Blackmoor Vituperative

The last few panels have been really interesting. One was “Costuming on a budget”, which was fun and interesting. The other was not really a panel, but rather a Q&A with the guest of honor, Brinke Stevens. She was really interesting. She had a perspective on the changes in the film industry wrought by technology in the past several decades, and some insightful observations about how the business of selling movies has shifted in response to changes in technology. That was an unexpectedly interesting discussion, and I rather wish I had recorded it. Then she went on to talk about her current work, books she is writing, her interest in the environment (she has a masters in marine biology, was on track to study dolphin communication as she was working on her doctorate before she got into films). The whole science-environment part of her talk was fascinating.

I am really glad that we got to meet her: she is genuinely interesting. I bought one of her DVDs in the dealer room, Dead Clowns. She autographed it for me. 🙂

I am at Mysticon, listening to a panel on costuming photography. One of the panelists is a photographer — an evil photographer. She went on and on about copyright, and how the people she photographs have the gall to think that they have some right to the photos of them.

Then she turned around and talked about having models sign releases, so that in case the photographer asks them to stand on a glass table, and the table collapses, cutting the model to ribbons, that the photographer won’t have any responsibility. That was her example: a real model really got cut up because a photographer had her stand on a glass table, which broke.

While I was typing this, she started in again on the copyright thing.

I don’t care if she is right or wrong about the letter of the law. It’s disgusting.

I have been invited to be a guest at MystiCon 2011. It’s this weekend. Here is my schedule, in the unlikely event anyone wants to seek me out and listen to me blather.

• Game Development, Friday, 20:00
• Running a LARP, Saturday, 13:00
• Game Publishing, Saturday, 15:00
• A Unique Magic System – Can It Be Done, Sunday, 11:00

I am not a terribly interesting person. At best I am “a character”, but I haven’t actually done much worth talking about. However, I have the good fortune to know some genuinely interesting people. For example, Tee Morris.

I know Tee through RavenCon, a science fiction convention in Virginia which he and I had a part in founding in 2006 (my part in that being a bit smaller than his). He is also the author of a number of books, the most well-known of which is probably MOREVI. He also happens to be one of the authors of Podcasting for Dummies. In this case, I am the eponymous dummy.

Here’s the deal: I wanted to record our Friday night superhero game, because I think it’s going really well. I tried using a PC microphone I have had rattling around in a drawer since 1995. The results were not satisfactory. I went to H. H. Gregg and Best Buy and looked for an omnidirectional microphone, but they didn’t have them. I searched online for “omnidirectional microphone”, and all I really found was a Blue Snowball. Was this microphone good? Bad? Indifferent? Hell if I knew. So I called Tee and asked for advice, and now I am passing that advice on to you.

First off, he said the best choice for microphones for what I was doing is the Rode Podcaster. The Rode Podcaster is $230, though, which is way more than I wanted to spend.

A decent second choice, according to Tee, is the Samson CO1U. It’s $100, which, while more than I would like to spend, is not out of the question. So that was a strong contender.

However, Tee asked if I ever planned on recording on the go — recording a panel at a convention (MystiCon, for example, where I am appearing as a guest). It really hadn’t occurred to me, but you know, that might actually be pretty cool. His suggestion, in that case, was the Zoom H2 portable stereo recorder. Tee himself has the Zoom H4, which he loves, but he said that the H2 was much easier to use, that it has great sound fidelity, and that it also doubles as a USB microphone.

I read up on all three of Tee’s suggestions, reading reviews online on various web sites. I dithered a bit, but eventually went with the Zoom H2. It should arrive in a couple of days, and I plan to take it with me to MystiCon.

Thanks, Tee! I hope I haven’t grievously misrepresented you.

A week or so after I mention that Adrianne Palicki is my new favorite, I hear that she is pegged to play Wonder Woman in the new TV reboot of the classic Linda Carter series.

Based on looks alone, I think Megan Fox would make a better Wonder Woman, but based on her comments about the character, I am glad that she wasn’t cast in the part.

I wish Ms. Palicki the best of luck. I hope her show does better than the Bionic Woman reboot (which I liked, but which suffered from producer interference that ultimately killed the show).

When I heard about the newest X-Men movie, my expectations were really low. Roger Corman low. However, although there are a few things I don’t like (I still think giving Emma Frost the ability to turn into diamond, which was done in 2003, is stupid and unnecessary), over all, the trailer looks pretty good. You can definitely see the influence of Watchmen on it.

I am tired of people singing with robot voices. I am ready for that fad to go away.

The only time it’s cool to sing with a robot voice is when a machine is the singer. For example, “Still Alive”, sung by GlaDOS from Portal.

I’ve experiments to run.
There is research to be done.
On the people who are still alive.

I am still attempting to watch every DVD we own in more or less alphabetical order (and I am still on “C”), but two DVDs were released recently that I had to tell people about.

The first is Thundarr The Barbarian. This is a show from the early-mid 1980s about an ill-tempered barbarian in a fur teddy, a Wookie Mok named Ookla, and a postmodernly hip, vaguely Asian sorceress in a blue one-piece bathing suit named Ariel (Princess Ariel, actually). I love this show. I even started writing a role-playing game based on it (which I never finished, although it’s playable as-is). I have been waiting for years for Thundarr to come to DVD.

It’s a “made to order” DVD, which means it’s physically on par with a high-quality bootleg. But I don’t care. I think it’s worth it to pay for the genuine article.

The second DVD is released under the aegis of “Roger Corman’s Cult Classics”, although he had almost nothing to do with it: Star Crash, also known as The Adventures Of Stella Star (the sexy space smuggler). This movie is classic. I don’t think any other Star Wars ripoff is even close to being this entertaining (and that includes the last three Star Wars sequels). You have to see this movie. In fact, we will be riffing it at RavenCon this year, on Friday night. Come join the fun!

I am taking a break from my effort to watch every DVD we own in more or less alphabetical order (currently on “C”), and viewing Frankenhooker. This is a funny horror movie from the golden age of VHS, released on DVD in widescreen. What I love about this movie is the mumbling, New Jersey-accented Jeffrey Franken, electrician and part-time mad scientist, whose bizarre activities are mostly ignored by his friends and family.

Mother: Oh, Jeffrey. I’m worried about you.

Jeffrey: Yeah, well, so am I, ma. Something happening to me that I just don’t understand. I can’t think straight anymore. Like my reasoning is all uh, twisted and distorted, you know? I seem to be disassociating myself from reality, more and more, each day. I’m antisocial… and becoming dangerously amoral. I-I’ve lost the ability to distinguish between right from wrong… good from bad. I’m scared, ma. I mean I feel like sometimes I-I’m plunging headfirst into some kind of black void of sheer, utter madness or something…

Mother: Do you want a sandwich?

Jeffrey: …no, thanks.

I am also working on a paper for my Criminology class. This seems appropriate.

It’s a trick question, of course, since the answer is two words.

Just saw Harry Potter with some friends (it was our third choice, but the only movie that started at a convenient time). Have you spent a long weekend camping with three dull people? Then you have seen the new Harry Potter movie. What can you say about a movie where the worst thing the villain does is give a bad dinner party.