I Have Officially Lived in a Horror Movie

Have you seen Jeepers Creepers 2? No? That's alright, it isn't like you are missing out on A Clockwork Orange, but if you have seen it you will better understand what my day today was like.

Jeepers Creepers 2 is a story of a high school athletic team (I believe basketball, but maybe football) whose bus breaks down in the middle of nowhere, USA. Soon after their bus breaks down, they discover they are being hunted by a batwinged and undead scarecrowesque demon. It's fun stuff, if silly, and very Manly Wade Wellman-like, not as Wellman-like as Pumpkinhead but pretty Wellman-like.

Anyway, that's what happened to me today. As a part of my job I have organized a trip for 40+ high school students to travel from Los Angeles (actually Rosemead, Alhambra, San Gabriel, and Monterey Park) to Sacramento where they will meet with their Assemblymember (Judy Chu) and get a tour of the California Capitol. It's all in the hopes of inspiring this group of students to become political go-getters at their local high schools, not that they much need it. These students are already very excited about the political process and are great to work with, which makes today's events even more like a formulaic horror movie.

At mile 12 in Merced County on the I-5 running between Los Angeles and Sacramento the bus carrying these brave young future leaders lost its drive shaft and coasted to a halt in the middle of farm country in the San Joaquin Valley. That's right, they broke down in the middle of the Big Valley with no Heath to save them. All we could see for miles around were rolling hills, some orchards, and the wandering grazing cow. Stranded, but cellular capable our driver called for back up and we were notified it would be two hours before a replacement bus would arrive.

That's when we were attacked by a batwinged undead scarecrowesque demon. Luckily, I brought my full "DJ-CJ monster hunting kit" (registered trademark), jumped out the side door of the bus and did battle with this spawn of the pit. The battle lasted for hours and the students were in awe, not merely with my (patented) l33t monster fightin' skillz but also with the wide array of "tools" in the DJ-CJ monster hunting kit (registered trademark). In the end it was chemical solution x-2345jxr (patent pending) that dissolved enough of the beast's corporeal form that I could begin the arcane and difficult ritual required to return the beast to the pit. Sadly, the ritual required the still beating heart of a high school student. I hate it when I fight so hard to prevent casualties only to have to cause one of my own.

After three hours we were back on the road and in another two-hours arrived at our hotel in Sacramento.

Okay, to be honest there was no demon fighting, but the rest of the story is true.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Feedback Request

Recently, I started a Fantasy and Science Fiction bookclub at the local friendly bookstore where I buy most of my books. The books I don't by there are usually ebay, abebooks, or at small used bookstores. What can I say, I value the small business owner. The bookclub currently has a very limited membership. I am the coordinator and there are three other members of differing depth of "FantaSciology" (that would be knowledge in the realm of Fantasy/Science Fiction), though most seem to have a good deal of "FantaSciphilia" (love of Fantasy/Science Fiction). My goal is to both increase the membership of the group and to maintain the interest of the current membership.

That is why I am asking you for help. I need recommendations. Before you just jump to the comments section and list you recommendations, let me give you background on the "rules" we are using to select books.

Each month we will read one book and discuss it. We will choose the book based on where the author's last name is in the alphabet. Thus the first book we read will be by an author whose last name starts with an A. Those are the strict rules and I hope you can all recommend 26 books for me.

The books you recommend can cover any age level, interest, or sophistication. They can be new, old, or forthcoming. They might even be books you have written. I just need book recommendations, even graphic novels are welcome.

Of the group, I have read the most Fantasy and Science Fiction and I don't want to limit the experience to things I have read or limit the group to my own tastes.

As an example, our first book is the first book in the new Star Wars Expanded Universe series Betrayal by Aaron Allston. I haven't read much of the Star Wars Expanded Universe stuff, but two of the club members are Star Wars fanatics.

What do you recommend?

Expanded List of Genre Movies Releasing This Year: How They Stack Up So Far

Earlier this year, I posted an Expanded List of Genre Movies (mainly scifi and fantasy) that were coming out this year. Now that the year is a little more than half over, I can give brief up/down votes on those that have already come out.

Here's my brief rating system based on the fact that I see pretty much every movie with my lovely wife.

Happy Married Couple -- Both of us enjoyed the movie.

Disgruntled Husband -- My wife liked the movie, but I was less than happy. My wife will have to sneak viewings of the film when I am out of town on business or out with the boys.

Estranged Wife -- I enjoyed the movie, but my wife was less than happy. I'll have to sneak viewings of the film when my wife is out of the house.

Dinner was Good -- Neither one of us thought the movie was all that special, but neither one of us hated the film. At least the dinner and conversation was worth the time out. We will probably watch it again when it is on HBO.

We Could Have Stayed In -- We would have had more fun if we stayed home watching Monk or Stargate. The experience wasn't terrible, but $20?

Who's Idea Was This Again?! -- We both hated the film and the person who recommended it will be reminded ad infinitum when making future recommendations.

Here goes:

• Tristan and Isolde Opens January 13. I enjoyed this film quite a bit. It took a mature look at the relationship between Tristan and King Mark. It's out on DVD, so pick it up. Happy Married Couple.


• Underworld: Evolution Opens January 20. Not as good as the first film. The plot was really sketchy, and that is in comparison to the first, but it is pretty at times and the action was fun. Dinner was good.


• Nanny McPhee Opens January 27. Saw it on DVD and I should have seen it on film. I really liked this quirkly piece of film making was entertaining, though it is extremely formula for a fairy tale. Happy Married Couple.


• V for Vendetta Opens March 17. Remember remember the 5th of November? The directors and the producers of this film would have been well reminded to read about the Gunpowder plot of Guy Fawkes. Not as insightful as the graphic novel, and that wasn't really all that insightful. Kinda pretty though.We Could Have Stayed In>


• Stay Alive Opens March 26. (Massive Multiplayer Online RPGs can Kill!) I have to add this to my Netflix queue. Couldn't build the courage to see this in a theatre.


• Silent Hill Opens April 21. Despite the fact that some of my friends liked this, I have yet to see it. My wife was resistant and we had other priorities.


• X-Men 3 Opens May 26. Can you say disappointing? Where did all the money go on this production? Obviously not into sets and effects, or to screenplay for that matter. Wait for DVD, it just didn't live up to prior entries. Dinner was Good


• The Omen 666 Opens June 6. Though I really like Liev Schreiber, I am hesitate to watch another remake of a classic film with him as star. Manchurian Candidate disappointed, and I fear this one will too. I'll catch it on DVD.


• Superman Returns Opens June 30. I loved it. Does it have problems? Sure, but it felt like a Superman movie and had the right heart. If I hear about "deadbeat Superdad" one more time, I will kill that person. Superman left moments after the Second movie, in the "universe" of this film, and Lois doesn't remember the romance she had with Supes. What's to prevent her from dating the day after Superman 2? Not memory of a romance. And given Lois' filmic identity, I don't think she cares much about "protection." Only disappointment is that this is essentially Superman 1 redux, as DisContent pointed out.Happy Married Couple.


• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Opens July 7. I'll know if we liked this when the third one comes out. It was fun, but very dark in subject matter and ended on a down note. All symptoms of being the middle movie of a trilogy. You can read my longer review, but to sum it up...Too much buckling and not enough swashing. Happy Married Couple (if the sequel is good), Dinner was Good (if the sequel isn't).


• Lady in the Water Opens July 21. Contrary to the critics, my wife and I very much liked this film. We watched it for what it was, a fairy tale. It followed formula perfectly. Alas, one of the characters was a film critic and you know how critics react to being criticized. Could have used one more rewrite on the names, but the lack of depth in the mythology is really only a lack of depth of the characters in the film's understanding of the mythos. The problem with "creating" a mythology is that you ought to share more of the history with your audience than Shyamalan does. Happy Married Couple

The rest of the movies in the initial list haven't come out, but I will provide capsules as we see them.

On a side note, we saw Ultraviolet with Milla Jovovich. No real story, but if you like watching Milla chop up baddies for 90 minutes and can tolerate 5 minutes of "development," the movie is fun. Reminded me of a version of Equilibrium without the Fahrenheit 451 references or commentary on our phara-culture. I think the 3.7 on IMDB is a bit harsh, but understandable. My wife and I did watch this on DVD while playing a board game, the game was more engaging. Dinner was Good

We also saw the Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D. Have you seen The Neverending Story? Yes? Then avoid this movie. No? Go watch The Neverending Story. The film didn't utilize 3D technology in any innovative way, unless you consider spitting out food at the audience innovative. Same boring 3D tricks, with better technology on the 3D, as the old 3D films. Script was derivative of both Neverending Story and Wizard of Oz. What's that? Blink three times and you'll return home? Is that a tornado? Who's Idea Was This Again?! It was mine, I think it will take longer to live down than my wife's recommendation of Head Over Heels I hated that, even though I adore Monica Potter.

That's it for now.

David Gemmell, Author of Heroic Fantasy Novels, Died at Age 57

A little over two weeks ago, one of my favorite Fantasy authors went under the knife to have quadruple heart bypass surgery. I was worried, but it appeared that he would recover. Sadly, he died last Friday. The biography on the back of each of his novels hinted that Gemmell had livid a hard life, and it appears that his youth caught up with him.

Though I am a Fantasy fan, I had never read a novel by David Gemmell prior to 2001 when my friend Tom Wizniewski (hope I'm spelling that correctly) recommended the book Legend to me. Legend was the first of 30 novels Gemmell wrote over his career and the novel that defined the themes readers would become familiar with in his future works. Legend was published in 1984, I read it in 2001, and I expect that one-hundred-plus years from now Fantasy fans will still be opening it's pages.

According to the BBC article I read, notifying me of Gemmell's death, one of the things that made him so popular was the "Sense of Adventure" presented in his novels. I think that the focus on Gemmell's sense of adventure is a good one, but I don't think it captures the essence of a Gemmell novel. Gemmell could really spin a yarn. While authors like Robert Jordan seek to become Tolkien clones writing massive tomes about supposedly complex "worlds" with well developed mythology (these authors often only succeed at being derivative of past Fantasy masters), Gemmell sought to tell exciting tales. Gemmell was the Robert Howard or Edgar Rice Burroughs of his day. His stories were inventive and inspired by history, real history, and each page eagerly welcomed readers with action and conflict.

Returning to an earlier comment, what were these themes that Gemmell presented again and again in his fiction? Gemmell's writing usually featured three things. First, and I would argue foremost, Gemmell's novels were infused with his brand of Christianity. Gemmell's novels almost always have narratives discussing the nature of God and Justice in the world. Given that his novels take place in fantasy worlds similar, but different, from our own. The most frequently discussed theological principle in Gemmell's work was that of Just War Theory. It infuses his Drenai Stories (the Drenai are a society based on the ancient Greeks) with discussions of what role, if any, violence can play in the actions of people whose religion forbids murder etc. Typically, his protagonists are flawed heroes who embody this conflict.

The second major theme is Gemmell's constant adaptation of history and historical battles into wonderful Fantasy tales. Legend is an adaptation of the battle of Thermopylae, his Rigante stories mirror the struggles of the Highlanders and Irish with the English. Two of my favorite Gemmell books are his adaptation of the story of Alexander the Great. No one makes me want to open up my Thucydides more than Gemmell, if only to find out what events inspired his creations. He has even written alternate Arthurian and Robin Hood tales.

Gemmell's third theme is the one that finally caught up with him, age. Age and the toll it takes on the body are a constant discussion as Gemmell's stories often feature aging, or aged, heroes struggling against the forces of darkness. These were often the tales I found most inspiring, where the hero has the emotional heart to fight on but his physical heart is giving out.

Last year, Gemmell began what was to be a series of books adapting the Trojan War. The first book, Lord of the Silver Bow was exciting and I was looking forward to the rest (Shield of Thunder is due out in September in England). One of the things that I was most jazzed about was the opportunity to read, in a single author's voice, the entirity of the war. Homer begins in the middle in the Iliad and covers the very end in the Odyssey , the post-homerica covers some of the beginning and end, but there is no really satisfying holistic yarn. It looked like Gemmell was going to provide that yarn, sadly it looks as if the series will end abruptly.

Joker Has Been Cast for Next Batman Movie

According to "Bags n' Boards," the comic industry blog over at Variety, Heath Ledger has been cast as the Joker in the next Batman film. The second Batman film will have the same creative team as Batman Begins, Chris Nolan at the helm and David Goyer (of JSA fame) with co-screenwriting duties.

Tom McLean at "Bags n' Boards" has a decent discussion of the history of the Joker role as played by Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Hamill. He even adds some speculation with how certain spoof trailers might show up on the internet with references to Ledger's performance in Brokeback Mountain. I, for one, seem to remember that Batman and Bane had a Brokeback moment and that the Joker's Brokeback moment was with Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) in Killing Joke, but that is just me.

As for my opinion regarding the casting, I think that it is a spot on selection. I never really liked Nicholson as the Joker. First, he was over the top Jack and not over the top Joker in his performance. Second, as much stage presence as Nicholson has, he wasn't angular or "striking" enough to play the Joker. His Joker looked like a silly clown. When the first Tim Burton Batman announced that Michael Keaton would star, I hoped that he would be the Joker. If you combine his character in Beetlejuice with his performance in Pacific Heights, I believe you capture the Joker's personality to a tee. Besides, Keaton's angular eye brows and curly hair almost make him look like the Joker without the makeup. For me the quintessential drawings of the Joker are the Bolland stuff from Killing Joke , he just seemed to capture the insanity perfectly.

I look forward to seeing what Ledger will do with the role. He has shown he can do action, and that he can act, but can he pull of sympathetically crazy? That's what I think Nicholson's Joker lacked, a sympathetic-ness to which the audience can be horrifically drawn. Goyer has a great knowledge of the DC Universe and has revitalized many of the historic characters (as a comic book writer) in his work in the JSA title. He has made silly villains seem ominous (Kobra anyone?), so I have high hopes for the next Batman movie.

Happy Birthday to The Shadow

July 31, 1930 was the first time the voice of The Shadow was heard on the radio. (hat tip to DisContent. Sunset Parker accurately informs us that today is the 76th birthday of the enigmatic voice on the radio, but inaccurately assumes that the Shadow's radio adventures began that same day. In actuality, the Shadow was only a radio host, like the crypt keeper, until September 26, 1937 when (based on the popularity of Walter B. Gibson's -- aka Maxwell Grant -- literary adventures of the Shadow) he was finally given his own radio show.

David Chute, film critic/pulp fan/blogger, has a great article which he wrote for the promotional materials to the Shadow movie.

One must remember when dealing with fictional heroes, in multiple media, that their origins/secret ID's can change. When did Bruce Wayne marry Selena Kyle and what is their daughter's name? Did the Kents take Superman straight home...or to Smallville Orphanage? Hmm...what does Gold Kryptonite do to Supes? Was Hal Jordan an alcoholic or not?

All questions with different answers, depending on the era and medium. Like the Shadow...did he have the power to cloud men's minds...or was he merely using magic tricks?

Fresno Born Agains Freaked Out by Carnival Barkerism

Today's USA Today has an article covering the reformatting of station KFYE-FM, a Fresno radio station, from religious Christian content to "Porn Radio." I don't even know why this is newsworthy, but I guess some people might get in an uproar or something. I'm sure that "Porn Radio" is counting on that uproar to up ratings. I'm figuring "Porn Radio" will keep its format about the length of a teenage boy's first sexual encounter.


In other news... The Hollywood Reporter gives a positive review to Talladega Nights!

The Internet as Network is Here

When NBC is releasing an internet only reality show, you know that the age of the internet as network has arrived. I have written a lot about how the future of programming, even syndication, is the internet. As more people have broadband connections and are stepping away from the TV for more interactive media, it becomes necessary for television networks to respond with more interactive content in the new medium. So far , for NBC this means Startommorrow.com.

Nice play on words that, isn't it. Star tommorrow...Start Tommorrow, looks like NBC is playing the Delphic Prophet on this one, or should I say Adephic profit?

I know there is a lot of discussion about "net neutrality" in the interweb, and I don't mean to start a ruckus, but if what advocates of NN desire happens content like this will disappear. Broadband content requires bandwidth capability, just ask Mark Cuban. The internet is going the way of the Radio and the Television and this means more content (not less like NN'ers fear), but it does possibly mean the end of the "indy" provider. Look, I saw Pump Up the Volume, I wish there was more indy radio, but there is no conspiracy to prevent you or me from getting content. Let's stop the fearmongering talk and discuss the real issue. Do we want the internet to be strictly an information and journalism forum? Do we want it be strictly an entertainment medium? Something in the middle? What do the consumers of the internet desire?

And don't show me that fact free Moby film. I hate propaganda rooted in future shock and fear-mongering. You can put that right next to your Intelligent Design films and Bush speeches regarding Global Warming. Hyperbole don't fly here.

Upcoming Fantasy Films

Gone are the days when Fantasy films are low budget affairs with titles like Yor or Beastmaster where the men are topless, as are the women, and the director's idea of special effects is the use of dry ice making water bubble. Recent years have seen Fantasy films make the transition from fringe to mainstream, similar to the transition that Thrillers made decades ago. Fantasy films have yet to have their Hitchcock, who was one of the directors who made the Thriller high art, but they have had some excellent films in the past few years.

What do I mean by no Hitchcock? What about Peter Jackson, M. Night Shyamalan, or (insert favorite director here)? What I mean is that no director has emerged with the large body of work that is consistently of high quality and that consistently features narrative devices unique to that director. I am still waiting for my fantasy auteur. Jackson or Shyamalan, or even Christopher Nolan or Chris Columbus (actually we can't leave out Zemekis, Lucas, or Spielberg either), might end up being that director, but only time and more movies will tell.

When it comes to the release of new Fantasy films, this year looks to be a great one. We have The Prestige, an adaptation of the Christopher Priest novel. I discussed the movie back in December, but as a reminder The Prestige stars Hugh Jackman, David Bowie, Scarlett Johansson (ugh!) and Christian Bale and is a mysterious tale set in Victorian England. I look forward to seeing how the film will translate the novel's story.

In the wake of the very disappointing SciFi Original version of A Wizard of Earthsea, Hiyao Miyazaki's son is directing a film based on the third and fourth novels in the Earthsea series by Ursula K. LeGuin. The film is called Gedo Senki, which can be transliterated (as opposed to translated) as "Ged's History of the War." The film will be showing at the upcoming Venice International Film Festival along with a lot of other exciting films. You can read a translation of the director's development blog here. The SciFi version lacked the "heart" of the books, but one hopes the younger Miyazaki will be able to bring in the sense of wonder that the SciFi Original lacked.

UPDATE:
LYT was surprised to learn that there were 6 Earthsea books and admitted to knowing about the trilogy. It is true, there are more than the original three books in the series. But it is also true that one can talk about the "Earthsea Trilogy." The original three books from a complete narrative, though the other books (written long after I read the original three as a child) add depth to the story.

For LYT's sake, and the sake of any other interested parties, here is a list of the Earthsea books.

The Earthsea Trilogy:
A Wizard of Earthsea -- Where a young wizard brings evil into the world and in battling evil becomes a man.
Tombs of Atuan -- Ged, no longer a child, searches for a powerful relic and need the aid of a young priestess in acquiring the great treasure.
The Farthest Shore -- Magic is leaving Earthsea and a great evil is overcoming the archipelego. Ged must once more face the product of his greatest failure.

Books written since 1990:
Tehanu -- Ged is dying, but he must find the strength to help a young girl to bring a brighter age to Earthsea. This book also reexamines the role of gender in the practice of magic.
Tales of Earthsea -- This collection of short stories adds great detail to the world of Earthsea.
The Other Wind -- Ged once more finds himself called to serve Earthsea when a man with the power to "mend" objects seeks to "mend" the death of his beloved wife.

Coming out in a limited release this weekend (at the Westside Pavilion in Los Angeles) is Beowulf and Grendel starring the much overworked Stellan Skarsgard. The movie reviewers on NPR this morning were enchanted by the geography, but horrified by the violence and gave the film a negative review. One wonders how a film about Beowulf could be an accurate translation without a good dose of violence, but that just goes to show the biases of the reviewers (and my own). I look forward to seeing the film and whether or not it succeeds in capturing the manly virtues of the epic hero. I enjoyed The Thirteenth Warrior and its "what if Beowulf happened in the real world and not in the land of myth" approach, but I eagerly await seeing a mythic telling of the epic.

Tarzan, Cthulhu, and Other Boardgames I'm Excited About

One of the terrors of being a person who enjoys games is the "new game season" where new products are announced and the desire to acquire takes over. This year is no different from years past and looks like it will be offering a large array of games to tempt my pocketbook. I already mentioned the upcoming Heroscape Marvel edition, which will be released around January with a cost of around $29.99, but there are some other games I am anticipating.

Tarzan Triumphant, by Troll Lord Games features one of my favorite characters from literature in what looks like will be either a good or a horrible game. No matter what, it doesn't look like a great game, but the milieu of the game will be sufficient to take my $39.99.

I am very much looking forward to the Dunwich Horror expansion to the Arkham Horror boardgame by Fantasy Flight Games. The Arkham Horror game innovatively combines RPG-lite boardgame (ala Talisman, Heroquest, Dungeon) with detective game (Clue, 221-B Baker St.) mechanics with a hint of horror. The game can be played solo, but is best when played with a group of fellow Lovecraft afficianadoes.

The soon to be released Marvel Heroes Game, not to be confused with the above Heroscape game, also by Fantasy Flight Games combines two of my favorite things, games and comic books.

A boardgame based on the television series Lost looks like it should be interesting. The designers claim that the game will mix elements of Talisman (an rpg-lite boardgame), Magic the Gathering (a strategy cardgame), Settlers of Catan (an excellent customizable "Euro-game"), and Chess. We'll see, but the game sounds promising. I only have two fears. First, it is based on a license and many licensed games suck. Though if you find a copy of TSR's All My Children let me know. Second, will the game's adaptation of the Lost environment sufficiently simulate the show and how will changes in the show affect future supplements?

Now I will just have to concentrate on actually experiencing the games and not just purchasing them.

Marvel Heroscape

For those who love comic books and Heroscape there is reason for rejoicing.

'Nuff Said.

Tulipomania Brings Eagle Games to Its Knees

Anyone who has read Charles Mackay's excellent Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds is familiar with the Seventeenth century phenomenon of Tulipomania. The rich of Holland became enamoured of the tulip and were willing to pay extravagant prices for them, thus the value of tulip bulbs increased to extremely high amounts. So high, in fact, that those who bought the bulbs soon stopped planting the tulips, only buying the bulbs for resale later, and the market died because there were no buyers. A similar thing happened to comic books in the early 1990s.

Since 2000, the classic game of poker has grown from a fringe casino/home game to a televised event on ESPN. In response, many gaming companies began to offer poker support products. Eagle Games was one such company. They made computer games, poker supplies, and sold poker books. Their poker sales surpased their boardgame sales and became the flagship of the company, so much so that when the market on poker declined they have recently run into trouble.

From the President...

"Hello All,

The auction that has just been noticed by Amcore Bank is a part of a foreclosure process. Due to a sudden and severe downturn last year in the demand for poker products, Eagle Games, Inc. became insolvent and finally ceased operations on May 31, 2006.

The Eagle Games brand and the existing inventory is what is being sold at auction.

I am personally continuing to work on game design and development for Age of Empires and Pirates! (The guys at SDR are spearheading the actual game design for Pirates!) and expect that they will both be ready for publication this Fall/ Holiday season.

More details will be forthcoming after the auction on August 4th.

I appreciate the support that you have all shown Eagle Games in the past and hope that Eagle Games products are available for years to come. "

Eagle Games Inc. makes some wonderful games. Their re-release of Conquest of the Empire was excellent as were their adaptations of Railroad Tycoon and Age of Mythology from videogame to boardgame. I was eagerly awaiting their adaptations of Age of Empires III and Sid Meier's Pirates. Hopefully those products will still be able to be released. The gaming market is a tough racket, I hope they are able to recover.

Pandora Rocks My World

Those who frequent this site, both of you, might have noticed a little box on the right hand side of the page listing "stations." Those are links to internet radio stations that I created using the Pandora website.

I know, I know, the tech savvy among you are saying, "What took you so long Christian? Pandora's been around forever!" And follow this up with 50 sites that have better internet radio functionality. But I find the Pandora site amazing.

Since I first set up a station, I have not listened to one mp3 on my PC. I haven't had too. Pandora combines the ability to listen to music I already like, with a robust AI that finds songs that I might like. According to the website, that is the purpose "to find you more music you like." Boy does it ever.

Add to the quality of the music library, sorry no classical yet, the Pandora Backstage function provides a great amount of detail to whatever song/band you are listening to. In fact, the Backstage information is sufficient to waste hours of my time. Reading the bios/discographic information is a joy and makes me feel like I might actually be able to hold a conversation with Nick Hornby someday.

BTW, check out why they recommend songs to you when you give this program a whirl.

One example from a song recommended for me:

We're playing this track because it features punk influences, a subtle use of vocal harmony, mixed acoustic and electric instrumentation, a vocal-centric aesthetic and minor key tonality.

I wish I spoke about music like that on a regular basis.

Mad Cowgirl Stuns New York Times, Interests Wisconsin Law Professor

Ann Althouse has posted a link to a review of a film that Luke Y. Thompson (you'll notice a link to his blog on the right) worked on. It even sounds like a recommendation.

Tecmo Super Bowl for the Masses

The video I posted with the simulation of the Sox/Mets World Series got me thinking about one of the all-time great video games, Tecmo Super Bowl. I still play this masterpiece of videogame football magic. Sure, I buy the new Madden every year and play the heck out of it, but there is something magic about Tecmo. A part of that magic, is the ability to pull off crazy plays like this.



Cinerati member Rob and I used to play a lot of Tecmo Bowl.

NBC to Make Shows Available on Netflix Before Broadcast

In a bold move, NBC Television will be making the pilot episodes for two of their upcoming new series available for rental on the Netflix DVD rental service. According to the Netflix website a DVD with the pilots for both "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and "Kidnapped" will be available for rental on August 8th, about 6 weeks before the new television season starts.

Here are the descriptions of the shows:

"Kidnapped"
Ellie (Dana Delany) and Conrad Cain (Timothy Hutton) experience every parent's nightmare when their 15-year-old son is kidnapped and they must enlist a rescue expert (Jeremy Sisto) to save him. As the hours race by, secrets and motives begin leaking from every direction. In the same style as "24," the TV drama series is told from various perspectives

"Studio 60"
Network president Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet) is emphatic about the reformation of a dysfunctional late-night sketch show and recruits reputable writers Matt Albie (Matthew Perry) and Danny Trip (Bradley Whitford) to redeem Studio 60. Aaron Sorkin gives you a behind-the-scenes look at what really happens when the camera stops rolling in this TV drama series.

I have been looking forward to Aaron Sorkin's "Studio 60" show with it's dramatic look at a fictional "Saturday Night Live," and I have already added the DVD to my queue. I might as well see if I like "Kidnapped" while I am at it.

I think that this marketing effort by NBC is shear genius. It allows me, the consumer, to feel like an "insider" by offering me a screener similar to what a professional movie critic might be given. All of this, just because I am a Netflix subscriber. I don't know if Netflix is paying NBC for the privilege of offering the episodes (as they would were it a series DVD), or if NBC is merely using Netflix in a marketing effort, for that matter I don't care. What I do like is that NBC is offering me, the consumer, an opportunity to watch their show at my leisure. This is even more cool that when I was able to watch the pilot of "Brotherhood" on Shotime On Demand weeks before the pilot aired.

UPDATE:

The Hollywood Reporter also has a blurb about the release.

Serial vs. Episodic Television

Twice a year, the Television Critics Association holds their press tour at the Ritz Carlton Huntington Hotel in Pasadena. These press tours provide opportunities for television networks to market their products to the people who will be reviewing them in the upcoming season. You can think of the event as a kind of "upfronts for critics." Ray Richmond, of the Hollywood Reporter's Past Deadline blog, has been covering many of the presentations at the 2 1/2 week event. Much of the discussion has focused on what one would expect to read from a television critic's blog, with topics ranging from the upcoming CW lineup to Dan Rather's future with Mark Cuban's HDTV network. But Ray Richmond is more than just a Television Critic, he is also a media critic which means he reports on more than just TV and its business. Ray also writes articles critiquing the critics and revealing the behind the scenes discussions at the TCAs.

This year Richmond's articles have quickly shifted from discussions of what viewers can expect to a major behind the scenes discussion which is resulting in some heated debates among the critics. It appears that CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler started the frenzy when she was asked about viewer decision making processes and whether viewers choose a show by whether it is serial or episodic in nature.

According to Richmond's article, "[Tassler] tried to sell the idea that audience members really don't differentiate between serialized (i.e. open-ended) dramas and ones that serve up self-contained weekly storylines when making their longterm viewing decisions."

Tassler asserted that she thought, "it's purely about the quality of the programming."

Needless to say, given recent discussions at prior TCA events, this stirred up quite a question frenzy. According to Richmond, one critic asked, "but it wasn't so long ago that you guys were saying the reason why all of these 'CSIs' were so successful was the fact that people knew they were going to get a payoff at the end of the hour."

The subject of serial vs. episodic and audience choices is one dear to my heart and not without real merit outside my own aesthetic. When one considers that shows like "Threshold," "Invasion," "Heist," and "Surface" were all episodic shows cancelled before any major narrative was completed, one can see that there are stakes for both the audience and television writers. When shows like these are left hanging the loyal fans, few as they may be, are left wondering what has happened to their characters. And on a show like "Threshold," where the creators had three seasons outlined (Threshold, Foothold, and Stranglehold were the themes of those seasons), the writers can only morn the fact that their story will never be told.

Before I continue, it should be noted that "CSI: Miami" this year had a serial element which led to the season finale.

CBS even has two new serial scheduled for this fall, "Jericho" and "Smith." Both of which I am very interested in watching.

I love serial shows, but they have two potentially huge problems, both of which contribute to the debate.

The first problem arises if the show takes too long to resolve the "A" storyline and making the show feel stagnant. An example of this is summed up by one critic in the Tassler presentation, "You're saying that people at the end of the first season of 'Twin Peaks' didn't care that there was no revelation of who killed Laura Palmer?" I call this problem the "but we don't want the story to end" writer's block. This problem can manifest itself in other ways too. Shows can take to long to reveal what the underlying narrative really is, and who the protagonists/antagonists are. This is the "Invasion" problem. Shows can also stagnate in an endless cycle of almost identical episodes which fear moving the underlying narrative along too swiftly. I call this the "Threshold" problem. The storyline resolution, and stagnation, problem could be solved with networks (and creators) not being afraid to implement a "telenovela" approach and just write a 16 episode show, which might be followed by another "novel" with the same characters or it might not. Either way the story would be finished and writers wouldn't have to "prolong the inevitable."

The second problem is the network decisionmaking process itself. Networks, who are motivated by profit, have to decide whether to keep a show or drop it in a relatively short amount of time. This can cause shows, even good but "cult" shows, to end before the story is over which leaves fans hanging ("Firefly" anyone?). This is where the expanding marketplace and the interwebonetosphere can come in handy. Or at least, that has been a part of the discussion. One suggestion proposed, according to Richmond, is "posting all unaired episodes on a digital platform of some sort for those who need to discover what's gonna happen." [sic] This is a great idea, as far as it goes, but even given Richmond's pleasant mocking of the obsessed fan, that isn't very far.

That is often exactly what happens when DVDs are released. "Firefly" included extra episodes in its DVD collection,as did "American Gothic," but neither resolved the storylines. Audiences are left hanging. Narratively this is a bad thing, morally it isn't a thing at all, and financially it may be a necessary thing. If there aren't enough fans for a show, and trust me I have been one of those disappointed fans too many times to count, a show can't survive.

What I hope is that television executives are brave enough to continue offering serial television programs with interesting narratives. Those are actually the shows I find most interesting and in that way I disagree with Tassler. Given the choice between an excellent episodic show and an excellent serial show, I am going to choose the serial every time. And yes, that includes my gripes about Pirates 2 not having an ending. I just want Pirates 3 out tomorrow.

I guess it stems from my love of the old "Flash Gordon" serials and the desire to see real narratives worked out on the medium of television. It is hard to successfully convey the epic cycle in one hour. Could you imagine Wagner's Ring condensed to an hour?

Don't Hassle the Hoff!

Fritz and I were talking about the Hoff the other day, and about how he is one of the most "googled" figures on the interweb. I was astonished, but Fritz said, "Hey...don't hassle the Hoff!" Truth be told, I hadn't heard that before. Apparently, it's a real saying because David "The Hoff" Hasslehoff wears a T-Shirt with that very slogan in this music video.

The video freaked me out. First, Hasslehoff is driving from the wrong seat. I don't care where the steering wheel in Australia is, Kitt is an American car. Second, the women responding to the Hoff sound like a bad version of ABBA. Third, it's just too weird. This video, hat tip to Monitor Duty, just went on my must see list next to Shatner's version of Se7en.

Step Over Cody Banks, Here Comes Alex Rider

Hoping to capitalize on the very successful youth movie market, Samuelson Productions and the Weinstein company are releasing the $40 million teen-spy thriller Stormbreaker in England this Friday. The film is based on the successful Alex Rider novel series by Anthony Horowitz and the production companies hope that the film will be successful enough to start a new teen movie franchise.

When analyzing the financial expectations of the film, the Reuters article linked above makes comparisons to the blockbuster youth fantasy movies that have come out in recent years. Reuters discusses everything from Harry Potter to C.S. Lewis in setting the stage for the production companies' hopes, but I think this is the wrong comparison to use. Though these successful youth oriented, if I even accept that proposition, films are based on successful book franchises (as is Stormbreaker), the comparison really ends there. The Alex Rider novels, and the movie, are spy tales and ought to be compared to previous entries in the "youth spy" genre. In my view a proper comparison would be to the Agent Cody Banks and Spy Kids franchises. While these franchises haven't been as lucrative as Harry Potter, and the others, they match genre type and set a proper stage for audience expectations. This is particularly true with audiences in the United States who will be less familiar than British audiences with the novel series and will merely have genre to fall back on when deciding whether to attend the film or not.

So...in comparison to Agent Cody Banks and Spy Kids how does Stormbreaker look? You can view the preview at the official Stormbreaker website, as I have. From what I have seen, in the preview which isn't really much to base a conclusion on really, Stormbreaker looks both just as silly and yet more serious than the two films I mentioned. The young actor (Alex Pettyfer) selected to play Alex Rider doesn't look as silly as Cody Bank's Frankie Muniz. The special effects look impressive, and at first glance the cast is filled with excellent British actors like Ewan McGregor, Bill Nighy, and Robbie Coltrane which brings hopeful imaginings of a fairly serious story. But as I watched more of the preview, I saw that the film also includes Mickey Rourke and Alicia Silverstone which makes one imagine a more silly tale.



I am at a loss. I don't know whether the film will be silly or serious, a mixture of the two, engaging or campy. I just don't know. What I do know is that the camera work looks, from the preview, to be very good in comparison to the other teen spy films I mentioned. I also know that the film includes Ewan McGregor and I'll watch him in anything. BTW, if the Stormbreaker preview is any kind of indicator, Ewan would have made a very good Bond (even though I think Daniel Craig will be great).

It should be noted that comparisons to the Spy Kids series, rather than the very successful Harry Potter series, were not meant to be dismissive of the film's potential to be profitable. According to pro.imdb.com, the first Spy Kids film made $190 million in Worldwide boxoffice and only cost $35 million to make, figures that would make the producers of Stormbreaker very happy.

For my final assessment we will all have to wait for August 18th (or October depending on whether IMDB or Fandango are correct), when Stormbreaker hits the American market.

Kim Masters is Undercover on Miami Vice

It appears that Michael Mann's film version of Miami Vice has hit a snag in production and Universal is having to fight pre-release negative press. Jamie Foxx left the set and refused to shoot any scenes outside the United States forcing Mann to film his ending differently.

I know on the face that sounds scandalous, but when you read Masters's story at Slate you'll get the full picture. I'm just trying to get you interested.

Take note that there are almost no pastel's in any of the images.

It is a very good article, with which I have only one quibble. Did Masters forget, in the opening paragraph, that Michael Mann's production company made Miami Vice? Dick Wolf, John Milius, Robert Crais? Those guys suck as writers right?

To be fair, I really only like the first couple seasons of Vice and most of the "homage" films of late have been spoofs, but that is no reason to think that a Starsky and Hutch movie done straight couldn't have been good. Oh, and Michael Mann worked on that series too. "Texas Longhorn" and "Jo-Jo" were First Season Michael Mann episodes.

Forget to Ask the Hot Cop for Her Number?

If you did, don't call 911 and try to find a way to contact her. Lorna Dudash, having found the young police officer who responded to a 911 call she had made regarding noise in her apartment, tried this very thing. What was she thinking?

"Hmmm...That cop was cute. Do I call the local police station and ask how to get in touch with him? Nah. How about writing a letter to the local station? Nah. Wait! I've got it, I'll use the emergency only number to see if they can send him back to my house! Excellent. After all, I'm 45 and my dating life needs emergency assistance."

It turns out the police officer did respond to her call, only this time to arrest her. She faces up to a year in jail and a $6000 fine. Maybe he'll wait for her, and if so the relationships is certainly worth 6G. Of course, after a year in jail all her relationship troubles may be over.

Bill Buckner? What About Bob Stanley?

After watching his wild pitch allowing the tying run, you'll know what I mean. Here is a re-enactment of the dreadful inning in beatiful 8 bit style.

Iconic Girl Next Door Passes Away

Last weekend, I renewed one of my teenage crushes. Ever since I saw her as Constance Bonacieux in the Gene Kelley version of The Three Musketeers, I have had a crush on June Allyson. That crush was renewed over the 4th of July weekend when I saw her perform as Ethel Stratton in the classic Jimmy Stewart baseball film "The Stratton Story."

She was perfect as the wife who supported her husband after the loss of his leg. I can still see her standing, holding the catcher's mitt and pounding the pocket, helping Jimmy Stewart learn to pitch on a wooden leg. The scene I just wrote reads like it might have looked ridiculous, but June Allyson was so charming that it became easy to ignore Jimmy Stewart's awful pitches. All that mattered was Allyson's reactions and they were charming and sincere. In The Stratton Story, June Allyson played the girl next door and brought back my boyhood crush.

I was saddened today by the news that she had died this weekend. I was first informed of the news by our friend J.C. Loophole over at The Shelf, but the news story on my morning news show followed almost immediately.

She was 88 when she died of pulmonary respiratory failure and acute bronchitis, but she will always be 20 something to me.

Pirates 2: Not Enough Swashing and Too Much Buckling

Do you remember those days of yore when exciting films of swashbuckling action played on the big screen?

No?

Me either.

When I was growing up, the best swashbuckling films had already been made and I watched them on Saturday afternoons or late Saturday night. The swashbuckling adventures that played on the big screen when I was young were terrible. They were either tongue-in-cheek affairs like Yellowbeard, awkward executions like Pirates, or miserable adaptations like The Pirate Movie. Sure there were some bright spots like Swashbuckler, but for the most part my youth was spent watching either spoofs of swashbuckling films on a larger than life medium, or watching larger than life swashbuckling films on a 24" screen.

Then as a teen and twenty-something tyke things only got worse. I had to endure the horror of Cutthroat Island, possibly the worst movie ever made. It just seemed that Hollywood had become incapable of making a serious swashbuckling film anymore. All they could make were parodies of classic films made decades before. The best swashbuckling film of my teen years was The Princess Bride, but even it (and it is a great film) took its subject matter less than seriously. After Cutthroat Island, I had lost hope that Hollywood would ever make another good traditional swashbuckling film.

Then I saw Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Finally, the magic of swashbuckling adventure was back. Beautiful women, rope swinging, duels, pirates, and canon fire were once more a part of Hollywood and I couldn't be happier. Add to this the release of Master and Commander and I was a truly happy man.

So, like much of America, I lined up to watch the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest with high hopes. The film is the second in what is to be a trilogy of Pirates films. I entered the theater quivering with excitement and I left the movie in a state of confusion.

The latest entry in the Pirates franchise has three very interesting narratives going on within its over two-hours of storytelling and one less interesting narrative (there are additional subplots as well). The first narrative, the least explored and most interesting, is the growing power of the East India Company and their desire to acquire a superweapon with which they can control the high seas.

The second narrative is the desire of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) to "save his soul" from Davy Jones (Bill Nighy). Jones had returned Sparrow's ship from the depths of the sea in return for Sparrow's servitude 13 years after the raising of the ship. Like the first film, Sparrow is again in risk of losing his soul to an undead captain and is, once more, at risk of becoming an undead crewmember.

The third narrative is the story of Davy Jones himself. Davy Jones is a tragic villain who once loved a woman, but due to complications ended up cutting his heart out and placing it (still beating) into a chest. As long as the heart beat within the chest, Jones would be immortal. Here's where the title of the film takes dual meaning. The "Dead Man's Chest" refers not only to the physical chest storing Jones' still beating heart, but also the empty chest within Jones' physical body where the heart should be beating. Jones' narrative has a couple of primary points. First he scours the seas in search of crewmembers to serve as undead henchmen on his crew. To do this he often unleashes the Kraken (no Clash of the Titans giggles please) to destroy ships sailing the seas. Second, he still pines for his lost love, playing the organ and listening to a heart shaped music-box. The narrative leaves open the potential of redeeming this heartbroken villain.

The less interesting fourth narrative is the romantic triangle of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), and Jack Sparrow. Where the first film had Sparrow flirt with Swann, the audience always knew the young lovers would be together. No longer is this the case. As the film's storylines play out, Swann discovers that she may have more in common with Sparrow than she imagines. Where Turner is forthright and virtuous, features that often require greater than normal heroics, Sparrow is self-centered and dishonest. As Swann gets deeper and deeper into the story, she begins to discover how dishonest and self-centered she is.

This Pirates film is darker and less linear than the first film. Where the first film was a roller coaster of action leading to a structural conclusion, this film divides the characters and ends with the need of resolution. In many ways, the film shares a great deal narratively with Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. The film separates the main characters, has each follow a particular story, and ends on an unresolved down note. The bad guys are winning at the end of the film, but hope remains. There was more drama, but less excitement and fun in this production.



The special effects, in particular the creature designs by Mark McCreery (Galaxy Quest and Van Helsing) are remarkable. You can see some of his design work on the crew in this clip (Jack Trades Will ) featuring Davy Jones and Will Turner. One of the key features in the film is the use of new motion capture technology. According to USA Today, "Davy Jones is cut from a very different cloth. He was created with motion-capture technology, similar to what Andy Serkis did with Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and the giant ape in King Kong and Tom Hanks as the multiple characters of The Polar Express." Nighy's performance is entirely motion capture. He performed on set in a motion capture suit, instead of makeup, and the results were impressive. I had been wary of this technology after seeing Polar Express and fearful of what the upcoming motion capture Beowulf adaptation would look like. But after seeing the Davy Jones sequences, I am now anxiously awaiting more uses of the technology.

As an additional highlight, while there is less swashing (action) than buckling (boring talking head stuff) in this film, there is still one remarkable duel featuring a water wheel. This fight really is not to be missed.



Overall, I believe the film will be worth watching only after seeing the third and final installment of the series. I left feeling lost, alone, and sad. Quite the opposite of the emotions I expected going into the film. If Gore Verbinski and crew can complete the open narratives and redeem our heroes in the third film, this may end up being viewed as the best film in the series in retrospect. If the narratives are left unresolved, the film will be viewed as a failure. One thing is for sure, the film feels unfinished and very much like the middle part of a narrative. It is a good thing that is exactly what this film is.

Now I know what it felt like to be one of those kids who watched the serials in the theater. Well with one big difference. I have to wait a year to find out what happens.

Overall, I enjoyed the film, but I wanted it to be more lighthearted and hopeful.
If you go out to see it and don't enjoy the movie, but you like the "idea" of it, you must rush out immediately and purchase Wiz Kids Games' Pirates of Davy Jones' Curse.

France in disgrace?

I am not the most avid soccer fan, in fact it is a stretch to call me such a thing. I, like most Americans, watch at the World Cup and little else. Watching the World Cup final a couple things struck me. First, the refs have the power to change the course of the game unlike what I have seen in other sports. With only 8 or 10 shots per game (with games ending 1-0 on a frequent basis) it seems that the awarding of penalty kick or removing a player from the game is a huge difference maker. The refs in American football do have some power to influence the game but more than that has be going against a team in a loss.

The second thing was the shocking headbutt by the French captain, Zindane. There was no play only a blatant personal foul as Zindane headbutted an Italian player in the chest. I do not know what was said between the two, but it doesn't matter. There really is no excuse. He took himself out of the game and hurt his team's chance to win. Beyond the immediate it is another black eye on the face of the international sport. With U.S. media doing a job on the racism that players of color endure while playing in Europe from the fans. (Being called monkey and having bananas thown at them). This, in my opinion, adds to the unruly reputation that soccer enjoys. It is sad that the big story of the World Cup is not Italy's win but that instead it is the disgraceful actions of France's best player. Sad.

F1 Driver Juan Pablo Montoya Drifting to NASCAR

Juan Pablo Montoya, currently with the Mercedes-McLaren F1 team, will be driving NASCAR for Chip Ganassi's team in 2007. Montoya is a former CART racer, and Indy 500 winner, who did a day swap with Jeff Gordon in 2003 where he had his first exposure to stock car driving.

Montoya discusses in the Yahoo! article how he understands the differences between the two sports and that he doesn't expect immediate success.

One reason for the transition from F1 to NASCAR may be the more "pass oriented" style of the NASCAR races. According to another Yahoo! article, Montoya stated:

``Anyone that watches the race, they know it is not the most exciting thing you can watch,'' Montoya said of F1. ``No disrespect. How hard is it to pass in Formula One? And if you pass and then you touch wheels, you're an animal.''

Atheletes who have migrated from open wheel racing to NASCAR have had mixed results, with Tony Stewart being one of the most successful, so we'll see if Montoya's style leads to victories. Montoya will likely race a few Busch races this year and will run both Nextel and Busch races in '07.

With rumors of Kimi Raikkonen moving over to Renault next year growing strong, Montoya's move leaves speculation at McLaren's line up next year.

The news of Montoya's leaving F1 is less surprising given his involvement in the USGP major pile up where he tried to shift blame to teammate Kimi Raikkonen.

Contestant Decides He Doesn't Want to Be a Rockstar

I enjoyed last year's Rockstar: INX show where vocalists competed for the opportunity to become INX's new lead singer. The vocalists were talented and each show had very good, and sometimes excellent, performances by the performers. The show was, for me, a more interesting version of American Idol, one that featured a band whose CD I might purchase.

This year's lineup looked equally exciting. I watched the initial performances on Wednesday and had already formed a couple of favorite performers. I liked Dilana for her charisma, and a cool rendition of a Nirvana tune. Magni had a lame performance but anyone named Magni ought to have the strength to get past the first elimination (that's Norse God humor for those of you out there, check the link). I did think that Magni ought to have played to his genre, he's Icelandic, you know "Death Metal." I wanted to hear him sing "Reign in Blood" by Slayer or something, sing from the bowels Magni...the bowels of your lungs.

Speaking of paying attention to genre, Matt was one of my favorite performers on Wednesday. He did a pretty good job with Coldplay's Yellow, pitchy at the end as Dave Navarro pointed out, but his stage presence was good. He does look twelve, but I was ready to let that pass. That is until he performed his elimination song, the song artists sing to prove they ought not be kicked out of the band. This is a song, unlike the initial performance, where the vocalists can sing whatever they want. Matt decided he didn't want to be in a rock and roll band, but in a new wave ensemble and performed a Duran Duran tune, a new one--not even a classic tune. You can view the performance at the Rockstar website, it's flash animated our I'd provide a direct link to the performance. Let's see...I'm trying to convince the former rhythm guitarist of Guns N' Roses, a former Metallica bassist, and a former Motley Crue drummer that I should be their front man and I pick...Duran Duran! Yes! But Glam, not hair metal glam but real Glam, is a precursor to Punk, New Wave, and Metal. Duran Duran is New Wave so you can rock it out you say? Okay, then Matt should have performed a T-Rex song. I have never seen anyone self destruct so swiftly.

In other news, it appears that Matt Hoffer has been offered a merchandising deal with Bad Idea Jeans.

Happy Bonza Bottler Day

Have a happy Bonza Bottler day. Just another reason to have a party.

James Wallis, Pilgrim for Charity

I frequently read Matt Forbeck's blog, maybe too frequently. One of the reasons I keep going back to his blog, in addition to any insights I might get into the "gaming" world, is that he has interesting friends who do interesting things. Case in point, Matt's most recent post is about James Wallis who has decided to go on a journey that would make Medieval Bloggers like Professor Nokes jump for joy. Wallis plans to walk all 120 miles of the Pilgrims' Way through Hampshire, Surrey, and Kent.

Mr. Wallis will be making the journey without the assistance of modern technology, including maps, because he desires to make the pilgrimage in a manner closer to that of a medieval pilgrim. You know the type, you read about them in Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. The work is one of the great works in English Literature and a great glimpse into the medieval mind. Wallis is using the trip as an opportunity to raise money for charity, something that would make the author of the Caterbury Tales proud and would make for a worthy addition to the tales themselves.

One of my favorite "discussions" in the Tales was the discussion of piety, indulgences, and what behavior best exemplified a proper "vocation."

First Amendment Rights Restored at the University of Nevada, Reno

Back in April of 2006 I read a very sad story in the Newspaper of my Undergraduate Alma Mater. The University Senate, the students the young idealistic rebels, voted on whether or not to make the entire campus a public forum or to continue limiting free speech to four "free speech" zones. Sadly, only one student voted in favor of making the entire campus a public forum. I was worried about the state of my former school, limiting free speech is a terrible idea especially on a college campus.

Luckily, when the school year ended the University administration, that's right the normally oppressive bureaucrats, reversed the policy expanding the free speech zone to cover the entire campus. The only exception to the rule is the interior of campus buildings, which still have restrictions. Really leaving speech restricted in the only place, on a campus, where such a policy can even be imagined. I can, after all, understand how protests during classes might disrupt students' ability to learn. But even granting that caveat, I hope the new policy allows a great deal of latitude even within buildings. While shouting down professors during lectures might be reasonably restricted, other forms of free expression (like arm bands, T-Shirts, etc.) seem legitimate even in a more restricted forum.

Chronic Iced Tea

British consumers will soon be able to purchase an ice tea that is sure to be lauded by snack and fast food companies. Health food shops in England will soon be offering a tea made from Cannabis. While the makers of the tea assure us that the amount of THC is insufficient to create "dependancy." No comment has been made whether the tea causes the munchies.

Dragonlance Animated Movie in the Works

According to Gaming Report.com there is an upcoming Dragonlance animated feature in the works. Add to that Lucy Lawless will be doing the voice work for one of the major players, Goldmoon, in the production and it all sounds good. That is until I read the part where Lucy Lawless says that Goldmoon is Native American. Huh? The story takes place on the planet Krynn, on the continent of Ansalon. So where is America here?

Does she mean that the plains people Goldmoon and Riverwind come from are based on certain Native Americans? That would be true, but given the voice direction she describes, I worry. I worry. I worry. I worry.

52!!

I am most impressed with the latest DC "Let's remake the universe" storyline - 52

I haven't read comics regularly since they killed the "Young Justice" series, but I am way addicted to this one.

It's like a comic book version of "24" but with superheroes and all those trappings, wherein there is a new issue every week, the events happen in real time as best they can for a comic book (i.e. the latest issue references that last Sunday was Father's Day), and they are doing a bang up job of really analyzing what would happen to the rest of the world if all these crazy events happened and dealing with the characters lives in a realistic manner.And (also much like 24) they have a really cool website done up like a "Daily Planet" website that has lots of cool goodies and clues to keep you guessing at what's going to happen next.

I'm digging it. Go check out the comics, as Christian Johnson has observed they could certainly use the support. And if you haven't read one in awhile I highly recommend you pick up the Infinite Crisis storyline while you are at it. It will keep you from wondering what the crap is going on, as well as entertain you with it's well plotted storyline and character development.

The Lake House and Me

My thoughts about the movie The Lake House are very similar to those of Roger Ebert who enjoyed the film and gives it a nice review. My wife and I had been looking forward to seeing this film ever since we say il Mare, the Korean film The Lake House is based on, early last year. We very much enjoyed the film's premise of "writing through time" and any attempt to tell an epistolic tale in the visual medium is a remarkable exercise. We all know letters aren't truly conversational, and in making the letter writing conversational both the Korean and the US film cheat, but it is neat to think of a romance that develops separated by time. The reference in the American version to Jane Austen's Persuasion is apropos.

The only real complaint my wife and I had regarding the American adaptation was the choice of dog they used in the film. The dog in the Korean version was just perfect and had the right balance of cute and vulnerable. Besides that, it reminded Jody and me of our own lost personification of love Oreo.

Which reminds me, the best line in Ebert's review is, "Dogs live outside of time, don't you think?" I would add that in the film's The Lake House and il Mare love exists out of time, and that dogs as personifications of love do as well.

You Never Know What to Expect in Los Angeles

On Saturday my wife and I went to a graduation party for Cathy Seipp's daughter Maia. Actually the party had a two fold purpose. The first was to celebrate Maia's graduation from high school and admission to UC San Diego. The second was to celebrate Cathy beating the odds in her battle against lung cancer and being able to witness her daughter's graduation. Cathy is one of the bright lights in Los Angeles. She is a Southland conservative who has friends across the political spectrum and sometimes her friends bring interesting guests.

At this particular occasion, you can imagine my befuddlement to be at a party on a sunny afternoon in Los Angeles when who should arrive? Ann Coulter?! Whuh?



I was certain, given her pale skin and dread aura, that she was a vampire and incapable of being out during the day. But as it turns out when I shook her hand, after being introduced, I did not gain the expected two negative levels. She was very accessible and had a long discussion with Southland liberal blogger Joseph from Martini Republic. It isn't often one gets to meet a professional provocateur, so I leapt at the chance to see if she was always "on" or if she saved being "in character" for high profile events. As it turns out she had a disarming self-effacing humor. She joked about how her ideal telvision role would be a murder victim on the Fox show 24. She laughed at both how much "liberals" would enjoy seeing her corpse and how much the press would eat it up.

LYT described her reception by observing, "It's funny how there are people here who have probably used all kinds of invective to describe her, yet immediately wanted to talk to her."


photos compliments and © Emmanuelle Richard

My wife tried to talk me into having my picture taken with her, as did LYT, but I only agreed to have one taken with my back to her pretending to be so cool that I could keep my back turned to one of the most divisive personalities in the modern day. If only Michael Moore had been there too, then my head would have exploded.

In case you were wondering, while I didn't gain two negative levels (as expected) I do believe I had to make a Will save, a Fortitude Save, and took somewhere in the realm of 1d8+5 damage. All of which explains the sunglasses Coulter was wearing.

As Swashbuckling Movie Fan and Shark Bytes 50 Fathoms Editor

I would be remiss if I didn't post this...

SciFi Network Picks Up Wizard Private Eye Series

The SciFi network has picked up 11 episodes of a series based on the "hardboiled" Wizard PI Harry Dresden. The best-selling series of novels by Jim Butcher are a combination of Randall Garrett's Lord Darcy series and Dashiell Hammett. My wife and I have been reading the novels and have found them to be very enjoyable, though Butcher sometimes overdoes the "hardboiled" writing. As I read aloud the words before we go to bed I sometimes feel like I am Kirk Douglas in Ace in the Hole. The first novel is a little clumsy, but written in a good pulpy spirit.

If you look very carefully at the upfront video, you can see some clips from the show. You can read some of the reaction on the Jim Butcher website here.

According to the press release, the show is being produced by Nicholas Cage's Saturn Films production company and Cage seems excited about the series and the inclusion of Paul Blackthorne in the titular role. Cage stated, "Norm and I feel that Paul's passion for the part and talent will translate into a charismatic performance." The show is being distributed by Lion's Gate entertainment and will air on the SciFi channel in January.

Conan Movie News

According to ICV2, the Hollywood Reporter has announced that a new Conan movie is not only back on track, but it appears also has a director lined up. The movie is slated to be a live action film and it appears that Warner want to "stick closer to the Howard" source material than the two existing Conan films.

What exactly the above means can only be guessed at, but the director slated for the film is Boaz Yakin. On the plus side is the fact that Yakin directed Remember the Titans an entertaining if prozaic film, and wrote and directed Fresh starring Samuel L. Jackson (a very good film). On the negative side is the fact that Yakin wrote the Dolph Lundgren Punisher movie, the Charlie Sheen film The Rookie. He also directed Uptown Girls and was Executive Producer on Hostel. Looking at this past work doesn't really give me a vision of what to look for regarding what Yakin's Conan will look like.

My hope is that the film will encorporate more of the weird elements of the Conan tales and depict the young Cimmerian in as human a fashion as Howard's stories. Conan may be preternaturally proficient with weapons, but in the stories he has a heavy superstitious streak as well.

Will Conan be young or old? Let's hope old. My favorite stories are of King Conan and not the younger one. Though Queen of the Black Coast is fun.

A Quick Alternate Reality Gaming (ARG) Q&A with Matt Forbeck

I play a lot of games. I don't necessarily claim to be a "gaming expert" or "expert gamer," but I definitely consider myself a fan of games in multiple media. In fact, I like games (as well as movies, literature, philosophy, and comics) so much that I am surprised when a type of game has existed without my knowledge. I don't mean that I overlooked a particular game that people play. I am certain that happens all the time. One only has so much time and thus can only be exposed to so many different games. I mean an actual type of game. But when I read Matt Forbeck's entry titled Clothes Make the Game, that is exactly what occured. Matt was talking about a type of game I didn't know existed, or I hadn't made the connection that it exists. I didn't know there was a such thing as an Alternate Reality Game.

An Alternate Reality Game (ARG) is defined by the Alternate Reality Gaming Network as:

Alternate Reality Gaming is, according to CNET, "...an obsession-inspiring genre that blends real-life treasure hunting, interactive storytelling, video games and online community...

"These games are an intensely complicated series of puzzles involving coded Web sites, real-world clues like the newspaper advertisements, phone calls in the middle of the night from game characters and more. That blend of real-world activities and a dramatic storyline has proven irresistible to many."

These games (which are usually free to play) often have a specific goal of not only involving the player with the story and/or fictional characters but of connecting them to the real world and to each other. Many game puzzles can be solved only by the collaborative efforts of multiple players, sometimes requiring one or more players to get up from their computers to go outside to find clues or other planted assets in the real world.

One such game, and maybe the most famous was The Beast an interactive advertising game designed for the movie A.I. where perceptive viewers found clues to a mystery. More on that below. There are many others, and I guess I had a hint that such things might exist when I discussed the phone number on the show Supernatural. I noticed they gave out a real phone number, called the number, but didn't explore to see if there was a game. There might just be, as I have explored their website more thoroughly and unlocked things I hadn't known were there. But the number is no longer active, likely do to the uncertain status the show had with the WB/UPN merger. Though that tension has been resolved. Another time I encountered a possible ARG was when I read David Blaine's book Mysterious Stranger which advertised a contest where readers who solved puzzles could win money. I didn't try my hand at the time as I was stressed about life enough at the time, but it seems I might have missed a fun opportunity. And recently I went to the website for Stranger Than Fiction which has more interactivity than I would expect without some "gaming" element.

With the advent of ARGs, it appears that games can happen anywhere and at anytime. With this knowledge, I asked Matt Forbeck, a game designer who did some work on The Beast, some questions in the hopes of writing an article. Time has conspired against me integrating his quotes into background for a more detailed article, so I will post the coversation here (my comments are in bold).

1) Where does the name "Alternate Reality Game" come from and how does it,
in your opinion, describe the phenomenon?

I'm not sure where the term sprang from, but I think it does a fair job of pinning a label to that sort of game. It can conjure up images of things like Deadlands, which is set in an alternate reality, but I think most people who learn a little about ARGs can recognized them for what they are.

2) Other than the Beast, the AI ARG, what are some of the more successful
ARGs?

ilovebees (for Halo), Dead Hand Poker (for Gun), Perplex City (a new CCG/puzzle/ARG from the UK).


3) Hecatomb had an ARG, which I was unaware of at the time, how does one go
about trying to find/identify extant ARGs?

It's hard sometimes. The Beast was designed to be viral from the start. The only way you would know about it is if you spotted a strange credit in the original AI trailer for Jeanine Salla, Sentient Machine Therapist. A web search popped up Salla's website, and from there you fast became embroiled in the game.

ARGN.com is a good source for details on ARGs, both new and old. Otherwise, the best thing to do is keep your ear to the ground and keep listening for something odd.


4) In your discussions with Sean Stewart, etc., did the old "Choose Your Own
Adventure" or "Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks" ever come up as an influence on
the construction of ARGs?

I worked very little with Sean. Pete Fenlon (formerly of ICE, now of Castle Hill Studios) directed most of my work. I think the analogy to those sort of pick-a-path adventures is clear. However, the Beast had a specific ending that the fans were meant to reach: solving the murder of Jeanine Salla.


5) What types of prizes are offered, if any, in a typical large ARG?

It varies from game to game. Perplex City offers a $200,000 prize. With the Beast, players were invited to early screenings of the AI film and given special movie posters that had their handles printed on them. I have mine framed in my office still.


6) What is your personal ARG design philosophy? By which I mean what types
of "game mechanics" do you think are most appropriate?

It changes with regards to the property involved. Puzzles always seem to play a big part in such games, as does mystery. It's great to come up with enough substance to your alternate reality to give it the verisimilitude such worlds require too.

There often aren't mechanics as such. With the Beast, for instance, the players kept solving things faster than the team could come up with them, so a lot of development was done on the fly. As Jordan Weisman once said, "It's like running a roleplaying game for 50,000 of your closest friends."


7) What role did you play in the creation of the Beast?

I wrote design documents for a bunch of the websites, including—in most cases—the full text. Most of these were the background sites that added to the game's sense of reality. I also helped out with some of the bit games tossed in, including a cell phone game I'm told only appeared in Japan.


8) What do you think are the long term implications, say the Lost "novel",
in terms of marketing opportunities for the RPG industry? In other words,
could Wizards create a d20 Modern ARG to accompany an animated or live
action show which also supplemented their own campaign supplements? How
would they go about communicating the existence/interaction of the ARG to
the PnP game?

The trick is that a great ARG requires a huge audience. In the RPG arena, only Wizards has a good hope of drawing in such a group. A smaller crew might be able to pull something like this off, but a good ARG is expensive to deploy and maintain.

In the past, most of them have been executed as marketing tools, not revenue generators, although Perplex City aims to change all of that. I'm watching their progress with great interest.

Getting people who already know about Dungeons & Dragons to try an ARG affiliated with it wouldn't be too hard. Most of the time, though, ARGs are meant to generate a huge buzz for the introduction of a new product/film/game. D&D is already established, so I don't know that an ARG would fit it all that well.

As for things like the Lost novel, Wizards did something like that last year when it published Three-Dragon Ante, which is meant to be a card game that characters might play in a fantasy world. I don't know if it brought in any new players that way, but it was a cool idea, and I hear it's a solid game too.

So, are you just picking my brain, or is this for your website? If not, I think it might be fun to run this Q&A on my site instead. If you'd like it for Cinerati, though, no sweat. Just let me know when you post it, and I'll put up a link on my site too.

Great questions, by the way. If you have more, just let me know.


A part of me is excited about the viral nature of these games, but another part is resistant to praise anything that creates an “insider” vs. “outsider” phenomenon. For example, with the AI thing, I had never heard of the Beast. I think it is a great idea, but I never noticed the obscure credit and so I was out of the loop. So now I feel like an outsider trying to catch up.

These all tend to be event-based games, and if you miss the event, you can't do much more than read about it afterward. Still, the event is one of the big draws of the games, so I don't know if anyone will ever want to separate that out.