Stephen King, Joe Bob Briggs, Peter Pan, and Matt Forbeck

Yesterday, I shared a link to Matt Forbeck's, who is a freelance game designer and fantasy author, blog which briefly discussed the copyright issues surrounding Peter Pan. Today Matt has a post that goes into much greater detail on the subject and provides an interesting connection to Stephen King.

One of the most interesting development in the situation, other than the Big Stevo connection, is that even though Disney isn't paying the Ormond Hospital royalties on the Barry prequel, they are contractually bound to give them royalties if they make a movie based on said prequel. That gives a hint at how messed up the copyright situation is with regards to the Pan. Matt has written a wonderful article combining personal narrative with factual presentation, if you are interested in Pan at all please read it. My only criticism is it's reliance on Wikipedia for information. Wiki is an interesting and possibly awsome resource, but as Penny-Arcade has pointed out not one without vulnerabilities. Overt vandalism is rare, but like Comic Book history Wiki is controlled by those with interest in the topic. What type of interest, pro or con, on a controversial topic does affect Wiki entries, though given enough time a kind of "Wisdom of Crowds" or "Cool and deliberative sense" tends to rule the day. Besides, with geek topics, especially non-controversial ones, Wiki has much joss, almost as much as a Kistler profile on Monitor Duty.

But what does this have to do with Stephen King and Joe Bob Briggs? Well the Rock Bottom Remainders are a band that Dave Barry and Stephen King are both members. And Joe Bob Briggs was recently in a fan film based on a Stephen King short story. In fact, thank to the Joe Bob link I discovered Stephen King's Short movies online. The site has a large catalogue of fan adaptations of Stephen King's stories. It even appears, if you are as concerned about IP rights as I am, that Big Steve knows about the site and supports fan productions, but it isn't made expressly clear. To be honest though, I don't think Joe Bob would do anything to hurt Big Steve.

First DC Attempts to Get Me to Stop Buying Comics..Now Marvel Joins In

For me there are two truly iconic superhero costumes. These costumes have come to represent more than just the hero wearing them, they have come to represent the company publishing them. From DC comics, that costume is Superman's costume. No matter how many times they play with it, they always have to return to the iconic one. Why? Because the image has become so ingrained in the collective consciousness that the bold S has meaning outside the medium in which it was created. The same is true for Spider-Man. Peter Parker's character revolutionized comic book storytelling and the costume was an innovative imagining. Sure Marvel Comics have tampered with the costume temporarily in the past, and in doing so have created one of Spidey's most popular villains. But the newest costume change, and its association with Marvel's most fickle costume changer Iron Man are just too much. Iron Man changes costumes all the time. Will the same be true of Iron Spidey?

I hope not. Let us hope that Iron Spidey is a precursor to the "Red Arachnid" foe of Spider-Man.

Matt Forbeck Has News on New Peter Pan Prequel

Matt Forbeck discusses a controversy surrounding the 2004 Dave Barry prequel to Peter Pan and the reaction of the Great Ormond Street Hospital.

After reading the article go immediately and watch Finding Neverland and 2003's Peter Pan. Who doesn't love Jason Isaacs as Hook? Hmm...who?! YOU! Why I oughta!

Wallace and Gromit Boardgame to Be Announced in February

Cards Inc. will be announcing the development of a game based on the Wallace and Gromit animated characters. According to ICV2 the announcement will be made at this year's Toy Fair, by which they likely mean the American International Toy Fair which will be held this February 12 through 15.

According to the article the game will be entitled Fleece and was "envisioned" by W&G creator Nick Park. The theme of the game appears to be inspired by the A Close Shave animated short featuring the lovable claymation characters.

By making the announcement at the American International Toy Fair, rather than at the GAMA Trade Show in March, Cards Inc. is likely exhibiting an intent to focus marketing efforts on large retail outlets like Walmart and Target rather than on local game stores like my own favorite Lionheart Games. Consumers often hear the complaints of large Toy Market specialty stores like Toys-R-Us and FAO Schwartz who bemoan the difficulty of competing with Target and Walmart price gouging, but what often get overlooked is the comparitively almost exponential difficulty of local gaming stores to compete with the large Toy Stores. Those who remember the last Christmas shopping season can likely remember Toys-R-Us advertising exclusive items like the Lava set for Heroscape. Local gaming stores are even more dependant on being able to offer unique quality games and merchandise.

I don't blame Cards Inc. for targetting the larger stores, it will mean more sales for them and thus more money, but I will still be ordering it from my local shop. Hopefully I will pay suggested retail, but if I have to pay a couple of bucks extra so be it. It is well worth it if it means I can continue to purchase games like the beautiful Settlers of Catan special edition.

Shatner Update

Tabloid Whore has the latest, and greatest to date, William Shatner news.

Do You Remember When A&E Meant Arts and Entertainment?

It seems that lately the Arts and Entertainment network has decided to leave the Arts behind and focus on the entertainment half of their name. What do I mean by this? Why the explosion of "reality" tv shows that air on this network. Though as a friend of mine who worked on Forty Deuce explained about reality tv, "We take the truth into a dark room, strap it into a dentist chair, and get hard to work on it."

I remember fondly the days when A&E was the channel on which I could watch Pride and Prejudice. My evenings were filled with romantic forays into the English countryside, my wife cuddled close to me, watching very nice people encounter romantic complications. It was wonderful, the warmth of good dialogue and the person you love. What more could one ask for? But now...oh now...how the world has changed. A&E's line-up looks more like a police line-up than a romantic one. How can one cuddle and coo soft words into a loved one's ear when watching Dog the Bounty Hunter? One does not think of Sonnet 116 when watching Inked or Intervention.

What am I supposed to watch with my wife? What show touches upon the deeper truths of human existance? Does A&E have such an offering? Luckily, yes they do. They have provided me with the beauty that is Rollergirls. I am not kidding, this is great tv. Not because of the "sport" or the monolithic theatrical struggles that take place in the "wooden oval." No there is no Bach fugue playing here, that would be Rollerball not Rollergirls.

What makes Rollergirls entertaining, and even a profound commentary on the "common life", is the conversations and attempts at philosophizing that the competators give. Most of the "girls" are working class, and struggling, individuals who desire in some way to be great. To paraphrase Lunatic, "it gives my life a kind of purpose, no matter how pointless that purpose is." The young women of Rollergirls seek to escape the banality of normal existence and for one brief moment to feel adored. I would say "heroic," but I think that might provoke laughter. The funny thing, no matter how vulgar and prescripted the contests the Rollergirls participate in, no matter how unatheletic these atheletes are, they truly do seek to be successful and to feel they are accomplishing something.

For a member of the Holy Rollers, it is better to get punched in the eye for pennies than to make minimum wage selling DVDs all day. In fact, that is just what most of the girls do during the day, they work at dull service jobs. For the Lonestar Rollergirls in Austin, TX, this is their Fight Club where they struggle against the mundane and seek something more. Sure that something more is to beat the snot out of one another while others watch, but a lot of other people get paid a heck of a lot more money to do similar activities.

Just one question though...

Who would win in a fight between Johnathan E and Miss Conduct?

An Unpleasant First Experience

Last week, while attending a Los Angeles Press Club Event discussing a book about the Black Dahlia murder, I was describing the neighborhood where I live (notice the property crime index of 7 compared to a national average of 3.2). I live in South Los Angeles, across the street from Dorsey High School. I was talking about how in the 5 and a half years I have lived in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles, my wife and I have never been the victim of a crime. I was even excited that gangs had agreed to a post-MLK march truce. But now that "have never" needs to be changed to "had never" been a victim of a crime.



I walked out to my car this morning, ready to go to work, when I noticed there were several CDs spread over the "driveway" near my car. I began to wonder what happened, but when I got to my car all was answered. The passenger side window of my car had been shattered and the contents of my car spread about. Even my trunk had been opened and "searched." I did a quick inventory and noticed that nothing appeared to have been stolen, not even the $5.00 in the ashtray. The vandals had taken a long time throwing my stuff around and searching for something they might find to be valuable. But other than throwing my CDs around, they didn't take anything. I guess Science Fiction, Philosophy, and RPG books weren't up their alley, and I guess we had different tastes in music.


So I called the police, who took my report over the phone, and drove the car to a local dealership to have my window replaced. With the new car window setting me back around $400.00, I think I can afford a rent increase of a similar amount. Needless to say my wife and I began an apartment search today.