Blackmoor Vituperative

A friend took me to see Sucker Punch this evening. I do not think it is a bad movie. I think it is a sad movie, and that the middle hour or so is empty and pointless (literally, sound and fury signifying nothing). Fun to look at, but lacking any meaning or purpose, on any level.

I think Sucker Punch had one layer too many fantasy worlds. I would have liked it better had the movie been without the “asylum” reality or without the “bordello/prison” reality. The thing is, I think a movie that took place in the asylum would have been more interesting than the movie that took place in the bordello/prison.

So basically it starts like A Series Of Unfortunate Events, fills up the middle with the most expensive (and meaningless) parts of the Matrix sequels, and then ends like One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.

You might consider that a spoiler, but it isn’t. The ending of the movie is shown very plainly about ten minutes in. Everything in between is just killing time.

In the context of people using fantasy to escape a horrible situation, I think Brazil is better (and has a less obvious ending).

So: bad? No. But not great, and not memorable. I liked the soundtrack, though.

Finished the RavenCon schedule. Not difficult, but more time consuming than I expected. I learned a lot, though. I can do it in half the time next year. Here is how not to do it.

Hexographer and Dungeonographer received major updates a week or two ago. If you’ve used either tool since then, you’ve probably noticed the changes.

Both tools received layout changes which reduced the number of menu items by placing buttons for many of those features in panels dedicated to those features. For example, the ability to add custom map items is now a button on the map items tab/toolbox.

There were a great many other changes, as well. You can read more about it at the Inkwell Ideas web site.

I feel a bit bad about putting this in the “Music” category. It does qualify, in a “no accounting for taste” sort of way.

Here I am, trying to wrap up a project that I am, I admit, more than a little behind on. (I have good reasons for that, but it’s gotten ridiculous, and I really need to get this done.) Anyway, so here I am, making a good faith effort to catch up on this, and I get sent this:

It’s a deceptively catchy tune, but not quite catchy enough to conceal the truly awful lyrics.

“Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday
Today is Friday, Friday
Tomorrow is Saturday
And Sunday comes afterwards.”

It’s almost surreal in its sheer awfulness.

“We so excited.”

Indeed.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I am still working my way through our DVD collection. I recently started with the “D”s. There are some truly great films that start with “D”. For example, last night I watched “Darby O’Gill and the Little People”, which is likely my all-time favorite Disney movie. It wasn’t until this morning that I realized that today is St. Patrick’s Day. “Darby O’Gill” features Albert Sharpe, Sean Connery, and Janet Munro. Janet Munro also starred in The Crawling Eye, which I saw just a few days ago (it was the second-to-last of our “C” DVDs), and which is also one of my favorite movies.

The mechanical effects in “Darby O’Gill and the Little People” are simply amazing. If you get the chance, watch the DVD special feature “Little People, Big Effects”. I am still astonished by what can be achieved with forced perspective and matte paintings.

Five or six years ago, I tossed out shelves and shelves of role-playing games and sourcebooks. Many were games that I had never played: all were games that I never intended to play again. All of my 2nd edition D&D books, nearly all of my indie RPG books, all of my Hero System/Champions books — all went. I saved books for games I still played, or still wanted to play, but this was a very small pile compared to what I got rid of. I also saved a few books that, for one reason or another, were special to me.

Nobilis was one of those games. I had a first edition copy of Nobilis, and I will have it as long as I own any books at all. You see, I was there when Nobilis was written. Oh, I didn’t contribute to it. Not directly. But I was there while the author played with ideas — strange, magical ideas. And in my small, probably insignificant way, I encouraged her. And when the book was published, I bought it.

Well, Nobilis is in its third edition now. Go buy it. Even if you never play it (as I likely never shall), it is worth it. It is strange and magical, much like its author.

P.S. A special, limited-edition autographed copy is available for a limited time. I am tempted. Sorely tempted.

Charlie Sheen is my new favorite person. He is so unapologetically, enthusiastically demented. I can only wish I had the balls (and the money) that the Sheen has. Banging seven-gram rocks and “models” half my age in rapid succession. Tossing out brilliantly insane bon mots like they are confetti.

Confetti at a parade for my awesomeness.

“I’m a grandiose life, and I’m embracing it.”

Stay gold, Charlieboy… Stay gold.

This is not urban fantasy

We are home, safe and sound, from MystiCon 2011. We had a good time, and we are glad we went. Here are some thoughts in no particular order.

I liked Brinke Stevens. I can’t recall (offhand) ever enjoying a guest of honor as much at a con. I wish her luck with her writing.

It annoys me that “horror” is apparently no longer a genre, and that all of these vampire romance novels are called “urban fantasy”. WTF. I have an easy test for anyone wondering if a book is “urban fantasy”: if the protagonist or antagonist in your novel is one of the Universal Studios classic movie monsters, it’s not fantasy, much less “urban fantasy”. Storm Front is urban fantasy. Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter is not. War For The Oaks is urban fantasy. Dead Until Dark is not. This is not rocket science.

We really enjoyed hanging out with Carla and Brian. Fun folks. I hope they come to RavenCon some day (although they won’t this year). We met several other fun people, as well, but I am terrible with names, so I can’t tell you theirs.

The character sheet for Greg Porter’s new Verne game is simply amazing. Also, CORPS has been replaced with EABA… as of eight years or so ago, which shows you how out of touch I am.

The podcast thing worked out pretty well, I think, but I have learned something in the process: I am painfully tedious. There are some people who are so tedious that I can barely stand to be in the same room with them when they are talking. I am one of those people. I don’t know how anyone else stands me. Aside from my annoying nasal voice, I combine the worst aspects of someone who can’t string together two coherent thoughts and someone who appears convinced of their own brilliance. If I was in the audience for a panel I was on, I would probably just leave. No accounting for taste, I guess.

I need to find a way to tether my phone to my laptop, so that I won’t be dependent on a malfunctioning hotel internet connection. I know that there are Android tethering apps; I am just not sure if my phone can do it.

I would like to play in a superhero LARP some time. We were too busy for me to participate in one this time.

Having pizza in the con suite Friday night was awesome. Having a hotel room across the hall and one door down from the con suite was doubly awesome.

In general, I am glad we went.

I filled in on this panel at the last minute. Susan and I did run a LARP at SheVaCon back in 2003 or so that went really well: “The Hotel On Haunted Hill”. It’s where we met our friend Bob. But I am hardly an expert or anything, and honestly I did not expect the panel to be interesting at all. I was wrong about that: it was very entertaining, and packed with people.

This is my second “podcast”: myself, Rod Belcher, Bob Flack, Dave Lystlund, Owen Anderson, and Jestin Jeffries, on the Running a LARP panel at MystiCon 2011, 2011-02-26 @ 13:00.

Running a LARP podcast (mp3, 50 MB)

I had another panel at 15:00, on Game Publishing, but no one showed up. It was just me, Greg Porter, and John Meagher. John and Greg chatted about fonts and pull quotes for a bit, then I took off. I did not bother recording it.

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Oh, I nearly forgot: I was interviewed for a few minutes last night by Bethany Halle, of “Fire of Fantasy and Darkness with host Bethany Halle”. I am not sure why she thought I would be interesting, but since she appeared to be having technical difficulties (did I mention how badly the internet at this hotel sucks?), there probably wasn’t much harm in interviewing me rather than someone genuinely interesting.

My portion of the interview starts at one hour and twenty-five minutes (1:25) into the podcast:

The Fire of Fantasy and Darkness with host Bethany Halle – Highlighting the World of Fantasy

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