People long for OTR

At a panel discussion last Friday sponsored by the American Cinema Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and interesting exchange regarding "scheduled" programming versus "on demand" programming took place. Essentially Rob Long and Cathy Seipp discussed different takes on the issue.

Rob Long argued for the advantages of the "on demand" technology offered by cable services and Apple's new video iPod, he also discussed the advantages of DVR technology. In essence, he discussed how great it is to be able to watch what you want when you want to watch it. This line of thinking has lead to DVD collections of old television shows, new television shows, and provides an alternate tracking system to Nielson for ratings. We can know what people want because they buy it, or they ask for it.

Cathy Seipp looked at the issue from a different angle. She argued for the virtues of scheduled programming. These are, according to Cathy, essentially two-fold. First, there is the comfort level of knowing you are going to watch something at 9pm on Tuesday night. This leads to the second virtue, chiefly the communal element. When a show is on at 9pm you can talk about it the next day with all your co-workers or friends as a shared experience. I would add to Cathy's two virtues a third, you can host "communal" events like an OC party or from when I was in college a 90120 party. The show itself can become an event.

What was particularly interesting about the conversation was that while the examples I used were about television shows, and the panel was about public television, the conversation was about both television and radio. Cathy was lamenting the loss of Old Time Radio shows on Los Angeles radio stations and how she liked to listen to them at pre-known times when driving across town. It was also interesting that I agreed with both whole-heartedly. It was great this summer to be able to watch the first two seasons of the OC in rapid succession because we could get the full narrative rather rapidly. But it is also fun to watch the show as planned, I actually feel the tension of episode endings. I have to wait 'til next week, or as it is now until after baseball (this is as it should be).

After discovering that Cathy was an OTR fan, I decided to ask her what kind of OTR she enjoyed and I was surprised and delighted by her answer. I had expected her to be a fellow geek traveller and quickly say she liked Superman, Green Hornet, the Shadow, and The Lone Ranger. She didn't, but the shows she named sounded great and expanded my desire for OTR products. She mentioned Jack Benny and Eddie Cantor. If memory serves, she has in the past mentioned Fred Allen as well. In addition to the links above, where you can purchase OTR files, you can find streaming broadcasts here though the list hasn't been updated recently and contains some out of date schedule info (for example KCSN no longer plays OTR near as I can tell).

Just who are the Cinerati?

Thanks to Cinerati member, David N. Scott for this one.

Naturally this game is obviously based on that machine of machines...MODOK, the Mobile Organism Designed Only for Killing.

The Cinerati are obviously the: Constructs Intended for Nocturnal Exploration, Rational Assassination and Thorough Infiltration.

Number One is:

Fritz is:

Rob is:

Underfüt is:

Logan 5 is:

If you want to see who David N. Scott and Burgandy Skies are click here.

Mutants to Return to Minority Status at Marvel

I remember reading, it may be apocryphal, that Stan Lee created the idea of a "mutant origin" in comic books because he was tired of coming up with individual origins for each and every superhero he created. Regardless of the truth of this statement, in the past forty years the Marvel universe has seen a significant population increase in its mutant minority. Whole nations in the marvelverse are populated with them, or at least they were.

According to ICV2, and you already have a sense of this if you have been reading House of M, there will be a 95% reduction in the mutant population in the Marvel universe. To "non-fans" that might seem drastic, it might even seem like something that would upset this "curmudgeony" comic collector. Well it is drastic, but it isn't particularly upsetting.

One of the most compelling elements of early mutant stories was that they paralleled the civil rights struggle. Mutants were a persecuted minority. X-men like Cyclops and Jean Grey were hated for their "freak powers," while Iron Man and Thor were adored for theirs. At first, that might seem absurd. Both sets of individuals have powers (okay Iron Man has technology technically, but you get the point) so why aren't they feared equally? When I was younger it didn't make any sense at all. It wasn't until I really thought about the X-men/Civil Rights parallel that it became clearer. Sure I had always "known" what the undertones of the X-stories were, but I hadn't asked the same "why" about our own society. Why would people be hated just because of the color of their skin, their gender, religion, you name it? That didn't make sense either. So why do people hate the X-men and not Power Pack? Because they do, and they do so without reasons. Are there evil mutants? Sure, but Rhino isn't a mutant and he is powerful and evil so why not hate all superheroes?

This compelling element had been diluted in recent years by the explosion of characters. No longer were mutants a persecuted minority, they had become a persecuted "seeming" majority. The pathos was lost in the commonality, but all that is about to change.

Joe Quesada, the Editor in Chief at Marvel has been adamant that "As long as [he] am EIC [he is] not bringing any of these (characters) back." He also "pointed out that the effects of the 95% reduction in the number of mutants in the Marvel Universe would be reflected through the line -- Wolverine will be the only mutant in The New Avengers."

Addressing the curmudgeon in me Quesada stated, "The idea behind House of M and Decimation is to scale back the number and role of mutants in the current Marvel Universe to something similar to the Silver Age Marvel Universe."

D&D vs. MMORPG

I was flipping though the latest issue of Dragon (#336) when I came across this print ad for Dungeons & Dragons. Although it does not name any particular MMORPG it was an obvious attack on the fantasy based ones in particular. As a table-top player who avoids online gaming (mainly for reasons of cost and time required), I had to laugh at Wizards of the Coast gutsy move to challenge the coolness of online gaming. And I must admit, I can kind of see thier point. Online gaming does not encourage the kind of friendly get togethers that table top gaming does, and actually seems to encourage that loner image that most geeks get stuck with anyways. On the other hand, one would probably point out to WotC that online gaming means you don't have to clean up your place, find a GM, find a place to stash all your geek gear or worry about your friends drinking all your Dr. Pepper (or other tasty caffinated beverage).

So...who will win? Only time will tell. But I must admit I give WotC points for trying to turn the tide.

Ahslee Simpson...

Sings!

NEW YORK -- Ashlee Simpson sang — really, she did — without incident on "Saturday Night Live" in her return to the scene of last year's lip-synch fiasco.

Well, that's cool. Maybe she can be forgiven a bit. I actually like Ashlee Simpson's singing and general appearance and attittude, and the more I see her sister, well, the more I like Ashlee...

The Internet is a funny, funny thing...

For example, you might be an up and coming author who is still trying to find a way to break into writing fiction. And you may strike up an email conversation with a published author who has a website. And he may offer to take a look at a sampling of your work. And he may like something that he sees. And he might publish that piece on his far more popular website.

At least if your our own David N. Scott.

Go check out David's "Day in the Park" over at 8763 Wonderland and enjoy.

For those of you who are regular Pererro readers this story will sound familiar, but it's been edited post-feedback from Mr. Jacobs. So it's cooler now. Read it again.

Brilliant!

Why, oh why, are these not at my local game store?

As it so happens, we were at our local Barnes & Noble with the Boo and I was poking around the Klutz Kiosk when I came across these awesome castle building cards. The best part is that they can be broken down and re-used. And it's only $12.95 for a pack!! Joy!

I think this may be the most exciting DM tool I've come across since I discovered the giant pack of plastic knights at the local Toys R' Us. No glue, no expensive pieces to buy, and it looks like tremendous fun. Go buy a pack. I'll bet you have fun.

I Know I Said "No Pop Culture" Today...

But this news is too gorram good to not post. Jon Favreau is set to direct John Carter of Mars. As I posted last November Kerry Conran (Spy Captain) had been given the nod after Robert Rodriguez was shown the door. Given that Vince Vaughn (see my previous post) is one of my leading candidates I desire to play John Carter, this is awesome. Favreau did an excellent job on Elf, Zathura looks like it will demonstrate how well he does effects, and Jon is close friends with Vince. Awesome!

I saw Favreau at this year's ComicCon and given his ability to not only talk to geeks as real people, but as his "claymation" segment in Elf displayed he has a bit of geek himself.

5/4/52 to 10/7/98

Those of you who have been long time readers will have to forgive me for a "repeat" post, but today is a day that on an annual basis I don't feel like posting about popular culture. Today is the seventh anniversary of my mother's death, and I always feel a need to share on this day. I thought about writing something entirely original, but then I reread what I wrote last year and it captures most of what I want to say. So instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, I will post last year's entry (updated to today) with an additional quote at the end.

This is a picture of my mom in 1971, that blob on her lap is me.

A Day to Listen to the Velvet Underground

I am only 34 years old, but today marks the end of my first seven years without a mom. That is an awkward sentence, but it best captures my sentiments. I am not an orphan, I still have a father. In fact, he should be receiving his Halloween card shortly. Yet a part of me is still very much missing, a large part. October 7th, 1998...10,7,98...those numbers loom large and ominous in my heart and this is the first year I am not completely overwhelmed by them.

My wife and I have intimate conversations often, it is one of the joys of marriage, and she and I were discussing death the other day. Her grandmother had just died at the age of 92. My wife explained it this way, "When someone dies, the world feels a little less complete. Bird songs aren't as joyful, and sunrises are slightly less beautiful." Displaying, as she often does, the magnificence of unedited, awkward, and spontaneous verbal poetry. She was also correct. C.S. Lewis opens his book A Grief Observed with another observation about death:

No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach, the same restlessness, the yawning. I keep on swallowing.

I still feel this way, not everyday...today.

There are two things that are still difficult for me to do seven years after my mom died when I was 27 (she was 46).

I have a hard time remembering truly happy moments with her...on command. Happy moments enter my consciousness at random moments and seldom on the anniversary of her death. Glimpses of her nymph-like smile...brief auditory illusions of her laughter enter my mind. But the majority of my memories are neither happy nor sad, they are the memories of everyday activities, evening dinners and the question which ever looms over the head of a teenager, "Have you finished your homework?" I remember watching videotapes with her on many occation, though none as awkward as the time we watched The Hunger, just the two of us and an erotic vampire film. I remember feeling both uncomfortable being aroused by the film, in my mom's presence, while at the same time finding the situation hilarious. This moment just came to mind. There are many more like it, I just can't remember them on demand. In all honesty, I remember my mom as a happy person, a person who added joy to the world. Which is why I have my other difficulty.

I can't understand my mom's addiction, and eventual death due to how it ravaged her body, to heroin. I try, by reading/watching/listening to and about other addicts. I know the narrative of my mom's addictive cycle, I can see each step of her hopeless journey. That's not what I can't understand. I know the things that led to her addiction. What I can't understand is the overwhelming power of it, how addiction stole my mom from me...day by day. Oddly, some really shallow things help. They are a poor substitute for true knowledge, and seem trite when I think hard on them, but they help. These things include the music of the Velvet Underground (in particular, you guessed it, Heroin) and Iggy Pop, the films Permanent Midnight (which I saw just after her death) and Trainspotting, the book and film versions of Razor's Edge, and the writings of C.S. Lewis among other things.

I am the only member of my immediate family I know of who actually believes in God. I was raised secularly. Strange as it sounds my mom found comfort, though she was baffled by it, in my belief. She once asked if I believed, expecting me (the first college student in my family) to laugh at the absurdity of the question. I told her I did and her response lingers with me to this day, "Really?" Her eyes looked at me...proud, confused, unbelieving, yet hopeful. I never was able to tell her that hope was what faith was all about ("Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen" Hebrews 11:1). It isn't about "knowledge," little of life is about actual knowledge. This is why Socrates asked us to know ourselves, that is a difficult enough task. Let alone the ability to acquire actual knowledge of something else.

I was notified of my mom's death by answering machine. A series of messages of an ever-worsening condition. Siezures...followed by emergency medical action, my wife and I later read the medical records to piece together a timeline, to see if there was an heroic effort to save my mom. There was. It is not the best way to be notified of death, answering machine, I think it is the worst. I also wish that my mom had been buried not cremated, I would have liked to have had the chance to speak, to say my own words. Instead, I will share the two poems I think best capture the way I feel. One is gender confused (for my situation not its own) and the other is written from an older generation to a younger one, but they will have to do. In addition I would like to add a part of Philip K. Dick's author's note from A Scanner Darkly.

The first poem is by W.H. Auden (and yes it's the poem from Four Weddings and a Funeral but that is such a lovely scene.

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

The second poem is by Wordsworth:

SURPRISED by joy--impatient as the Wind
I turned to share the transport--Oh! with whom
But Thee, deep buried in the silent tomb,
That spot which no vicissitude can find?
Love, faithful love, recalled thee to my mind--
But how could I forget thee? Through what power,
Even for the least division of an hour,
Have I been so beguiled as to be blind
To my most grievous loss?--That thought's return
Was the worst pang that sorrow ever bore,
Save one, one only, when I stood forlorn,
Knowing my heart's best treasure was no more;
That neither present time, nor years unborn
Could to my sight that heavenly face restore.

Wordsworth wrote Suprised by Joy (C.S. Lewis titled one of his autobiographies after this poem), for his daughter Catherine who had died at the age of four. This poem masterfully captures the grief I feel over the loss of my mom. Everytime I have wonderful event in my life, I want to call her and share the news. That can never happen and it brings the event of her death immediately to mind and my sorrow and feeling of loss are renewed. Every time...without fail. My mom missed my graduation, my wife's master's, my acceptance to graduate school, my wife completing her MFA in film at USC. She will not be there to see her first grandchild, or any of the joy that her grandchildren will bring into the world.

As I stated before, I have continually looked to fiction and biographical narrative to understand my mom's addiction and that is why I am including the following by Philip K. Dick.

This has been a novel about some people who were punished entirely too much for what they did. They wanted to have a good time, but they were like children playing in the street; they could see one another of them being killed --run over, maimed, destroyed -- but they continued to play anyhow...

Drug misuse is not a disease, it is a decision, like the decision to step out in front of a moving care. You would call that not a disease but an error in judgement. When a bunch of people begin to do it, it is a social error, a life-style. In this particular life-style the motto is "Be happy now because tomorrow you are dying," but the dying begins almost at once, and the happiness is a memory..."Take the cash and let the credit go," as Villon said in 1460. But that is a mistake ifthe cash is a penny and the credit is a whole lifetime...

If there was any "sin" t was that these people wanted to keep on having a good time forever, and were punished for that, but, as I say, I feel that, if so, the punishment was far to great...

When my mom first told me of her addiction to heroin she expected me to be angry. Everyone else in the family was, I think the thought of my mother using heroin was too alien to them to even imagine. I think they viewed her use as somehow a failure on their part. I didn't, I only wanted to know if she was okay. By which I meant was she okay at the time she told me. My mom thought that heroin could make life more pleasant, for her it wasn't a selfish desire for more fun than anyone else was having, because she felt empty and sad on a regular basis. Heroin made her feel happy, like she could live life. But in making her think she could live life, heroin took life from her.

I don't "forgive" my mom for dying, I have never thought there was anything to forgive. I miss my mom and wish she were here. I love her and knowing that makes the missing part not so bad, because (as Lewis might say) the pain we feel now is a part of the love we have.

Supernatural Picked Up for Season

Thanks to Shouting into the Wind, and according to the Hollywood Reporter, Supernatural has been picked up by the WB for a full season. This is good news!

Just Legal, on the other hand, apparently didn't make the cut. It's too bad as the show had an interesting premise, but really failed to actualize the idea. Maybe, say in five years or so, someone will do the idea a little better and it will get picked up. The main problem Just Legal suffered was a lack of faith in its audience, probably because they thought the audience would skew young. In essence, the show acted as if it had to train its audience as to the conflicts involved in a legal show. In doing so, it spent too much time on "informing" the audience about the background of any given conflict and not enough time on the individual conflicts of any given episode. They also didn't treat the protagonist well. He was supposed to be a legal genius and yet he constantly seems out of his depth. The point of the show should have been that the law in practice isn't the same as the law in its ideal form. They never quite got that across to the audience. The writers were too concerned with the "hey, he's only 18" factor, which is too bad. After all, that bias was the reason the character wasn't hired by the "big" law firms anyway.

If I had done the show I would have added external pressures. After all, why doesn't the character take a clerk-ship? Maybe there are huge financial pressures at home, you know like Peter Parker. So he has to provide financial support for his family and this increases the conflict between when to fight and when to settle. I know it is cliche, but they didn't provide any reason in the show itself.

Anyway, I thought Just Legal had an interesting premise (a legal Doogie Howser), but that it wasn't executed well. They didn't even start revealing continual conflicts until the third episode and the b storylines were almost non-existent.

Better Pictures of the Federalist

In an earlier post, I promised a better picture of my City of Heroes character "The Federalist."

Well...

Here he is in all his glory. On his "regular" costume the lightning bolt is a liberty bell symbol and his shirt is baggier, but this is him in his former "supergroup" mode.

Here was an attempt at "photography" on my part.

And here is a more realistic depiction of him in action.

Pop Culture?

Hey, this has Madonna in it.

Watch it ten times and go insane!

Good News for City of Heroes Fans

If you are a fan, like I am, of NCSoft's City of Heroes MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game) then you will be delighted to hear that if you also wish to play City of Villains there will be no additional monthly charge. That's right, whether you play merely one of the games or both you will only have to pay $14.99 per month. Which naturally means you won't have to cancel your World of Warcraft subscription when CoV comes out.

Thanks to The Ziggurat of Doom for the heads up.

As Ziggurat stated, this really is the smart way for NCSoft to go. In the long run it will increase sales of the CoV product, promote loyalty among existing CoH subscribers, and allow for the release of CoV to serve as a vehicle to entice players to purchase CoH as well.

At last...the Federalist can meet the Anti-Federalist in mortal combat!



Better picture of the Federalist to come.

Supernatural Phone Gimmick

As you may have been able to surmise from past posts, I am a pretty big Supernatural fan. My inner geek, who am I kidding all of me, really enjoys watching the Winchester brothers hunt down and combat evil. The show doesn't try to reinvent the genre, but so far it has done well using existing superstitions. In the first four episodes they have encountered a "Lady in White," a Wendigo, a wrathful ghost, and a demon who posseses airline passengers in order to cause plane crashes.

At the end of this week's airplane crashing demon episode, the brothers are given information about their father. They are told that their father's cell phone has a message that anyone who might need help with supernatural occurances should call Dean (the oldest of the brothers). This information is followed by a phone number. Supergeek that I am, I immediately rewound the episode on my TiVo and wrote the number down. It is a real number and leads to a neat little in show gimmick, kind of like the 1-866 SUE-2-WIN signs I have seen all around LA advertising Boston Legal.

Anyway, long story short...the "mystery" number is 1-866-907-3235. If you aren't a fan of the show, the answering message is kind of lame. But if you are a fan of the show, it's pretty cool. Anyway the number Dean asks you about is the date their mother was killed. Oh, and while I am on the subject of cool things that Supernatural offers, you might want to go to their website (linked above) click on the car, then on the notebook in the car and read their father's journal.

If you were a fan of Freakylinks, I think you will like Supernatural.

Blizzard Continuing Its Quest to Dominate All Your Time.

Do you only log 40 to 60 hours a week playing World of Warcraft?

Is Blizzard's BlizzCon how you intend to spend your honeymoon?

Do you spend all your time looking for new ways to squeeze World of Warcraft into your life?

Do camping trips get you down because you can't count on getting a wireless connection for your Horde character on a PvP server?

If you are a person who meets all of these criteria, well you already own World of Warcraft the RPG. I am of course referring to the pen and paper RPG and not the online one you focus resources beyond belief.

Blizzard has been thinking of you my friends.

Want to get in a game while you are commuting on the train or bus? Blizzard is partnering with Upper Deck to create World of Warcraft the Card Game.



But what happens when those quick card games run their course while you are on your camping trip? Don't worry, Blizzard's got your back with the World of Warcraft Boardgame, but don't forget to download the soundtrack into your WoW iPod.

Now if only they could make a WoW restaurant chain and frozen food/dry goods line. We would so be set.

Quick question though. If you are spending all this time on Warcraft...how are you paying for it?

Me? I'm just writing my screenplay for World of Warcraft the motion picture. Naturally, this takes a great deal of research and it is best to write in res media. Either that or base my screenplay on the exciting adventures of Leroy Jenkins!

Leeeerooooooyyyyy!

Should Paparazzi Become the Next Most Dangerous Game?

UPDATED BELOW

In his short story The Most Dangerous Game, Richard Connell presents a dark tale critiquing human nature. What is a man to do when all primal pleasures seem to have lost appeal? Why hunt other men for sport, no less. Game is a tale of struggle and decadence, David versus Goliath, you know what I am talking about. You read the story in fifth grade, or you watched the movie. Needless to say the premise of one man hunting another for sport is a deeply disturbing image, partly because in many ways it is very plausible.

This is why the Paparazzi offend me so much. They actively "hunt" celebrities, in the hopes of getting that "perfect" photograph. You know which one I am talking about, the photograph on the cover of some scandal magazine. I know consumers are a part of the problem as well, everytime you pick up Star or the Enquirer to see what trouble Bennifer the Sequel are getting into you are feeding the Paparazzi frenzy.

I bring this up because it appears that Lindsey Lohan has been in another car accident, and once again the Paparazzi seem to be a part of the cause. Even with the new law protecting celebrities by allowing them to sue photographers for up to triple the amount of damage in an "assault," the Paparazzi are hammering away at Lohan. Maybe you are like me and uninterested in Lohan as a general rule. Sure Mean Girls was good and her Herbie movie was a return to the classic formula, but for the most part the teenie-pop artist doesn't interest me at all. What does interest me is how aggressive the Paparazzi are with her. I guess causing one car crash isn't enough.

Since the new law may not be having the effect we want, let me propose an alternative. In The Most Dangerous Game the protagonist is a big game hunter who becomes the big game prey. Why don't we pass a MDG Law where we sell Paparazzi tags? You and I take our Shotguns into Beverly Hills and wait for the Paparazzi to strike and when they do...Bang! Bag 'em and rack 'em. At least that would make it a challenge for the Paparazzi.

Or maybe, just maybe, some of the actors could hire P.I.s to look into the background of some of their "adoring fans" and use their PR machine to give personal information about who is stalking them. I wonder how cameraman X would feel if a bunch of angry fan club members, or a Kathy Bates type from Misery, were to come knockin' on his door.

Better yet, we could as consumers realize that the "lives" actors portray on the screen are the ones they want public and be satisfied with those. Leave the gossip where it belongs, in the trash.

UPDATE According to the LA Times the Paparazzi may have only been involved after the accident. It is possible that Lohan fled her vehicle without communicating with the drive of the vehicle she hit. Hm...fleeing the scene?

Funny

In a vaguely-related point, in re: Christopher Priest, from Wikipedia:

Shortly afterwards, he changed his name from "Jim Owsley" to "Christopher Priest". He has refused to discuss his reasons for doing so, beyond a seemingly-glib story about carrying out a threat/promise to "become a priest". He states that he was completely unaware at the time of the established British author of the same name; as an accommodation, he refers to himself professionally as just "Priest". Ironically, he is also an ordained Baptist minister, and can thus be referred to as "the Reverend Priest".

Superman is Born!

Kal-El now lives among us, thanks to Nicolas Cage and Alice Kim Cage. You know you can say what you want about how lame it is that Nicolas Cage named his son Kal-el, but you have to admit that any woman who will let her husband name their kid after a superhero is every comic geek's dream.

Number One to Nico: This woman is a keeper!

Now if I could just talk my wife into Alan Scott, Wally West, or Victor von Doom. Wait...wait...Mon-el...no! Validus! Awesome!

[Thanks to Poliblog for the lowdown.]

Christopher Nolan's Next Film Filled With Magic and Mystery!

Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins) starts filming his next film,The Prestige, in January. The screenplay, adapted by Nolan's brother, is based on a novel by Christopher Priest which tells the tale of two rival magicians in Victorian England.

If you read the moviehole article linked above (click on the "The Prestige" link) you will notice that the film has some major comic book movie connections. Both Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale will star in the film.

Comic book geeks though should be careful not to confuse comic book writer Christopher J. Priest with British Science Fiction Giant Christopher Priest.

Roy Horn, "The Magic is Back!"

Roy Horn, Roy of "Siegfried and Roy," is walking short distances two years after being attacked on stage.

I have always been a big Siegfried and Roy fan and I was saddened by the incident, but this is good news.

By the way, if you ever get a chance to watch "Father of the Pride," the Dreamworks sit-com about S&R's animals, do so. The "family sitcom" part of the show is pretty standard fare, but the B storylines (which always involve S&R) are hilarious

Paris Marriage...

Is off. I'm not all that shocked... she wasn't really toning down her act all that much.

Was it all publicity, then? Only the Parises and confidantes know...

To Decrease Attendance, Attendant's Spoil Story

Airline employees are in a mild uproar regarding Flightplan, Jodie Foster's recent re-envisioning of the classic Hitchcock film The Lady Vanishes. Mirroring the classic Jodie Foster steps away from her seat on an airplane (in the original it was a train) only to find her daughter missing (in Lady it was a kindly old lady). There is a desperate search for the daughter and a mystery is solved. Just who has kidnapped her daughter and why?

Airline attendents were disappointed with the answer to those questions and have been asking people not to see the film, while at the same time revealing major plot points in their criticism. The media have covered the story from different angles with E! Online and The New York Daily News provide a spoiler warning, but Reuters reveals the mystery in the first paragraph offering no warning to potential viewers. They are obviously siding with the Airline employees in their attempt to spoil the plot of the movie and reduce viewership. ;-)

++++SPOILER ALERT BASED ON NEWS ARTICLES++++

Good news for Sean Bean fans, it appears that he is not the villain! A rare event indeed in American cinema.

If you want to read the spoiler left click and drag your cursor over it to make it more legible.

Banned Book of the Day September 28th

Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers

You have got to be kidding me!

The Value of Handcrafted Animation

As a young boy I was immensely fond of the special effects work of Ray Harryhausen the master of Stop Motion animation. (I have also been a fan of hand drawn animation, but that is a subject for another post.) Will the increased sophistication of computer graphics technology I had feared that I would soon hear a deathknell for stop motion. But it appears that the marketplace, as it so often does, is willing to expand and include rather than replace. We have seen this phenomenon before with Movies not destroying theatre, radio not destroying books. There are changes, sure, but for some forms of entertainment the market seems flexible.

According to this article byUSA Today this may be the case with Stop Motion animation as well. The success of Chicken Run, Wallace and Gromit, and the recent Corpse Bride hint that audiences like the "look" of stop motion animation. Naturally, it doesn't hurt that the stories in all these cases are well written, which seems to be the most important market force in animation (regardless of what Keane thinks with his shifting Disney to all CG). One thing struck me in the story though, with CG vs. hand drawn animation the costs are pretty much identical. It appears that costs in CG vs. stop motion, this isn't the case:

It's also cheaper. A stop-motion film typically costs $30 million to $50 million, while a big-studio CGI movie costs closer to $80 million. Bride cost about $40 million; Gromit was $30 million.

This bodes well indeed for well done stop motion.

Looks Like Two Shows I Like Will Be Picked Up

My wife and I have really enjoyed both Bones and Supernatural and according to Marc Berman at Mediaweek it looks like both will be picked up for a full season. Particularly impressive to me was that Bones was #2 in the 18-49 age bracket.

We have been particularly impressed with Supernatural, which is just a great fun ride. The show is well shot, very pretty, and though the actors are still getting into their characters (Jared Padalecki is a little awkward, Jensen Ackles is excellent) the writing has been spot on. Eric Kripke, who really impressed me with Boogeyman, knows how to balance what scared us when we were young with what entertains us when we are older. The show has also set up some interesting non-supernatural conflicts for future episodes. The "ghost hunting" brothers usually pose as some kind of Federal Agent when gathering information. Neither really looks the part and so the pair are usually outed and this can only lead to trouble. Second, they tend to pay their bills through credit card fraud, not exactly the best behavior if you don't want to draw law enforcement attention.

In next week's episode the brothers will perform an exorcism on an airplane during a possible plane crash. Can you ask for any more tension?

[Mad props to Shouting into the Wind for introducing me to Berman's comments which will now be a daily visit.]

In Retrospect, It is in Fact Easy to Be Green

Kermit the Frog turns 50 this year. Just saying it makes me feel wierd. I would have thought that the icon of children's entertainment was a child like me when I watched him on the television, but alas he was over twenty and already in a position of authority. I should have guessed that anyone who has been a "journalist" and has time for an Easy Rider-esque journey across the United States couldn't be a child like I was.

Three places of note on Kermit's world tour? Kermit, TX...The Great Wall of China...and a Frog Legs Festival in Florida. At least somethings never change. Hopefully Kermit will bring sufficient crutches/wheel chairs for the injured frogs.

(If you don't get that go and watch the Muppet Movie now!)

What's Next for Joss Whedon?

With the release of Serenity this Friday, you may be asking yourself what projects are coming up for Joss Whedon. According to ICV2, his projects include a feature film titled Goners, a Wonder Woman movie, and possibly a Spike television series based on the popular Buffy character.

Star Wars III DVD Details Released

According to ICV2, Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith will be released on November 1st and will include, in it's bonus features, a short scene showing Yoda land on Dagoba.

At last we can reveal to the public...at last they will know how Yoda got there.

I don't know about all of you, but I thought Lucas spent too much time during the "prequel" series explaining to us how things in the original series were grounded and not enough telling us an epic story. It could just be me. Lucas could have the higher ground and we all know that if you have the higher ground you can't lose.

Banned Book of the Day

As I said yesterday, this week is National Banned Books week. So without further ado here is today's banned book.

The Inferno by Dante Alighieri. A book that was described by Harold Bloom in the following way:

Nothing else in Western literature, in the long span from the Yahwist and Homer through Joyce and Beckett, is as sublimely outrageous as Dante's exaltation of Beatrice, sublimated from being an image of desire to angelic status, in which role she becomes a crucial element in the church's hierarchy of salvation.

In Bloom's description you can see why the book is both important and controversial. Though to be fair, Bloom is talking about the entire Comedy where the book-banning crowd want to single out Inferno.

When Faith Isn't Enough...A Little Meth Helps.

Ashley Smith, the woman who says she gained the trust of suspected courthouse gunman Brian Nichols by talking about her faith in God, was one of the great "everyday hero" stories of the past year. The everyday person who through kindness and faith is able to tame the rampaging villain is a story we all want to hear, even when it includes a plug for The Purpose-Driven Life . We all hope that in similar circumstances that we can have that powerful an affect on an individual.

It turns out that the rosy image of the innocent Daniel using powerful faith inspired writing to pull the thorn of hatred from the criminal heart, may not be exactly what happened.

According to the Washington Post, Brian Nichols asked Smith if she had any marijuana. She assured him that she didn't, but she did happen to have some meth he was welcome to share.

It's just like The Salton Sea, you can trust the tweakers to do the right thing.

Spiderman 3 Villains Revealed

Apparently, Kirsten Dunst is so high on pharmaceuticals that she blurted out the villains of the upcoming Spiderman 3 movie. During a press conference for the upcoming film Elizabethtown Dunst commented on the upcoming comic book film.According to IGN Topher Grace will be Venom and Thomas Haden Church will be Sandman.

Okay, let me get this straight...

I can believe that

Will be

but...

Can this become THIS?!

As I said...either Dunst is high or this is one heck of a misinformation campaign.

National Banned Books Week

National Banned Books Week started on September 24th and ends October 1st. You can find a list of books which were either banned or challenged in 2004 at American Bookseller's Foundation for Free Expression. Rob was/is a First Amendment attorney (Ed. Note: I know most of your cases dealt with Assembly, but it is still cool to say.) and I am for the most part a straight line First Amendment is absolute kind of guy, so please read the list and think about the possible repercussions of banning books. To think...To Kill a Mockingbird is on the list.

In honor of the week, I will feature a link to one banned/challenged book each day this week.

You Can't Stop the Signal!!!

As Browncoats have known for a long time, and the general public now knows, this Friday marks the release of Serenity by Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Toy Story). This film marks a ressurection of an abandoned Television show (Firefly) in a new medium. I can barely restrain my excitement. I am soooooo jazzed and I envy every blogger who received "blogger credentials" to see this film, but I will be there Friday with the plebs as any true Browncoat should be.

In the joyful spirit of celebration we should all read this article from The Scotsman.

Quick excerpt:

Balding and a little on the chubby side, he is in his 40s and admits that the highlight of his week is when he gets his new comics, which he does every Wednesday without fail.

A man after my own heart. I am so happy I almost didn't mention Alien Resurrection, the one creation of Whedon's that makes me cringe with revulsion.

But I think this Resurrection will be a better one.

Oh, and if you want to see my Savage World RPG stats for the Firefly crew, you can read them here.

And all Browncoats are hereby commanded to purchase the Serenity Role Playing Game, which shipped to distributors September 13th.

Super-Geniuses, Federal Marshalls, and a Murderous Conspiracy!

John Rogers the Kung Fu Monkey, or as I like to call him Sun Woo Kung, has a post about a new show on Sci-Fi network called Eureka.



The picture has nothing to do with Eureka rather it is a representation of John...aka Monkey King...Rogers.

Will Commander in Chief Lead to Viable Women Candidates for President?

Many on the Right have complained that ABC's new dramatic series, Commander in Chief is nothing more than a ploy to advance Hilary Clinton as a Presidential candidate, but one group is using the opportunity to "draft" Condoleezza Rice into running for the office.

I would highly recommend visiting the website of the show, linked above, it has some very interesting "blog" articles regarding the Mackenzie presidency. The site gives insight into the direction the show might actually be heading, rather than speculations as to purposes.

Can Allen balance the duties of The Presidency with those of a wife and mother? This is a woman who resigned from congress after just one term “to spend more time with her family” (though those of us who were paying attention know that decision had more to do with congressional gridlock than familial obligations).

So if Congress was taking too much of a toll on her home life, what then will be the impact of the Oval Office? This is not exactly a job where you can leave your cell phone on the hall table in the evening and forget about work until the next morning.

Will Equal ?

Forest Whitaker to Join Cast of "The Shield"

The gritty hit show The Shield, which is a part of the cable network revolution, will be adding Forest Whitaker to its cast. This past year they added acting heavyweight Glenn Close to an already talented cast. The addition of Whitaker as an IA detective investigating Mackey only points to even better things.

Ash-Moore Update

No this isn't a post about an upcoming "Ash vs. Jason vs. Freddy vs. Gandalf vs. Godzilla" movie, rather this is about Aston Kutcher and Demi Moore. That's right, they finally tied the knot.

For those of you groaning, "C'mon...Ashton Kutcher sucks" or "Ashton Kutcher is teh suxxorz," I would like to point out that I enjoyed Kutcher in Butterfly Effect and look forward to seeing him in a remake of The Evil Dead.

I know, I know, My Boss's Daughter was awful, but I have to give mad props to Kutcher for being a workaholic who seems to have fun doing what he is doing.

Besides, even if you hate him...shouldn't you be looking forward to seeing him raped by a tree?

Finally a "First Run" of a Japanese Horror Film.

As you all know, recent years have seen a large number of Japanese horror films being remade for American consumption. From Gore Verbinski's adaptation of The Ring to adaptations by the original director like The Grudge, we have seen a lot of these in recent years. Personally, Cinerati has been very pleased with most of the adaptations (and with the originals as well), but now it looks like America will be getting a "first run" of a Japanese horror story.

According to ICV2, we will soon be seeing an American adaptation of the Manga Parasyte, directed by Takashi Shimizu of The Grudge. The manga was released in the United States during the late 90's, but it seems has not yet been adapted to film. So maybe this will lead to a Japanese movie based on an American movie based on a Japanese Manga. Or better yet, an American movie based on a Japanese Movie based on an American movie based on a Japanese manga. The spiral is endless.

Continuing the Good Movie News! Fraggle Rock to Move to the Big Screen!

According to Movies Online one of my favorite television shows is soon to be a major motion picture. That's right, Fraggle Rock is jumping from the Silver Screen to Celluloid. It appears that the motion picture will have the Fraggles leave the Rock and come to "outer space," or as we call it "the real world." The basic narrative looks like a typical fish out of water story, but it sounds like it might be a lot of fun. Given that one of the permanent trends in Hollywood, and it is an old rather than new one, is to have a remake (Holiday Inn vs. White Christmas for those who think remakes are new) old stories, it is nice to see a "remake" of something I deeply desire to see.

Dungeons and Dragons Movie...

Welp, I saw this on Wizards' site, and here's the place for the skinny.

The Sci Fi channel will be premiering Dungeons & Dragons II: Wrath of the Dragon God, Saturday October 8. From scifi.com: "Five heroes undertake a quest to prevent the rise of a dragon god and an evil sorcerer -- who intend to subjugate the world under their reign of fire and shadow."

Hey, that promo pic looks sweet, anyway.



DND!!!!!!!

For I am the Pirate King!

Written by W. S. Gilbert
Composed by Arthur Sullivan

KING

Oh, better far to live and die
Under the brave black flag I fly,
Than play a sanctimonious part,
With a pirate head and a pirate heart.
Away to the cheating world go you,
Where pirates all are well-to-do;
But I’ll be true to the song I sing,
And live and die a Pirate King.

For I am a Pirate King!
And it is, it is a glorious thing
To be a Pirate King!

For I am a Pirate King!

CHORUS
You are!
Hurrah for our Pirate King!

KING
And it is, it is a glorious thing
To be a Pirate King.

CHORUS
It is!
Hurrah for our Pirate King!

KING AND CHORUS
Hurrah for the/our Pirate King!

KING

When I sally forth to seek my prey
I help myself in a royal way.
I sink a few more ships, it’s true,
Than a well-bred monarch ought to do;
But many a king on a first-class throne,
If he wants to call his crown his own,
Must manage somehow to get through
More dirty work than ever I do,

For I am a Pirate King!
And it is, it is a glorious thing
To be a Pirate King!

For I am a Pirate King!

CHORUS
You are!
Hurrah for the Pirate King!

KING

And it is, it is a glorious thing
To be a Pirate King.

CHORUS

It is!
Hurrah for our Pirate King!

KING AND CHORUS
Hurrah for the/our Pirate King!

Another Remake that Didn't Need to Be Made, but I Will See Anyway.

According to Contact Music the classic horror film The Omen is being remade. This time starring Liev Schreiber (He's dreamy!)and Julia Stiles as the happy parents of the Devil's child.

The original starred Hollywood heavy Gregory Peck and was directed by Richard Donner back when he could still direct (Superman, Ladyhawke, Lethal Weapon, The Omen...a list anyone would be proud of). Sadly, Donner appears to have lost the ability to direct anything appealing. Case in point? Timeline. Little had I known that 14th Century European cities looked like cheap sets. I thought they looked more like this (that the "Middle Ages" weren't primative was a point of the novel):



Anyway...the new movie will be directed by John Moore (Behind Enemy Lines and the Flight of the Phoenix remake), so this version might become an action packed extravaganza. Well...based on Behind Enemy Lines at least.

Swords and Skulls --- A Boardgame Review in Honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day

As was mentioned in a previous post, today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. It is only fitting that on such an auspicious day we here at Cinerati should do a review of material related to pirates and piracy. One could easily do a positive review of Pirates for the PC/Xbox, but if you don't own the game you are no true pirate fan! It is a must have.

No...we here at Cinerati want to guide you into places you may not have looked before to be entertained, while at the same time not being so obscure as to be overly arcane and alienate the novice gamer. With that in mind, we would like to present the following review of the Sword and Skull boardgame published by Hasbro under their Avalon Hill label.



Sword and Skull is a simple "Track Game" for two to five players with an entertaining premise:

The nefarious Pirate King has stolen Her Majesty's Ship, the Sea Hammer, pride of the Royal Navy. Furious, the Queen has offered a great reward to the person who can retrieve it. As one of the advisors to the Queen, you have chosen an officer of the Royal Navy to pursue the Pirate King. Of course, it might take a thief to catch a thief, so you've also conscripted a vicioius pirate from the Queen's dungeons.

Now they are preparing to enter the dreaded Lair of the Pirate King. Will one of them be the first to recover the Sea Hammer? Or will one of your rivals receive the Queen's reward instead?

Each player in the game is in control of two "Avatars," one Pirate and one Loyal Captain, who must find a way to bring the Sea Hammer back to the Queen. There are two ways to achieve this goal. The player can either raise enough gold to bribe the Pirate King to return the ship, or the player can defeat the Pirate King in combat forcing him to return the ship. The goals may be simple, but the accomplishing of them is not for it is good to be the Pirate King. Player's start out with little money and even less skill at arms. So each player must work their way around the track encountering various fortunes/dangers until they have sufficient lucre or puissance to attain the goal.

The "track" element of the game requires the players to move around the track in a clockwise fashion and encounter the "space." This element of the game is like a combination of Monopoly and Games Workshop's famous questing game Talisman. Sword and Skull at the same time lacks the complexity of either the games it borrows from, and adds innovation to each. It is an interesting paradox, but one that is true. As the players work around the board (pictured below), they encounter various "space" types. The two most common are "settlements" and "caves."



At settlement squares the player can recruit crew to assist in the defeat of the Pirate king. These crew members are an absolute necessity and come in three types. "Money grinders," which are similar to property in Monopoly, provide the player with gold each time another player lands on a settlement matching the color of the money grinder and everytime the player passes the fort (think Go in Monopoly. What separates money grinders from property is that only the color of space matters and not the specific name of the individual square. Some settlements have three or four squares and if you have a money grinder for the settlement you are paid by the player landing their. Naturally, multiple players may have grinders at the same settlements. The second type of character is the "buffer" who adds combat skill to either your Navy Captain or your Pirate Captain (this is distinguished by a symbol on the card). Finally, there are crew who are both money grinders and buffers. Recruiting the right crew can lead to rapid victory, but it can also irritate other players.

At caves players encounter various "monsters." These range from the simple Crocodile to Pirate Skeletons. This type of encounter is nothing surprising to your average "quest game" fan, but they have added an innovation. The difficulty of defeating each challange is based on the size of your crew, your total crew. So if your Pirate Captain has to battle a Siren and you have 6 crew members you will have a tough challenge. This is especially true if all 6 of your crew are money grinders or Navy Captain buffers. So it helps to have a balanced crew. Defeating challenges gets you items and gold, items usually help you in combat and gold helps the bribe victory.

The games that I have played were fast and furious. The rules were clear enough that any inter-player bickering was due to cards which allow one player to "steal" items from another player (note: while this adds variety to games it can add "meanness"). The end game was close and all players had a chance to win during the last stages of the game. The game is simple and combines elements from board game classics. Of the two possible victory outcomes, the most rewarding seems to be combatting the Pirate King. This is true even though the more innovative of the two is to win by bribery. At the beginning of the game everyone knows how tough the Pirate King is, but no one knows how much it will take to bribe him until the end of the game.

Click on Photo of Game Box for PDF copy of the rules from the Hasbro site.

Blow the Man Down!

We'll be havin' no mutineeeers over this! Today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day! So fer you scurvy dogs who sayz that Ninjas are keener than wotz Pirates is...remember ye these three things.

1. Thar be no good Ninja movies. Ninja III the Domination?! Yar, ha, ha! Thar be many good Pirate movies, even recent ones like Pirates of the Carribbean! 'Tis true thar be bad pirate movies, and I enjoys me me Ninja films as much as the next mate, but I wouldn't say a one of them war good!
2. Thar be no International Talk Like a Ninja day and if thar war, no one would be talkin'.
3. Dead Men Tell No Tales!

Now staaart taaalking like a Pirate or walk tha plank!

Will "Losers" be a Box Office Winner

Peter Berg, director of the Rundown and Friday Night Lights, has signed on to write and produce a film version of the "Losers." According to the Reuters article the movie will apparently deal with the original, rather than the modern Vertigo, version of the characters. The modern version is a pretty good "update," and I understand why they updated the narrative according to current Vertigo writerAndy Diggle:

Our initial plan was to reuinite the original Losers for a story set in the 1950s; but we decided that American Century and Garth Ennis' War Stories were too similar in style and subject matter, so we reinvented it for the present day.

Plus the original guys all died, and nobody wants to get caught up in a continuity minefield.

Given that they orignal Losers died in Zero Hour and again in DC's New Frontier mini-series, I wouldn't have seen any real continuity problems with having them live again, but I can understand the hesitation.

The original Losers, along with Haunted Tank, were a regular feature in G.I. Combat magazine. Those of you who are Roy Lichtenstein fans will note that the images in his painting "Okay, Hot-Shot" are reminiscent of Russ Heath's work in G.I. Combat #94 (a Haunted Tank story) and All-American Men of War #89. Irv Novick, who drew the All-American #89 image "was Lichtenstein's superior officer in 1947 in an army unit assigned to create posters of military life" (Daniels, DC Comics 60 Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes page 149).


Lichtenstein's "Okay Hot-Shot"


Russ Heath G.I Combat # 94 (Original in Color, this image B/W)


Irv Novick All-American Men of War #89 (Original in Color, this image B/W)

If you look carefully you can see that the line art in the comic book versions is very sophisticated.

Directing Great Passes Away

This week my wife and I received one of my favorite movies in the mail from Netflix. With great joy I opened the envelope and pulled out The Haunting, one of the greatest classic ghost stories in the history of film, and discussed plans with my wife about when we would view the film.



Let me make an aside here for a moment. My wife and I like to play a "fantasy game" that can only be called "write a letter to a celebrity." When we were getting married we fantasized about writing William Shatner a letter inviting him to our festive wedding day. We laughed about the puzzled look Mr. Shatner's assistant, or possibly even he, would have upon reading the invitation. "Just who are these people?" he might say. "Should I send them a gift, or should I attend in person?" We had a great deal of fun with this and other such imaginings. There are a number of celebrities I have imagined writing letters to, thanking them for the ways in which they had entertained me. But I never actually send the letters, or even write them, because I know that people value their privacy.

But I wish that I had written Robert Wise, who died of heart failure Wednesday, to tell him of how much he has entertained me as a film viewer (a very good obit can be found here). I love the Sound of Music and The Day the Earth Stood Still is one of the greatest science fiction films of all time. I was even stunned recently at how well the special effects in Star Trek: The Motion Picture hold up even by modern standards. I may jokingly, and half seriously, refer to the movie as Star Trek: The Slo-motion Picture, but the visuals are stunning and his use of effects remarkable. The model of the Enterprise looks better in this movie than the space ships in the most recent Star Wars films, now that is saying something.

My favorite of his uses of special effects is in the movie The Haunting, when Russ Tamblyn (Riff of West Side Story, another Wise masterpiece) breath crystallizes in a hallway. The localized special effect is remarkable, you see him blow out his breath in one part of the frame, but no "fog" in any other part of the frame.

So...Thank you Robert Wise for a wonderful collection of films. May people be entertained by them for decades to come.

Ordnung! Ordnung! Ordnung! You must look efficient, rooselessly and coldly efficient.

According to the Associated Press:

Germans were ordered Thursday to stay serious when having their photographs taken for new passports, wiping away any grins, smirks or smiles so that biometric scanners can pick up their facial features.

You read that correctly, Germans are prohibited from smiling in Driver's License photos to make it so security devices can correctly identify them. You may think that this is bizarre, or even restrictive. You would be wrong.

Anyone who has seen Aquirre: The Wrath of God or Schultze Gets the Blues knows that the natural emotional state of the German people is dour and humorless. Since Germans don't smile, except when they emigrate to America, the sophisticated biometric scanners would be baffled and unable to identify the features of any smiling Goths.

Oh, and don't let that silhouette with a "jump in his step" on the cover of Schultze fool you, only a German could consider that film a light-hearted, fast-paced, comedy.

Hit Me Baby One More Time...Britney Has Baby.

I feel guilty for posting this, but can we really be a pop-culture blog without mentioning that Britney Spears/Federline has given birth to a baby boy.

I wonder if Federline, in some bizarre desire to create and Oedipal monster, will make the boy watch reruns of the Britney era Mickey Mouse Club followed by Britney Videos and Crossroads and finally show the kid Kaotic just to demonstrate how much his parents love one another?

On second thought, that would just make the kid suicidal. They had better stick to Madonna's kids book.

A Professor Discusses How and Why to Blog.

Dr. Stephen Taylor at Poliblog has an excellent resource on the purpose of blogs, how to blog, how to measure blog traffic, and how to use blogs. Professor Taylor's website is the host-site for the Web-based "The Academy" community of bloggers and a Professor of Political Science at Troy University in Alabama.

His column is a cornucopia of links covering the subject and a great introduction for all of us.

One of the featured quotes in his outline is:

Mostly that, like “media,” “blogging” is not just one thing. A weblog is merely one medium for conveying information to readers. InstaPundit, Wonkette, Captains Quarters, Daily Kos, and Boing Boing all do very different things in different ways. To simply lump them all together as “blogs” borders on meaningless.

I think the distinction of "types" of blogs highlighted in the above quote is a good one, but what about a site like ours where we talk about RPGs, comic books, movies, tv shows, and the obligatory politics (not to mention forays into the athletic world)? Are we too broad? Too unfocused? To wierd?

All I know is that we have been linking to the good Professor for sometime and are still not a feature in his blogroll. In my opinion, this is because Professor Taylor, like all professors, is a tyrant and we all know that a tyrant's (thank you Xenophon and Plato) primary motivation is to "be loved and respected." Nevermind quoting Machiavelli on whether it is better to be feared or loved, Xenophon already pre-empted that argument in Heiro. It is the very nature of the tyrant to desire not merely power, but respect and love as well.

A Charity to Think About.

In times of crisis it is always a blessing to watch the charitable nature of the American people shine, and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is no different. People are giving to the Red Cross in droves, and it is right that they do so, but sometimes in looking at the big picture (and giving to the big charities) some in need are overlooked.

The Red Cross does great work, but the focus of their work is on helping people. Katrina affected more than people, it also affected people's pets. That is why I would ask you to give to the North Shore Animal League of America in addition to the Red Cross. A lot of animals have been displaced by Katrina and are in need of rescuing.