TiVo things.
The slightly longer answer is that I really only have time to check email when I am at work and I have to prioritize emails. Fifteen minute breaks only give so much time for typing and if I want to rush out a blog post, well I have to push some things down the list.
An even longer explanation is that David's emails to me typically involve attending an event organized at his household. I have been to one of his events and it was a very good time, but two things conspire against my being able to give prompt responses to his invitiations. Well, technically one reason, but two subsets of the same reason. The first is that my wife's and I rarely see each other during the week. Unlike David and his wife Julie, my wife an I work in different towns, let alone different businesses. But that's Southern California for you. I work for a non-profit in Glendora and she works for a writer on the Paramount lot as you can see these aren't next door. But the distance is only a part of the reason I don't see my wife often. The second is that working in the entertainment industry requires a lot of hours. Her current job isn't as bad a William Morris, or when she was working on a small movie, but it is very time consuming. End result is...I make sure to get my daily hour and a half of conversation time with my wife. Sometimes this means staying up late, but it is always worth it.
What about the time I am waiting? I read at the local Starbucks, cook dinner, work on school papers, or watch baseball while reading.
The second reason, an extension of the first as I said, is that I don't know my wife's schedule on a regular basis. Sometimes I don't even know my own. Things can come up at a moments notice and alter our plans. I don't like to commit to events/fun if I don't know if I will be able to or not. Oh, and since weekends are the only time I get to see my wife for more than my joyous hour and a half, I have to see if she can/wants to attend event x with our limited time. She's a nice person and wants to take into consideration all of our possible activities. Thus I can't often answer til the last minute or sometimes not at all due to the whole lack of time thing.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Why is (blank) on the Blogroll? (part 1)
That's a good question. From time to time, I am swamped with email from people wondering why I have selected the blogs I have for my blogroll. The short answer is that it's pretty random. A slightly longer answer is that these are either sites I read somtimes, or whose "users" (that's a Tron term) have visited/linked out site. Some I read for fun, some I read because they are filled with useful advice (hopefully the advice is as useful as that in this Strong Bad Email about Death Metal, some just because.
The longest answer follows:
Okay, that's it for now. Jeesh.
The longest answer follows:
A Knight's Blog (which I can't get to load today) is on there because it is a medievalist and modern politics blog written by a Dragonlance fan.
Advice Goddess is the blog of Amy Alkon a syndicated advice columnist who Fritz likes to read in the way people who like to yell at the radio listen to talk radio. Amy has spoken at some events I have organized and has prompted some interesting discussions among the students I work with.
Annika's Journal -- I have no idea. It might not be linked tommorrow.
Barone Blog -- Michael Barone's blog, if you can call what is essentially an online opinion column by a Mainstream Media Outlet a blog, especially when it is attached to their formal website.
Blogging LA -- I live in Los Angeles. Actually, I used to live in Los Angeles, now I live in Glendale.
Cathy's World -- If I only linked one other blog this would be it. I read it as much for the comments as the actual posts, maybe even more for the comments.
Da Goddess is there because she is a blogcritics editor and because, at one time, she linked us. Now that she doesn't link us...
Daily Kos -- because it's Daily "I hate Peter Beinart but isn't it cool he recommended my book" Kos.
Daly Thoughts linked us but appear dead in the water.
Day by Day is an online cartoon that is conservative in nature and includes a blog-esque section.
Delicious! Delicious! is my struggling, and hopeful, screenwriter friend Caryn's food blog. She was a classmate of my wife's at USC.
DISContent -- because he is a mad pulp bastard who writes about, and for, the direct to DVD industry and where the film industry is headed.
Fruits and Votes is a very well written analytical blog by a San Diego Professor. His comments on current politics might make him seem liberal, but his ideas for election reform models show a more complete picture. Oh, and he writes about fruits I have never heard of before.
Gaze Theory -- SoCal blogger who used to link us, but who has probably written us off due to geekitude.
Got Medieval is a Medievalist blogger who likes to look at uses of the word medieval in mass culture and then pick them apart.
Okay, that's it for now. Jeesh.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
First Time Friday Q&A Solicitation
David Scott, over at Pererro, has a neat tradition going on over at his website. Actually, I think it's his wife who has the tradition, but I like it and I want to adopt it.
So, for the first time ever (dum-dum-duuuum) I will take questions from all comers that I will answer on Friday. You can email the questions to me at imjaygatz at aol.com. You can ask me any question and I will try to respond.
Thanks again.
So, for the first time ever (dum-dum-duuuum) I will take questions from all comers that I will answer on Friday. You can email the questions to me at imjaygatz at aol.com. You can ask me any question and I will try to respond.
Thanks again.
Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fhtagn! Movie Based on Lovecraft's Writing Has Trailer on Internet...Madness Ensues.
There have been many movies based on the writings of Howard Philips Lovecraft, most of them lacking the truly eerie qualities of Lovecraft's weird tales. In fact, horror films and science fiction films with little or nothing to do with Lovecraft have often done better at representing the themes Lovecraft addresses in his writings.
Lovecraft fans have had to endure:
Die, Monster, Die -- a theatrical version of Colour Out of Space.
The Dunwich Horror -- Roger Corman AIP Production.
Reanimator -- A cult classic, and fun sure, but not exactly horrifying.
The Unnamable -- The less said the better.
From Beyond -- I wish it had stayed there.
Sure there are many more, but I have seen the films above and they have played their little games with my psyche. Surely nothing could be as Unspeakable as Unnamable
Now Lovecraft fans have Cthulhu. All I have to say is that my first glance at the trailer made me think the film might be enjoyable, but then I saw the madness bringing work of the Old Ones had indeed infected this film. For the film's cast includes Tori Spelling. If that doesn't require a Sanity Check...nothing does.
Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fhtagn!
Lovecraft fans have had to endure:
Die, Monster, Die -- a theatrical version of Colour Out of Space.
The Dunwich Horror -- Roger Corman AIP Production.
Reanimator -- A cult classic, and fun sure, but not exactly horrifying.
The Unnamable -- The less said the better.
From Beyond -- I wish it had stayed there.
Sure there are many more, but I have seen the films above and they have played their little games with my psyche. Surely nothing could be as Unspeakable as Unnamable
Now Lovecraft fans have Cthulhu. All I have to say is that my first glance at the trailer made me think the film might be enjoyable, but then I saw the madness bringing work of the Old Ones had indeed infected this film. For the film's cast includes Tori Spelling. If that doesn't require a Sanity Check...nothing does.
Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fhtagn!
The Adventures of Doctor McNinja
It has often been asked whether Pirates were cooler than Ninjas (even on Bones, but we now know that we no longer have to ask which is cooler Doctors or Ninjas. That is because we can read the Adventures of Doctor McNinja!
Who knew?
Who knew?
Ba-bada-bahhh, bup-badda-bah, whooom-whooom: Knight Rider Coming to the Big Screen
According to Movies Online the Weinstein brothers have acquired the rights to produce a big screen version of the early 80s television show Knight Rider.
While there has been a trend of late to turn 70s and 80s shows into films, the current trend has been to make them into spoofs of the original shows. While I enjoyed Starsky and Hutch by the time Dukes of Hazzard came out the spoofing had gone too far. Sure the car chase in Dukes is great, but about 1/3 the movie was unwatchable. I'll leave it to you to decide which 2/3 were watchable. I hope the trend of spoofs doesn't continue with Knight Rider or the eventual Six Million Dollar Man. I know the ideas behind the film are "high concept." Knight Rider was like the Fugitive meets Magnum PI, but with a talking car, and the Bionic Man was superspy with bionic limbs. I know that the shows seem silly by modern standards of production. I know all that.
None of that means that the movies can't be played "straight" or that they may even be better for it.
While there has been a trend of late to turn 70s and 80s shows into films, the current trend has been to make them into spoofs of the original shows. While I enjoyed Starsky and Hutch by the time Dukes of Hazzard came out the spoofing had gone too far. Sure the car chase in Dukes is great, but about 1/3 the movie was unwatchable. I'll leave it to you to decide which 2/3 were watchable. I hope the trend of spoofs doesn't continue with Knight Rider or the eventual Six Million Dollar Man. I know the ideas behind the film are "high concept." Knight Rider was like the Fugitive meets Magnum PI, but with a talking car, and the Bionic Man was superspy with bionic limbs. I know that the shows seem silly by modern standards of production. I know all that.
None of that means that the movies can't be played "straight" or that they may even be better for it.
Trying to Figure Out What to Write Today
While I am waiting for some muse to beam thoughts into my head...I believe I have discovered David Chute's favorite game. David C., as you might recall, hinted that he may not actually have a favorite game. Hogwash!
David C.'s favorite game is Scene It!: The Shaw Brothers Edition. His favorite "game" within the game is when you have to unscramble PinYin sayings and translate them into ideomatic English. He does have the caveat that you must buy the subtitled and not dubbed version of the game. Five Deadly Venoms with wierd New Zealand accents is a little goofy, but when seen in Cantonese/Mandarin audiences can pay attention to the story.
David C.'s favorite game is Scene It!: The Shaw Brothers Edition. His favorite "game" within the game is when you have to unscramble PinYin sayings and translate them into ideomatic English. He does have the caveat that you must buy the subtitled and not dubbed version of the game. Five Deadly Venoms with wierd New Zealand accents is a little goofy, but when seen in Cantonese/Mandarin audiences can pay attention to the story.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Warner Bros. to P2P Users: Viva la Revolucion!
According to DISContent and the Wall Street Journal, Warner has announced that it will sell and rent television shows and movies using BitTorrent technology.
To see how Warner looks at the situation, let's have them speak for themselves. According to the WSJ:
To see how Warner looks at the situation, let's have them speak for themselves. According to the WSJ:
"We've always known peer-to-peer technology represents a huge opportunity for us," said Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Bros.' home entertainment group. "If we can convert 5%, 10%, 15% of those [illegal peer-to-peer] users to become legitimate users of our product, it can have a significant impact on our industry and Warner Bros."
Prices haven't yet been determined, but they could be less than physical DVDs. "We're working with a user base that is accustomed to not paying for content," said Ashwin Navin, president and co-founder of BitTorrent, who says TV shows might sell for as little as $1.
World of $$$? -- Legendary Pictures to Make World of Warcraft Film
According to Variety Magazine, the Warner affiliated production company Legendary Pictures has purchased the rights to produce a film based on the popular World of Warcraft massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG).
Legendary Pictures is the production company responsible for last Summer's Batman Begins and this Summer's Superman Returns.
No word whether the film will be live action or animated, but one thing is certain...with over 6 million subscribers worldwide paying $14.99 a month, the expected take both in b.o. and dvd sales is extraordinary.
The film will also provide ample opportunity for crossover merchandizing. WoW has already garnered a boardgame and collectible card game and one can only imagine that "when" (not if) special items are offered "in game" to players who see the movie opening weekend the opening weekend will be huge. Combine this with "bonus features" on the DVD and the money will be pouring in. Given the average lifespan of an MMORPG, even one as good as WoW, the timing on the film is perfect.
Monday, May 08, 2006
Why I Love Savage Worlds
Everybody has a favorite game. For some it is Scrabble, others Risk, for Curt Schilling it is Advanced Squad Leader (he loved the game so much he bought the publishing rights). As a person who love games, period, I don't judge whether your favorite game is "mainstream" or "avant-garde." All I care about is whether or not you are willing to hang out, chat, and play a game of (insert game here) some time. That's not true of a lot of gamers, particularly roleplaying gamers.
It is bad enough in the game-playing industry (I was going to say gaming, but since I worked in a casino once the term has specific meaning for me), on the consumer side, we have armed camps around game types. All rpg-ers know that larpers are freaky goths with no life. All ccgers know that rpgers are 300lb. bearded freaks who live in their parent's basement. All miniature gamers know that ccgers are fad of the moment players with no sense of commitment of duty to the "hobby." The list could go on forever, but needless to say the games hobby has its many niches and few are the players who overlap in more than one area. As for me, I have played some in all the areas, but I have my preferences and prefer straight improv theater to larping. Though I do have friends who larp like crazy.
Anyway, one of my favorite gaming milieu is that of the roleplaying game. Like game-playing in general, there are often armed camps in the roleplaying "sector." But I will save a discussion of where the armed camps are aligned for another time, for the present let me merely state that like games in general, when it come to role playing games I have played/read/owned my share. Also, as above, I am a crossover player. There are few game systems I think aren't worth the time of day, though Alma Mater probably makes the list, I like and own a lot of RPGs. The one I play most often is Dungeons and Dragons, for those who lived through the 80s it is the "Devil's Game." Just ask Tipper Gore. But the one that inspires me most and, in my opinion, represents the best of the hobby with regard to enthusiasm and sheer focus on fun is Savage Worlds.
Savage Worlds is roleplaying which attempts to be "Fast, Furious, and Fun!" It also attempts to be a simple to learn, simple to play game which can cover any genre. Not a small task, but one that I think the game does admirably. The game is the brainchild of Shane Lacy Hensley, but it is really the culmination of an interesting developmental journey.
The following are my observations and not the official story.
In the early 90s roleplaying had a quick surge in sales, not as big as the early 80s but substantial. The surge was primarily due to the emergence of some new games which captured the roleplayer/and new player's imagination. I call this era the Shadowrun/Vampire revolution because these two games brought so many new gamers to the hobby that they are almost as important event in gaming as the creation of D&D. Vampire brought in more gamers, but Shadowrun shouldn't be left out of the equation because it did something wonderful it was one of the first successful Hybrid RPGs. Shadowrun combined Fantasy and Cyberpunk, not enough Punk for Chris Pramas (but what exactly punk is would be a wonderful discussion to have with Chris) but Cyberpunk none-the-less. It had a world of elves, dragons, hackers, and machine guns. Vampire, in addition to having great artwork and a subject that Goths adore, contained advice for a gaming style which focused on narrative rather than event based stories. It wasn't the first game to do this, but along with the West End Games Star Wars it was one of the best.
So the early 90s saw a revolution containing both hybrid games and games that focused on narrative interaction. The best, in my opinion, of the games to merge these two new-ish gaming ideas was Deadlands. Deadlands combined horror and the Old West with an innovative game system designed by Greg Gorden (who also designed the flexible DC Heroes System) which captured the genre perfectly. Imagine playing an Old West rpg with dice, playing cards, and poker chips, that's how well it captured the genre. Deadlands had "Dime Novels" which contained serialized adventures with a short story and then an adventure along the lines of the story. The game was furious and fun, but it wasn't very fast. Gameplay could bog down from time to time. But the system was extremely flexible, Matt Forbeck adapted it for Brave New World a Dark Future Dystopian Superhero RPG (roleplaying in a Fascist America), showing that the game system was flexible. It could also be made faster, which Hensley and crew accomplished with the Great Rail Wars Miniatures game, a miniature skirmish game based on Deadlands. If it was Brave New World that showed that the Deadlands system was multi-genre capable, it was Great Rail Wars which streamlined the Deadlands system to be fast.
By 2000, sales in RPGs had dropped down to extremely low levels. The biggest rpg company had almost ceased to exist, was saved by a collectible card game company, and was finally purchased by Hasbro (who make consistent, but not awe-inspiring money from D&D). But that changed when the Third Edition of D&D was released in the Fall of 2000. Sales jumped, but the large boost to the industry was temporary. By 2002, players were already grumbling about the impending release of Edition 3.5 and how Habro was ruining the industry and how there were too many d20 products by non-Hasbro companies that were awful. It was around this point that Hensley noticed another new niche to be developed, Gamers with little time. Those of us who had been able to play all-nighters in college were married, had jobs, and often children. They couldn't play in crazy weeklong sessions. They needed a quick and easy game, with guaranteed quality production values. So he released Savage Worlds a quick and easy system which has a fast a loose style that lends itself to a casual style of gameplay. It is also a game which has the kind of excitement, on the part of the creators, that so many games are lacking today. Oh, and the prices are pretty cheap compared to the marketplace. Shane and crew wanted to minimize the "necessary" purchase to one book and possibly one setting book to play. Combine this with their company's support of the pdf revolution and you have an inspiring company.
I love Savage Worlds because it loves the hobby. I also love Savage Worlds because its settings are still wonderful examples of genre hybrid, but that will be the focus of tommorrow's post.
It is bad enough in the game-playing industry (I was going to say gaming, but since I worked in a casino once the term has specific meaning for me), on the consumer side, we have armed camps around game types. All rpg-ers know that larpers are freaky goths with no life. All ccgers know that rpgers are 300lb. bearded freaks who live in their parent's basement. All miniature gamers know that ccgers are fad of the moment players with no sense of commitment of duty to the "hobby." The list could go on forever, but needless to say the games hobby has its many niches and few are the players who overlap in more than one area. As for me, I have played some in all the areas, but I have my preferences and prefer straight improv theater to larping. Though I do have friends who larp like crazy.
Anyway, one of my favorite gaming milieu is that of the roleplaying game. Like game-playing in general, there are often armed camps in the roleplaying "sector." But I will save a discussion of where the armed camps are aligned for another time, for the present let me merely state that like games in general, when it come to role playing games I have played/read/owned my share. Also, as above, I am a crossover player. There are few game systems I think aren't worth the time of day, though Alma Mater probably makes the list, I like and own a lot of RPGs. The one I play most often is Dungeons and Dragons, for those who lived through the 80s it is the "Devil's Game." Just ask Tipper Gore. But the one that inspires me most and, in my opinion, represents the best of the hobby with regard to enthusiasm and sheer focus on fun is Savage Worlds.
Savage Worlds is roleplaying which attempts to be "Fast, Furious, and Fun!" It also attempts to be a simple to learn, simple to play game which can cover any genre. Not a small task, but one that I think the game does admirably. The game is the brainchild of Shane Lacy Hensley, but it is really the culmination of an interesting developmental journey.
The following are my observations and not the official story.
In the early 90s roleplaying had a quick surge in sales, not as big as the early 80s but substantial. The surge was primarily due to the emergence of some new games which captured the roleplayer/and new player's imagination. I call this era the Shadowrun/Vampire revolution because these two games brought so many new gamers to the hobby that they are almost as important event in gaming as the creation of D&D. Vampire brought in more gamers, but Shadowrun shouldn't be left out of the equation because it did something wonderful it was one of the first successful Hybrid RPGs. Shadowrun combined Fantasy and Cyberpunk, not enough Punk for Chris Pramas (but what exactly punk is would be a wonderful discussion to have with Chris) but Cyberpunk none-the-less. It had a world of elves, dragons, hackers, and machine guns. Vampire, in addition to having great artwork and a subject that Goths adore, contained advice for a gaming style which focused on narrative rather than event based stories. It wasn't the first game to do this, but along with the West End Games Star Wars it was one of the best.
So the early 90s saw a revolution containing both hybrid games and games that focused on narrative interaction. The best, in my opinion, of the games to merge these two new-ish gaming ideas was Deadlands. Deadlands combined horror and the Old West with an innovative game system designed by Greg Gorden (who also designed the flexible DC Heroes System) which captured the genre perfectly. Imagine playing an Old West rpg with dice, playing cards, and poker chips, that's how well it captured the genre. Deadlands had "Dime Novels" which contained serialized adventures with a short story and then an adventure along the lines of the story. The game was furious and fun, but it wasn't very fast. Gameplay could bog down from time to time. But the system was extremely flexible, Matt Forbeck adapted it for Brave New World a Dark Future Dystopian Superhero RPG (roleplaying in a Fascist America), showing that the game system was flexible. It could also be made faster, which Hensley and crew accomplished with the Great Rail Wars Miniatures game, a miniature skirmish game based on Deadlands. If it was Brave New World that showed that the Deadlands system was multi-genre capable, it was Great Rail Wars which streamlined the Deadlands system to be fast.
By 2000, sales in RPGs had dropped down to extremely low levels. The biggest rpg company had almost ceased to exist, was saved by a collectible card game company, and was finally purchased by Hasbro (who make consistent, but not awe-inspiring money from D&D). But that changed when the Third Edition of D&D was released in the Fall of 2000. Sales jumped, but the large boost to the industry was temporary. By 2002, players were already grumbling about the impending release of Edition 3.5 and how Habro was ruining the industry and how there were too many d20 products by non-Hasbro companies that were awful. It was around this point that Hensley noticed another new niche to be developed, Gamers with little time. Those of us who had been able to play all-nighters in college were married, had jobs, and often children. They couldn't play in crazy weeklong sessions. They needed a quick and easy game, with guaranteed quality production values. So he released Savage Worlds a quick and easy system which has a fast a loose style that lends itself to a casual style of gameplay. It is also a game which has the kind of excitement, on the part of the creators, that so many games are lacking today. Oh, and the prices are pretty cheap compared to the marketplace. Shane and crew wanted to minimize the "necessary" purchase to one book and possibly one setting book to play. Combine this with their company's support of the pdf revolution and you have an inspiring company.
I love Savage Worlds because it loves the hobby. I also love Savage Worlds because its settings are still wonderful examples of genre hybrid, but that will be the focus of tommorrow's post.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Women and Gaming Event at UCLA May 8 and 9
Advisory for Monday, May 8, and Tuesday, May 9
UCLA Hosts Workshop and Conference on Women and Gaming
WHAT:
UCLA will be hosting two events, a workshop, “Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat: New Perspectives on Gender, Games and Computing,” and a conference, “Girls ’n’ Games,” focused on women’s participation in game design and play, with speakers from Europe, Asia and North America.
WHO:
· Yasmin Kafai, associate professor, UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies.
· Jessica Tams, vice president for product planning, SkillJam Technologies.
· Henry Jenkins, professor, comparative studies, MIT.
· Brenda Laurel, chair, Graduate Media Design Program, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, Calif.
· Morgan Romine, founder, The Frag Dolls, Ubisoft’s all-girl gaming team.
· Daniel James, CEO, Three Rings.
· T.L. Taylor, associate professor, IT University, Copenhagen, Denmark.
· Mimi Ito, Annenberg fellow, University of Southern California.
WHEN:
“Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat” workshop: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday, May 8.
“Girls ’n’ Games” conference: 2:30–6 p.m., Tuesday, May 9.
WHERE:
“Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat” workshop: 3340 Moore Hall, UCLA.
“Girls ’n’ Games” conference: Suite 104, EDA Kinross Building, 11000 Kinross Blvd. This event will be streamed live at http://www.eda.ucla.edu.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Shaena Engle, (310) 206-5951, engle@gseis.
PARKING:
On Monday, park in Structure 2, off Hilgard Avenue. Pick up a parking pass at the information kiosk for the NSF workshop.
On Tuesday, park in Lot 36, off Gayley Avenue. Pick up a parking pass at the Westwood information kiosk for the “Girls ’n’ Games” conference.
-UCLA-
I really wish I could attend this event, but the fates have conspired against me. Thanks to David Chute for the information, maybe I can watch the second day as streaming video.
Roleplaying in a More Excited Time...
The good folks over at Pelgrane Press (designers of the very good Dying Earth RPG) asked a number of RPG game designers what some of their favorite "lesser known" games were. Actually, being British, they asked what the designer's "favourite" lesser known games were, but that is beside the point. The answers varied and included a great deal of the history of the roleplaying industry, with games like Amber and TSR's Saga System being mentioned by a few. Matt Forbeck's answer, Adventure!, by White Wolf, almost took over the topic of today's article, but that will have to wait until Monday. Instead, I am going to focus on one of the unifying themes of their answers, and bring up some of my thoughts regarding Burgandy Skies comments about "Young Urban Gamers."
You see, all of the game designers were talking about games they thought were FUN. Sometimes it was the mechanics that made the game fun, sometimes it was the setting, and sometimes (and I really have to believe this with the positive comments regarding Amber and Nobilis) it was about the person who was Game Mastering the game. Burgandy, in her comments regarding the overwhelming focus on the Urban in modern D&D, was hinting that the focus on the urban in the modern d20 game was alienating her (and possibly others) and had repercussions into her enjoyment of the game. In other words, "Uncle Monte's" Ptolus, and its influence on designers, has made D&D LESS FUN for her.
I agree with many of her comments about the need for more Wilderness based, or at least the use of Wilderness, in published materials. When you have core classes like the Ranger and Druid who are Wilderness naturals, it seems odd that it would be a neglected adventure type. Personally I think there are two factors combining which are behind the relative lack of Wilderness vs. Urban adventures. There is also a general trend that is affecting Burgandy's fun, but that will be discussed below.
The first factor is that Wilderness adventures are hard to write and provide a good narrative structure. It is no accident that the first Dungeons and Dragons adventures took place primarily in "dungeons." Going room to room killing monsters may not be much of a narrative, but at minimum it allows for some sort of narrative control by the author (GMs can improvise, adventure authors cannot). If you think about even such well written adventures as White Plume Mountain, it is still a dungeon crawl with little focus on getting to, or back from, the dungeon. In fact, the first "White Box" of dungeons and dragons recommended that you buy an Avalon Hill game called Outdoor Survival to use as your Wilderness rules. The Basic Set focused on dungeon adventure and wilderness rules were added in the Expert Set. The first adventure I can think of, which came with my Basic Set, which incorporated wilderness into the narrative was Keep on the Borderlands even then the wilderness sections were secondary to the very large "dungeon." The first module included with Basic Sets was In Search of the Unknown. It was difficult for beginners to use and was entirely dungeon based. As I said, the Expert Set included Wilderness rules and it also included the first real Wilderness adventure. The clumsy, but exciting in an Edgar Rice Burroughs way (don't get me started on the Burroughs/Mystara connection), Isle of Dread. Isle of Dread fully used the Expert Set's wilderness adventure rules, but highlights the narrative structure problem of wilderness adventures.
The narrative problem was largely addressed in the late 80s/early 90s when writers were finally becoming skilled at the "event based," rather than "site based," adventure style. Site based adventures can be fun, especially ones like Ravenloft (which actually a fusion of event based and site based adventures), but are easier for fledgling Gamemasters because the site helps form the structure. Event based adventures require flowcharts and timelines, but they make wilderness adventures far more plausible.
The second contributor to the growing urbanization of fantasy adventures is the growing urbanization of Fantasy writing. Authors like Michael Moorcock, in his Wizardry and Wild Romance, argue against the bucolic idealization of fantasy like Lord of the Rings. Moorcock argues that "important" fantasy is Urban fantasy. He doesn't necessarily mean that the adventures are city-based, but he does mean that they are anti-idealized. All the talk of happy elves, etc., isn't what makes a compelling tale for Moorcock and his opinions of Lord of the Rings are contrarian to be sure. Moorcock, and I would argue Monte Cook and Sean Reynolds, embraces the avant-garde, even gothic-punk, feel of games like Vampire the Masquerade and bring such sentiments to the game table. Like with Moorcock, there is a kind of elitism on behalf of writers like Cook and Reynolds, of course in all these cases the elitism is backed with a heavy dose of talent. Who but Monte Cook, could release "his own" Player's Handbook? Cook is a figure who looms large in gaming, and Planescape and 3rd edition are testiments to his talents, but like many luminaries his shadow may be getting too big. In a way, the City -- like the dungeon -- is an easy way to substitute environment for structure. The city is like a living dungeon where some "monsters" cannot be freely killed. I like Urban adventures, I think of most roleplaying as a form of superheroes vs. supervillains even my fantasy, but I can see the value in Wilderness adventures as well. I also see a need for more discussion/implementation of them. I am not alone, Burgandy Skies isn't alone either, in fact I would argue that "Home Under the Range" in Dungeon 134 is a wonderful wilderness adventure. Even if it takes place underground.
More important than whether adventures are wilderness, dungeon, or urban based is a trend I see in a lot of gaming today. It is the sense of elitism I get from both designers and players. Not all, to be sure, but some. When I read modern "mainstream" roleplaying books, I don't feel like I am being introduced into something fun. It is more like I am being handed a bland tome, but told that "imporatant" adventures/products have been written. Gaming has always been geeky, but now it is geeky and happy with its niche. Gone is the evangelization aspect of the hobby, in is the domination of the niche. There are designers who break the mold for sure, Matt Forbeck is working mainstream games that add elements of the roleplay hobbie, but the fact that Heroscape and D&D in no way share staff/input is ridiculous and indicative of the problem.
When I first heard about D&D I thought it might be fun. The game was about fantasy, like the Lord of the Rings, Narnia, or Greek Mythology. But like most people I wasn't sure what roleplaying was or how it could be fun. That is until I read the foreward to the Basic Set:
Earlier works had similar tones:
"Adults 12 years and up?!" Imagine how excited I was to read those words at 12. I was an adult! Even the very first edition of the rules werre filled with excitement. As cocky as Gary Gygax often sounded, he always oozed excitement and you could feel how much the creators enjoyed their new creation, the roleplaying game.
But the modern rules are often not as evocative. Minus the ten words of encouragement on the back of the book, the first words a new player encountered when reading the Third Edition Player's Handbook were:
Okay, "That's not fair," you shout, "what about the introduction?" Well, unlike the other editions that came before the introduction, but since you asked.
Pretty bland. To be fair, there is a list of posible things that can happen to your character that is printed below that paragraph, but the list lacks the enthusiasm and wonder that the first contained. The new rules were written by people for whom role-playing was old hat, for people who had played before, and with an emphasis on how things needed to be "updated." The rules themselves are an improvement, to be sure, but the tone and the execution of the material lacks the magic of the earlier, more purple, prose. Roleplaying has become jaded and methodical and not excited and evangelical.
What about Monte Cook's "Player's Handbook?"
The whole, my rules are better than your rules sentiment pours from the words. There is little to excite the reader, rather the focus is on what sets his rules apart and an existential mission statement. No evocative purple prose, not thrilling stories to share, just "this is what I do and this is new, oh and better." Not all games today lack the old charm and excitement, Shane Hensley's Savage Worlds has it in spades, as do other games, but the flagship and the engineers who built the new flagship don't have that inner fire. They lack the impulse or capability to evangelize, they assume their high status is sufficient and that turns off people like Burgandy Skies.
So, I'll leave you with the first words a reader of Savage Worlds encounters:
Hmm...maybe I want to play these games after all.
You see, all of the game designers were talking about games they thought were FUN. Sometimes it was the mechanics that made the game fun, sometimes it was the setting, and sometimes (and I really have to believe this with the positive comments regarding Amber and Nobilis) it was about the person who was Game Mastering the game. Burgandy, in her comments regarding the overwhelming focus on the Urban in modern D&D, was hinting that the focus on the urban in the modern d20 game was alienating her (and possibly others) and had repercussions into her enjoyment of the game. In other words, "Uncle Monte's" Ptolus, and its influence on designers, has made D&D LESS FUN for her.
I agree with many of her comments about the need for more Wilderness based, or at least the use of Wilderness, in published materials. When you have core classes like the Ranger and Druid who are Wilderness naturals, it seems odd that it would be a neglected adventure type. Personally I think there are two factors combining which are behind the relative lack of Wilderness vs. Urban adventures. There is also a general trend that is affecting Burgandy's fun, but that will be discussed below.
The first factor is that Wilderness adventures are hard to write and provide a good narrative structure. It is no accident that the first Dungeons and Dragons adventures took place primarily in "dungeons." Going room to room killing monsters may not be much of a narrative, but at minimum it allows for some sort of narrative control by the author (GMs can improvise, adventure authors cannot). If you think about even such well written adventures as White Plume Mountain, it is still a dungeon crawl with little focus on getting to, or back from, the dungeon. In fact, the first "White Box" of dungeons and dragons recommended that you buy an Avalon Hill game called Outdoor Survival to use as your Wilderness rules. The Basic Set focused on dungeon adventure and wilderness rules were added in the Expert Set. The first adventure I can think of, which came with my Basic Set, which incorporated wilderness into the narrative was Keep on the Borderlands even then the wilderness sections were secondary to the very large "dungeon." The first module included with Basic Sets was In Search of the Unknown. It was difficult for beginners to use and was entirely dungeon based. As I said, the Expert Set included Wilderness rules and it also included the first real Wilderness adventure. The clumsy, but exciting in an Edgar Rice Burroughs way (don't get me started on the Burroughs/Mystara connection), Isle of Dread. Isle of Dread fully used the Expert Set's wilderness adventure rules, but highlights the narrative structure problem of wilderness adventures.
The narrative problem was largely addressed in the late 80s/early 90s when writers were finally becoming skilled at the "event based," rather than "site based," adventure style. Site based adventures can be fun, especially ones like Ravenloft (which actually a fusion of event based and site based adventures), but are easier for fledgling Gamemasters because the site helps form the structure. Event based adventures require flowcharts and timelines, but they make wilderness adventures far more plausible.
The second contributor to the growing urbanization of fantasy adventures is the growing urbanization of Fantasy writing. Authors like Michael Moorcock, in his Wizardry and Wild Romance
, argue against the bucolic idealization of fantasy like Lord of the Rings. Moorcock argues that "important" fantasy is Urban fantasy. He doesn't necessarily mean that the adventures are city-based, but he does mean that they are anti-idealized. All the talk of happy elves, etc., isn't what makes a compelling tale for Moorcock and his opinions of Lord of the Rings are contrarian to be sure. Moorcock, and I would argue Monte Cook and Sean Reynolds, embraces the avant-garde, even gothic-punk, feel of games like Vampire the Masquerade and bring such sentiments to the game table. Like with Moorcock, there is a kind of elitism on behalf of writers like Cook and Reynolds, of course in all these cases the elitism is backed with a heavy dose of talent. Who but Monte Cook, could release "his own" Player's Handbook? Cook is a figure who looms large in gaming, and Planescape and 3rd edition are testiments to his talents, but like many luminaries his shadow may be getting too big. In a way, the City -- like the dungeon -- is an easy way to substitute environment for structure. The city is like a living dungeon where some "monsters" cannot be freely killed. I like Urban adventures, I think of most roleplaying as a form of superheroes vs. supervillains even my fantasy, but I can see the value in Wilderness adventures as well. I also see a need for more discussion/implementation of them. I am not alone, Burgandy Skies isn't alone either, in fact I would argue that "Home Under the Range" in Dungeon 134 is a wonderful wilderness adventure. Even if it takes place underground.More important than whether adventures are wilderness, dungeon, or urban based is a trend I see in a lot of gaming today. It is the sense of elitism I get from both designers and players. Not all, to be sure, but some. When I read modern "mainstream" roleplaying books, I don't feel like I am being introduced into something fun. It is more like I am being handed a bland tome, but told that "imporatant" adventures/products have been written. Gaming has always been geeky, but now it is geeky and happy with its niche. Gone is the evangelization aspect of the hobby, in is the domination of the niche. There are designers who break the mold for sure, Matt Forbeck is working mainstream games that add elements of the roleplay hobbie, but the fact that Heroscape and D&D in no way share staff/input is ridiculous and indicative of the problem.
When I first heard about D&D I thought it might be fun. The game was about fantasy, like the Lord of the Rings, Narnia, or Greek Mythology. But like most people I wasn't sure what roleplaying was or how it could be fun. That is until I read the foreward to the Basic Set:
I was busy recuing the captured maiden when the dragon showed up. Fifty feet of scaled terror glared down at us with smoldering red eyes. Tendrils of smoke drifted out from between fangs larger than daggers. The dragon blocked the only exit from the cave.
Sometimes I forget that D&D Fantasy Adventure Game is a game and not a novel I'm reading or a movie I'm watching. The original D&D rules are a classic. They gave the first gaming system for fantasy roleplaying and, in my opinion, are still the best set of rules on the market.
Earlier works had similar tones:
Dungeons and Dragons is a fantastic, exciting, and imaginative game of roleplaying for adults 12 years and up. Each player creates a character or characters who may be dwarves, elves, halflings or human fighting-men, magic-users, pious clerics or wily thieves. The characters are plunged into an adventure in a series of dungeons, tunnels, secret rooms and cavers run by another player: the referee, often called the Dungeon Master.
"Adults 12 years and up?!" Imagine how excited I was to read those words at 12. I was an adult! Even the very first edition of the rules werre filled with excitement. As cocky as Gary Gygax often sounded, he always oozed excitement and you could feel how much the creators enjoyed their new creation, the roleplaying game.
But the modern rules are often not as evocative. Minus the ten words of encouragement on the back of the book, the first words a new player encountered when reading the Third Edition Player's Handbook were:
Character Creation Basics: Follow these steps to create a beginning first level character. You will need a photocopy of the character sheet, a pencil some scratch paper, and four six-sided die.
Okay, "That's not fair," you shout, "what about the introduction?" Well, unlike the other editions that came before the introduction, but since you asked.
Welcome to the game that has defined the fantastic imagination for over a quarter of a century.
When you play the Dungeons and Dragons game, you create a unique fictional character that lives in your imagination and the imagination of your friends. One person in the game, the Dungeon Master (DM), controls the monsters and people that live in the fantasy world. You and your friends face he dangers and explore the mysteries that your Dungeon Master sets before you.
Pretty bland. To be fair, there is a list of posible things that can happen to your character that is printed below that paragraph, but the list lacks the enthusiasm and wonder that the first contained. The new rules were written by people for whom role-playing was old hat, for people who had played before, and with an emphasis on how things needed to be "updated." The rules themselves are an improvement, to be sure, but the tone and the execution of the material lacks the magic of the earlier, more purple, prose. Roleplaying has become jaded and methodical and not excited and evangelical.
What about Monte Cook's "Player's Handbook?"
You hold in your hands a book that attempts to express its own reality. It is a setting—not just with places and characters, but with the rules that define how those characters operate within those places. Monte Cook’s Arcana Evolved is based on the idea that the best way to describe a thing is to define that thing. It is a roleplaying game rules set based on a popular rules set, but different in its own ways. It’s fantasy roleplaying taken in a new direction.
The whole, my rules are better than your rules sentiment pours from the words. There is little to excite the reader, rather the focus is on what sets his rules apart and an existential mission statement. No evocative purple prose, not thrilling stories to share, just "this is what I do and this is new, oh and better." Not all games today lack the old charm and excitement, Shane Hensley's Savage Worlds has it in spades, as do other games, but the flagship and the engineers who built the new flagship don't have that inner fire. They lack the impulse or capability to evangelize, they assume their high status is sufficient and that turns off people like Burgandy Skies.
So, I'll leave you with the first words a reader of Savage Worlds encounters:
A mighty barbarian ascends the cold mountains to slay the legendary ice-wyrm...
A group of scholars and gumshoes discover something Man Was Not Meant To Know in the ancient hills of New England...
A band of holy warriors, loot-hungry thieves, and soldiers of fortune raid the lair of a vile liche to end his reign of terror...
A patrol of young soldiers discovers a mysterious temple to an unknown demon deep in the jungles of Vietnam...
A group of heroes blessed with incredible powers created the Justice Guild to fignt powerful arch-villains ben on taking over their city...
These tales and more are waiting to be told in...
SAVAGE WORLDS!
Hmm...maybe I want to play these games after all.
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