A Care Package from a Dear Friend

When I arrived home from work the other day, I was greeted by a small parcel sitting in front of my screen door. I hadn't ordered any Amazon packages recently, at least not any unreceived Amazon packages, so I quickly looked at the return address. To my pleasant surprise, the box had been sent by my dear friend Jay. I hurriedly opened the package to see what treasures lay within, since Jay has a keen knowledge of many of my obsessions. The trove was better than expected. It was filled with fantastic fiction of the sort I adore, and included two extraordinary gems.

So what did Jay send?

Glad you asked.

• Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert Heinlein (1981 Ballantine edition)
• Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein (1974 Berkley Medallion edition)
• Farnham's Freehold by Robert Heinlein (1965 Signet edition)
• Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke (1966 Ballantine)
• Justice, Inc. by "Kenneth Robeson" aka Paul Ernst (1972 Paperback Library)
• The Hate Master by "Kenneth Robeson" aka Paul Ernst (1973 Warner Paperback Library)
• The Fantastic Island by "Kenneth Robeson" aka W.Ryerson Johnson and Lester Dent (1966 Bantam books)
• The Sea Magician by "Kenneth Robeson" aka Lester Dent (1970 Bantam)
• The Stone Man by "Kenneth Robeson" aka Lester Dent (1976 Bantam)
• A Gent from Bear Creek by Robert E. Howard (1975 Zebra Books)
• Son of the White Wolf by Robert E. Howard (1978 Berkley Medallion)
• Pirates of Venus by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1979 Ace)
• The Mask of Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer (1966 Pyramid)
• The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer (1965 Pyramid)
• Tower of Zanid by L. Sprague deCamp (1963 Airmont)
• Day of the Giants by Lester del Rey (1964 Airmont)
• The Cactus Kid by Tom West and Kansas Guns -- Abridged by Paul Durst (1959 Ace Double Book)
• Winter Range by Al Cody and Pistol Whipper by Lee Floren (1960 Ace Double Books)
• The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (1962 Crest Book)

I want to take a moment to highlight the two Sax Rohmer Fu Manchu novels, The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu and The Mask of Fu Manchu. I am a fan of this particular member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and am a proud owner of The Romance of Sorcery. Jay and I watched one of the old Fu Manchu movies, The Mask of Fu Manchu to be specific, starring Boris Karloff when we were in a film class together as undergrads. I was shocked at the film's ending when Nayland Smith throws the Sword of Genghis Khan into the ocean.
Smith's disdain for an artifact from Chinese history, admittedly one which could be used for world domination if it fell into the wrong hands, was a perfect example of British Imperialism and attitude of superiority. I wouldn't have been shocked if Smith's action was shown in a negative light, but it is shown as a good and necessary action. The boat scene, combined with my love of many Hong Kong martial arts films which show the other view of British Imperialism, has led me to swirl an idea in the back of my head. I eventually want to write a story where both Manchu and Smith are the villains.
The idea is still in a primordial state, but I think it is a pretty good one. It is admittedly high concept, and very much influenced by Marvel Comics' Master of Kung Fu, Grant Stockbridge's The Spider: Master of Men, Lester Dent's Doc Savage the Man of Bronze, and Jet Li's Wong Fei Hung (who would be anachronistic, but cool). If I can find a way to throw in Sun Wu Kung, I'll do that too. Hmm... maybe as "The Avenger," both are shapeshifters of a sort.
I have always found the Chinese nationalism of films like Once Upon a Time in China and Drunken Master II very compelling. I can only wonder what it would be like to have another culture pilfer the treasures of my nation's past to sell them as mantle placements.

As for the gems, A Gent from Bear Creek is a collection of Robert Howard's Breckinridge Elkin's stories which can be hard to find. Howard's name equals only Conan to some readers, but those people are really missing out on some good yarns. One of the joys of the Elkins stories is Howard's attempt to capture vernacular in the writing. It's not an easy thing to do without coming off as ridiculous. Manly Wade Wellman does a great job of it in his John stories, and Howard does a pretty bang up job himself, in part because it makes the "tall tale" aspect of the stories all the more convincing.

The other gem is the novel that one of my childhood favorite science fiction films is based on, The Day of the Triffids. In all honesty, I only have vague memories of the movie (similar to my Asphyx memories), but I really liked the movie as a kid. Hopefully, the novel will rekindle those memories and maybe even add some new ones.

Thanks Jay.

NCC-1701X "The White Rabbit"

I am a huge fan of the Original Series of Star Trek, but even I have to admit that many of their acting troupe moments are bafflingly hilarious. Think about the "bomb" in I,Mudd. Let that scene play around in your mind for a moment. Pretty bizarre isn't it? I won't even go into how strange it was watching William Shatner playing a woman possessing Captain Kirk's body in Turnabout Intruder. Shatner's performance in that episode is the root of all Shatner impersonations.

Don't believe me? Watch the episode.

Somebody in the interwebonetosphere decided to to a mash up of moments of bizarre behavior and drinking in Star Trek and make a music video for Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit. The result is magical.



Thanks to both Tenser (the blogger, not the mage) and Chris Roberson for the recommendation.

Music Geeks of the World, Unite!

Michael Hirschorn’s article in the January/February 2007 issue of The Atlantic attempts to illustrate the coming direction and shape of the digital music evolution. In an analysis that will warm Christian’s heart, he notes that iPod’s best days, like Colonial Williamsburg, are behind them. The end of what Hirschorn calls the “end-to-end” system is nigh.

The meat of Hirschorn’s analysis:

There is order to the madness. If you accept as an article of faith (and I do) that the existence of digital media means everything will eventually become available everywhere for a price that will approach zero, you can start connecting the dots. I’m currently faced with an arbitrary choice: if I want to walk around with my music in my iPod, I have to interface with the closed iTunes system and purchase songs at 99 cents a pop (or, for non-major-label offerings, go to eMusic.com); if I want to enjoy new music, learn about music from people who’ve built cool user pages, and generally share in the communal joys of critical discrimination, I have to leave iTunes and sniff about online. It is surely only a matter of time before that problem is solved.

What I find odd about Hirschorn’s article is that he does mention any of the “all you can eat” systems found through Yahoo, Napster, or Rhapsody. I’ve been very happy with my Rhapsody system where I can download an unlimited number of songs to my device, a SanDisk Sansa e280, for one low price. Now, I can’t burn any of those songs to a CD, or continue to use them after I stop paying my subscription fee; I’m essentially renting my music, but the price is so low that I see it as a fair exchange. Rhapsody integrates some of the community aspects that Hirschorn lauds in his article. Subscribers can put together playlists for other to download and I can see what is being downloaded by people who share my musical tastes.

Some of the new web-tools that Hirschorn thinks are harbingers of the revolution include:

Hype Machine

iLike

Last.fm

Daniel Craig Nominated

Daniel Craig was nominated for best actor by BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) for his work in Casino Royale. The movies The Queen and Casino Royale lead the field in nominations.

Casino Royale is a good time!

I was fortunate to see Casino Royale over the weekend. I heard some scuttlebut regarding this current Bond not being "Bond" enough. This complaint was mainly that the actor did not fit e thConnery, Moore, Bronsan mold of the suave Bond. This is true. But I found this film to be the best of the Bond series.

Daniel Craig as Bond is a bit of thug, recently coming off service in the SAS and being elevated to the coveted "00" status. He is a blunt and tough, he lacks refinement but he is a good character. Casino Royale is one of the few attempts to make Bond a person, there is an actual attempt to give him a past. It is simply better thought out than the other Bond films.

The action scenes reminded me of "The Bourne Supremecy" in their graphic quality and realism. That being said, I really would recommend this movie. I thought it was simply outstanding.

There are a couple of plot problems that make you scratch your head, but I won't get into that for those that want to see the movie. When talking to a friend of mine about this movie, he said something I agreed with. "Casino Royale is a great action film with an engaging hero who just happens to be named James Bond". Two thumbs up.

Elvis, David Bowie, Some Other Famous People, and Me

Today is January 8th, and every American knows that today is Elvis' birthday. There will be Elvis movie marathons. Some people will watch Clambake, others Bubba Hotep. People will sing Viva Las Vegas. There may even be sightings of the (would be) 71 year-old rock icon.

Not as many people know that today is David Bowie's birthday, he turns 60 today. I have always thought that David Bowie got the raw deal in the birthday commemoration department. He's had a prolific career and has influenced a lot of modern musical artists. He's even made some pretty good movies, some weird one's as well. But Bowie's birthday falls on January 8, the same day as Elvis, "The King of Rock and Roll." Who can compete with that? If his birthday fell on January 9th, Bowie might get some play on TV and radio. After all, Bowie is way cooler than Nixon, but alas his birthday is on the 8th and will forever be in the shadow of "The King."

Bowie isn't alone in living under the birthday shadow of the King, here is a short list of people who share Bowie's tragedy:

1. Bart Starr -- Football Great
2. Bob Eubanks -- My Least Favorite Part of the Rose Parade
3. Stephen Hawking -- That Scientist Guy
4. Robby Krieger -- Light My Fire
5. John McTiernan -- Die Hard with Elvis
6. Jason Giambi
7. Soupy Sales

There are others, but I don't want this post to last forever.

I almost forgot, I also bask in the shadow of Elvis.

Movies: Now for Gamers by Gamers

In the second issue of their customer newsletter, The Strategic Review, the upstart gaming company TSR claimed that the inspiration for the company was the "satisfaction in creating and/or publishing a good set of game rules." Brian Blume put a great deal of emphasis on the fact that TSR was a company of gamers who would make games for other gamers. In other words, TSR was a company that produced games "for gamers by gamers."

It was a battle cry that the company was compelled to make due to two things. First, the rapid rise of success TSR experienced was making some people, who are particularly "precious" about their interests, question whether TSR was "genuine" or "corporate." Second, TSR had set itself apart from a good deal of the gaming hobby. TSR's roleplaying game D&D would have long term negative affects on the wargaming industry, as it existed in the late 70s, and TSR quickly set their own gaming convention GenCon against the industry standard Origins convention. There is a long editorial in the April 1976 issue where Gary Gygax responds to Don Greenwood, the New Products Manager for Avalon Hill (one of the sponsors of Origins) at the time, who claimed that Origins was "the national convention."

TSR was a company establishing its identity and place in the world of gaming and it wanted to make sure that its audience new that TSR was a company "for gamers by gamers." In the 1980s, a computer game company by the name of Interplay also used this battle cry in the promotion of its products.

Members of a niche audience, in this case gamers, have a desire that the products designed for and destributed to them are made by members of the niche audience. This may sound like an exclusionary attitude, and in some ways it is, but it is also a good defense mechanism. After all, is it fair to ask a gamer to only be able to purchase "games by people who disdain gamers but what their disposible income?" I think not. Often those who are best able to make a product for a desired audience are those who have an appreciation for the product in the first place, Joss Whedon's run on the X-men comes to mind as a perfect example of a for x by x synergy.

I have been keeping track of one upcoming product "for gamers by gamers" and was alerted to another just the other day. There was one difference this time, both of the products are upcoming movies. That's right, some gamers have decided to make movies "for gamers and by gamers."

The first of these film projects is the Midnight Chronicles which is being funded by Fantasy Flight Games, the people who designed the world in which the film(s) will take place. The Midnight setting is a game world Fantasy Flight Games designed for use with the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game. The setting is a typical Tolkeinesque setting, with one significant alteration. In Midnight the bad guys won the big war and the setting is about what happens after "the Dark Lord" has been victorious. What isn't emphasized enough in the film clips/discussion is the reason the Dark Lord won, which is what I think actually makes the setting an interesting adaptation of the cliche. The Dark Lord's victory was secured when the "heroes of the age" sided with him instead of battling against him. The what if of the setting isn't just, "what if Sauron won?" The question is actually, "what if Aragorn, Boromir, and Gandalf sided with Sauron?"

The Fantasy Flight project is already deep into production, and has produced both a short and long trailer. By the discussions on the site, it appears that the hopes are more to make the Midnight Chronicles into a SciFi channel original series than into a single movie. The film(s) are being shot on HD and are being entirely produced by Fantasy Flight Games.

The second project, which I am equally excited though more worried about (more on that below), is the news that a movie inspired by the Brave New World roleplaying game is on the way. Reactor 88 Studios, a group of independent filmmakers in the Chicago area, have begun work on the project. The work is still in the early stages, but Brave New World is a roleplaying game with a devoted audience. Brave New World was a superhero roleplaying game created by Matt Forbeck which featured a dystopian present day America. The tag line for the game was "superpowered gaming in a fascist America." The setting was dark, but no completely hopeless. The game itself featured "functional" mechanics, unless you wanted to know exactly how much your superstrong character could lift, and one of the best innovations in the history of gaming, website's devoted to the milieu's resistance. Brave New World was in many ways a precursor to the modern Alternate Reality Game, in that it attempted to use existing communications media to further immerse gamers into the world environment. The game faced tough competition in the Hero Games dominated superhero rpg market, in addition to other pressures from a changing rpg marketplace.

I am excited about both of these projects because they are inspired by the hobby that I love. Both these projects have the potential to increase exposure, in a positive non-creepy way, to the roleplaying hobby and demonstrate the creative and inventive natures of those who participate in the hobby. I just worry about quality.

When it comes to game design, by gamers for gamers is a good philosophy. I don't know if the same maxim holds true for different entertainment media. Fans of Dungeons and Dragons the game shouldn't forget that Courtney Solomon claimed to be a fan/player of the game when he was promoting his Dungeons and Dragons movie. Integrity and a respect for the target audience are certainly necessities for quality in a gamer targeted movie project, but so is talent. In fact, directorial/creator talent is the single most important attribute necessary in the production of entertainment. So far the Midnight project looks like it is being done by people who are proficient at what they are doing, though some of the acting is suspect. I worry more about the Reactor 88 project, only because I have yet to see what their work looks like. I am limited by what I have seen of their website, which I hope isn't an omen of what their film will be like. To be fair, it is highly possible to be a talented filmmaker who only has limited web-programming skills so it isn't the best criterion with which to judge.

Gamers can be a forgiving, if hard to access, audience. Sales of the rough, ragged, and sometimes insulting "The Gamers" were enough to warrant a sequel and special edition. Though I prefered Gamers the Movie, if only because it was directed by a classmate of my wife's who I know is a real gamer. Gamers the Movie featured rendered environments and special effects that dwarf The Gamers and a score by Battlestar Galactica's own Bear McCreary, that and the fact that the Sound Editor, Wes Kobernick, plays in the Eberron game I DM. Speaking of USC student films, if you ever get a chance to see Fist of Iron Chef go immediately. It may be one of the single best student films ever made, that and it was a selection for 2005 Taipei Film Festival.