An Open Letter to Danica Patrick, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Annabeth Barnes, and Many Others

Father's Day may be this weekend, but I received a great Father's Day gift a few days early. I was chatting with my five year old daughter History the other day about what she would like to be when she grows up.

"Daddy," she said.

"Yes."

"I think I'd like to be a race car driver when I grow up."

I smiled down at her with fantasies of her driving aggressively at 180+ mph flashing through my mind - alternating with random visuals of motor sport crashes - and said, "What kind of race car do you want to drive? Do you want to drive a car like Francesco Bernoulli or a car like Lightning McQueen?"

Her answer was swift and unsurprising, "Lightning McQueen!"

It wasn't unsurprising because Jody and I are regular viewers of NASCAR, we aren't. Ever since the twins - History and Mystery - were born, we've been devoted followers of Formula 1 racing. In the early days of the twins' lives when Jody and I were up at seemingly random times for late night feedings, we found something magical on the television. That something magical was Formula 1. Depending on where the race happened to be in a given week, the practice, qualifying, and race might be on at 2am or 3am. This was perfect for late night feeding. And I swear that the sound of the high RPM, high speed engines of those open wheel marvels was one of the reasons we were able to get the girls back to sleep at night. Nothing against NASCAR, but those drivers tend to race at reasonable hours US time.

It was unsurprising because History and Mystery love the Disney movie CARS. They love Lightning McQueen, Mater, and Sally - but they have a special place for Lightning.

Yes, they have Lightning McQueen stuffed pillows to sleep with.

After my imagination stopped flickering between excitement and panic, History asked me a question.

"Daddy? Can girls race cars?" she said.

"Yes!" I answered quickly - a slew of names came to mind, starting with Shirley Muldowney
and including many others.

My answer wasn't enough to steer her away from her own observations though.

"Daddy? Why don't I ever see any girl drivers then?" she asked.

At that moment, I became one of the world's biggest Danica Patrick, Jennifer Jo Cobb, and Annabeth Barnes fans - and I'll be a fan for life. I knew all of their names already. Danica and Jennifer are known to most motorsport fans, and Danica is one of the biggest names in sports period. And I knew Annabeth Barnes name from the motorsport documentary RACING DREAMS.

I became a life long fan because with one single action, I was able to dispel all of the powerful doubt and skepticism that a 5 year old imagination can muster. My daughter had never seen a woman race and she was starting to believe that they weren't allowed to, regardless of what her dad said. With a wave of my hand - we had been looking at a Disney Princess ebook on my iPad - I brought up Danica Patrick's homepage. Clio's eyes widened with awe, I could hear her gasp with excitement.

"Is that her race car?" she asked. She was pointing at the car Danica was standing next to.

"Yes," I answered and as I did so, the slideshow scrolled to show Danica behind the wheel. I proceeded to talk with History about Danica, Jennifer, and Annabeth and visited each of their websites, and a couple more as well (like Katherine Legge).

It was a wonderful moment, and a great early Father's Day gift.

I don't know if History will continue to want to be a race car driver when she grows up. People's dream jobs do change as they grow up. But I do know that after History went to her room for her nap, I began looking up local Kart circuits, availability, and costs. If she has an interest, I will work to provide her the opportunity. I would have done so whether there were currently any women in motorsport, or whether there ever had been, but I am so thankful that there were so many examples I could show my daughter. I have no idea how hard it would have been to fight against the preconceptions my daughter was building up from her own observations, if there weren't footsteps to follow. 

I am glad there were.

So, I'd just like to take the time to thank every woman currently racing in motor sport for doing what they love. My daughter may never join you in the ranks, but you made her dream a believable one and I first hand saw how important that was to her. I have always rooted for drivers like Danica and Annabeth, but it had always been in an abstract "American's love the underdog" kind of way. I am now a devoted fan of any woman brave enough to sit behind the wheel, because you are physical proof of a child's dream.

RIP: Iain M. Banks

I first encountered the brilliant writing of Iain M. Banks when I was an undergraduate at the University of Nevada, Reno. I was working in a computer lab and, having read Heinlein/Asimov/Farmer,  claimed to be a science fiction fan while in conversation with one of the technicians. The technician started asking me, and not in a gotcha way, my opinions on a wide range of authors - authors who had names I was completely unfamiliar with. One of these names was Iain M. Banks. From the conversations I had with the tech, Banks' writing seemed something both new and old. It combined the Space Opera grand tapestry background of Herbert or Asimov (I hadn't heard of Niven yet, but would soon) with stylistic prose that captured the imagination.

The first Banks book I read was Consider Phlebas, the first in the splendid series of "Culture" novels. The book describes a "small action" that takes place within a grand interstellar war between the Culture and a race of aliens called the Idirans. The story was - in some ways - an argument against "Death Star" moments and against "super kid" style SF. At the same time, it was deeply human and evocative of emotion. It was a book that made me think and ask for more, and Banks delivered a great deal more. I consider the Culture novels to be the best collective works in all of science fiction. There may be better individual stories, but as a body of work they are canonical and magnificent.

I read earlier today that Banks, who had been revealed his cancer earlier this year, has died. I am filled with the selfish sorrow of the fan. For now I know that the amount of new experiences that this talented writer will bring into my life has hit its termination. I can only read his final work and reread all that he wrote that has brought me joy - time and again. I cannot imagine the sorrow of his family and newlywed wife - who he asked if she would do him the honor of being his widow earlier this year - I can only know the self-centered sorrow that I feel. I never met the man, neither at a con or a signing, but his work has affected me deeply. It will be shared with my children. I would like to thank him for the gift he gave me.

In memoriam of Banks, I'd like to do two things. First, I'd like to share an excerpt from the poem The Wasteland from which the novel Consider Phlebas acquired its title. Then I'd like to present a quote from the book itself.

IV. DEATH BY WATER Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead,
Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep seas swell
And the profit and loss.
A current under sea	315
Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell
He passed the stages of his age and youth
Entering the whirlpool.
Gentile or Jew
O you who turn the wheel and look to windward,	320
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you.

One of the reasons Banks impressed me as a writer was his ability to capture human struggle in a post-scarcity society. He had a much better grasp on such things than most writers. His economics were not as confused as Star Trek's, which as much as I love the show meander from post-scarcity to smuggling/black market. He understood one of the drives that makes us human. He sums up nicely the human spirit in post-scarcity societies with the following:

The only desire the Culture could not satisfy from within itself was one common to both the descendants of its original human stock and the machines they had (at however great remove) brought into being: the urge not to feel useless. The Culture's sole justification for the relatively unworried, hedonistic life its population enjoyed was its good works; the secular evangelism of the Contact Section, not simply finding, cataloguing, investigating and analyzing other, less advanced civilizations but - where circumstances appeared to Contact to justify so doing - actually interfering (overtly or covertly) in the historical processes of those other cultures.

The human spirit is inherently anti-Prime Directive, as Kirk and crew so often demonstrate, because we wish to matter. We want to make things better. This is a wonderful impulse, it can lead us to beautiful acts or base ones, but it is a quintessentially human impulse.

Banks mattered.

Cancelling AD&D? RPG Rumors Circa 1986 -- Different Worlds #44

I'm a big fan of Tadashi Ehara's now defunct gaming magazine DIFFERENT WORLDS. Over its tenure, the magazine was published by a couple of companies including Chaosium and Sleuth Publications. According to a pre-publication solicitation letter (available here), the magazine was originally slated to be entitled DM. The change was likely due to concerns over TSR's trademark of DM/Dungeon Master. Regardless of the reason for the change in title, I think that DIFFERENT WORLDS better suited the content of the magazine than DM ever would have. The magazine was a gem. Like Steve Jackson Games' magazine SPACE GAMER, Ehara's magazine covered the entire roleplaying game hobby. As I've written before, issue #23 of the magazine is maybe one of the most important magazines ever written about the origins of Superhero Roleplaying games. For those who want to understand the history of RPGs, DIFFERENT WORLDS, SPACE GAMER, and ALARUMS & EXCURSIONS are three of the most valuable resources that the aspiring historian can find. They really help to cut through a lot of the community gossip about a transitional era in the hobby.

Speaking of Gossip, DIFFERENT WORLDS featured an excellent gossip column written by the pseudonymous Gigi D'arn (clearly a Gary Gygax/David Arneson reference). I've written speculation about the identity of this columnist before, and I'm still pretty sure that she was a real person and that the Chaosium staff added to her actual letters. There are just too many little tidbits of SoCal culture, which was booming at the time as an RPG hub, for me to believe otherwise. The column was filled with a great deal of speculation, some true, some pure fiction, and all fun to read.

There are a couple of pieces of gossip/rumors in issue 44 that stand out and need attention. In fact, they are rumors that I'd like to hear more from the gaming community at large about, and I'll be asking around to see if there is any merit to them.

First and foremost - actually quite shocking - really is a claim about ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS. According to Gigi, "Rumour thinks TSR is unhappy with the ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game line and is considering dropping it. GARY GYGAX meanwhile is starting his own company, Infinity Games, in New Jersey. Will he take the license with him?"

I wonder if this is true. 1985 saw the publication of UNEARTHED ARCANA and ORIENTAL ADVENTURES for the AD&D game, but the mid-80s was also the era of the publication of the Basic, Expert, Companion, Master, Immortals rules for D&D. It was a time when the D&D brand was divided among two sub-brands and a time when there was great potential that one brand was cannibalizing the other. From my experience, the D&D brand was putting out a lot of great material at this time. According to GROGNARDIA 1986 saw the release of a number of BECMI products and 1987 saw the production of the first Gazetteer products for the D&D brand - some of the best products ever released for D&D.

If I were to guess, I'd say the rumor was true and that core rule book sales for AD&D had dropped. I would argue that this is why we saw a 2nd edition of AD&D released in 1989. An edition that may not have happened at all if not for the success of the Forgotten Realms Setting. My thought is that the Forgotten Realms setting, written for AD&D, was so successful that management decided to do a new edition of the game for increased sales. I'd like to know if this is correct or not though.

The second interesting piece of gossip/rumors is that J.D. Webster, the creator of the Finieous Fingers cartoon strip, was a carrier fighter pilot. This is apparently true.

What's That You Say? You Saw My Name on a Voice Media Group Article?

A couple of weeks ago, the editor of the Topless Robot website asked if I wanted to begin pitching ideas for table top gaming related Daily Lists posts. Before even considering how challenging the task would be, I shouted with a resounding "Heck yeah!" This morning at 6:00 my first article was published on the website. The article discusses Ray Harryhausen's influence on Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and features 9 AD&D monsters that I think exemplify that influence.

I cannot say how excited I am to see my name in print - or more pixels in this case - again. I haven't seen my name in a "professional" byline since my friend John Ford and I wrote our last Celluloid Say-So article for the Daily Sparks Tribune. The time I had writing that column with J was a joy, and my desire to recapture that feeling was one of the reasons I started this blog. What makes my current article even more exciting is that Topless Robot is a part of Voice Media Group, the same company that publishes the LA Weekly and The Village Voice. As a film fan, one of my favorite critics is/was Andrew Sarris and many of the critical arguments he had with fellow critic Pauline Kael were published by the Village Voice.

Topless Robot may not quite be the Village Voice, but I'm no Andrew Sarris either. 

Boy am I excited! Please...go to the site to read my article - and hopefully many more in the future.

Television Viewing Behavior Study

I am currently in the process of collecting data for my MBA thesis.  To that end, I have designed a survey.  I don't normally post solicitations like this and this will not be a regular occurrence. 

You are being invited to participate in an opinion survey regarding a Television Viewing Behavior. The survey will run for one week only, therefore your timely participation is greatly appreciated. If you are interested in participating, please follow the link below.

https://calpolycba.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_ehx2jqbk2hOYODX

You can right click and choose “Open Link” or paste it into your web browser to get to the survey.

You will be asked to read an Informed Consent, which will explain the study I am conducting as an MBA student at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. The survey contains 17 questions and should take approximately 20 minutes of your time.

Your participation is strictly voluntary and all your responses are completely anonymous.

Sincerely,
Christian Lindke
MBA candidate, Principal Investigator
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Email: christianj@csupomona.edu

You are allowed to share the link with others.

RIP: Ray Harryhausen (1920 - 2013)

To say that the work of Ray Harryhausen had a significant impact on my life would be an understatement.  Not only are JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS and THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD two of my favorite films, films I cannot wait to share with my twin daughters, they are also parts of some of the happiest memories of my childhood.  I remember watching these films with my mom and dad when they ran as matinee films.  I remember my parents "secretly" smuggling me in to see SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER at the Drive-In.  I hid under a sheet in the back of the Gremlin and they pretended I wasn't there. It turns out that they paid the family rate and that the subterfuge was just for my entertainment.  

The movies were undeniably magical and one of my two favorite Comic Con moments is sitting in the audience at a "Ray & Ray" panel (that's Ray Bradbury and Ray Harryhausen) where they both talked about their life's work.  Our local science fiction/fantasy bookstore in Glendale would frequently hold Ray & Ray signings. It was one of the things that makes Glendale the perfect place to live.

Finding out that Harryhausen has passed is sad.  That sadness is lessened by the truth that Harryhausen added so much joy to the world -- joy that will long outlive me.

Thank you Mr. Harryhausen for my childhood joys, and thank you for the future joy I will be able to experience thanks to your imagination.


The Harryhausen Family formally announced the death on Facebook with the following message:

Raymond Frederick Harryhausen
Born: Los Angeles 29th June 1920
Died: London 7th May 2013.

The Harryhausen family regret to announce the death of Ray Harryhausen, Visual Effects pioneer and stop-motion model animator. He was a multi-award winner which includes a special Oscar and BAFTA. Ray’s influence on today’s film makers was enormous, with luminaries; Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Peter Jackson, George Lucas, John Landis and the UK’s own Nick Park have cited Harryhausen as being the man whose work inspired their own creations.

Harryhausen’s fascination with animated models began when he first saw Willis O’Brien’s creations in KING KONG with his boyhood friend, the author Ray Bradbury in 1933, and he made his first foray into filmmaking in 1935 with home-movies that featured his youthful attempts at model animation. Over the period of the next 46 years, he made some of the genres best known movies – MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949), IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA (1955), 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH (1957), MYSTERIUOUS ISLAND (1961), ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. (1966), THE VALLEY OF GWANGI (1969), three films based on the adventures of SINBAD and CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981). He is perhaps best remembered for his extraordinary animation of seven skeletons in JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963) which took him three months to film.

Harryhausen’s genius was in being able to bring his models alive. Whether they were prehistoric dinosaurs or mythological creatures, in Ray’s hands they were no longer puppets but became instead characters in their own right, just as important as the actors they played against and in most cases even more so.

Today The Ray & Diana Harryhausen Foundation, a charitable Trust set up by Ray on the 10th April 1986, is devoted to the protection of Ray’s name and body of work as well as archiving, preserving and restoring Ray’s extensive Collection.

Tributes have been heaped upon Harryhausen for his work by his peers in recent years.

“Ray has been a great inspiration to us all in special visual industry. The art of his earlier films, which most of us grew up on, inspired us so much.” “Without Ray Harryhausen, there would likely have been no STAR WARS”
George Lucas.

“THE LORD OF THE RINGS is my ‘Ray Harryhausen movie’. Without his life-long love of his wondrous images and storytelling it would never have been made – not by me at least”
Peter Jackson

“In my mind he will always be the king of stop-motion animation”
Nick Park

"His legacy of course is in good hands
Because it’s carried in the DNA of so many film fans."
Randy Cook

"You know I’m always saying to the guys that I work with now on computer graphics “do it like Ray Harryhausen”
Phil Tippett

“What we do now digitally with computers, Ray did digitally long before but without computers. Only with his digits.”
Terry Gilliam.

"His patience, his endurance have inspired so many of us."
Peter Jackson

"Ray, your inspiration goes with us forever."
Steven Spielberg

"I think all of us who are practioners in the arts of science fiction and fantasy movies now all feel that we’re standing on the shoulders of a giant.
If not for Ray’s contribution to the collective dreamscape, we wouldn’t be who we are."
James Cameron

LEGO Tower of Orthanc: Time to Write a D&D Adventure for this Sweet Lego Set

The title sequence for this LEGO promotion video makes LEGO look like one of the most fun places to work on the planet. Then again...employees get paid to make and play with LEGOs and that almost by definition makes it one of the most fun places to work.

This video promotes the upcoming Tower of Orthanc set for their LORD OF THE RINGS line.  Most of the line has been expensive but amazing and this set looks to continue the tradition.

Not only do you get the tower, which would make an awesome set piece for a game day, but an Ent! 



History and Mystery aren't quite old enough for these huge LEGO kits, but I cannot wait until they are.