(Pope's Paul Muad'dib is some very nice design, based on John Schoenherr's work)

Got all ten plagues of Egypt here this weekend. I mean the whole kit & kaboodle. It wasn't very pleasant but now we can put it aside & get back to the issues at hand. Nice to know the citadal can stand the hurricane without the minaret even shaking. I've digested a bunch of visual media but been lax at recording it-- X-Men Origins: Wolverine is just as terrible as you think it could be, Parks & Recreation has actually gotten funny, Flash Forward is too "dramadramadrama" all the time, but as funny as the quip that all the "flash forwards" would just be of guys going "oh crap I'm having deja vu right now!" I don't mind it. Dollhouse's "Epitath One" was actually pretty brilliant. I think it is going to be the best episode of the whole series, by which I mean I have very little faith in it not being cancelled. & unlike the cancelation of a lot of shows, I won't cry foul-- I like the show, am mostly caught up, but I can understand why people aren't watching it & why Fox would pull the plug. Community is full fledged funny. Have now put InfoMania & the Rotten Tomatoes show in our official rotation. Probably snuck a few other shows in there, but you know...that gives you the rough impression. Canceled all my plans this weekend to reap the whirlwind, so it was pretty much television & the gym. Saturday I put in a good, solid hour and a half, with two hardcore cardiovascular races & a power hour of lifting. Sunday was an hour and a few, much more relaxed but a nice capstone for the weekend. I'm wanting to go back tonight, we'll see if my motivation cracks. Anyhow, I think the next movie I see will either by Paranormal Activity (the hype is working on me?) or Splice, who helped me refine what I wanted the homunculi to look like.

( Splice teaser. )

Last night I left work a little bit early to go see Scott Westerfield at Jenny's library. He was going to talk about Leviathan & show the trailer for the book. Since I was independently a booster of the book & the trailer, & you know, it was all happening at my wife's library, it seemed best that I go. I even prepared a question in case the "cue & aes" got off to a shaky start, which was handy, since it did. Bang! Fired it off. It was about "ziz," the third beastie in the leviathan/behemoth/ziz triumvirate, which featured heavily in martak's Oisos game, if you recall. Anyhow, the most illuminating bit was when Scott offhandedly mentioned that there would be a fourth, "Spiderwick Field Guide-like" book. Which is my 'hood, boys & girls. I gobble up that apocryphal worldbuilding, you know me. He busted out a few of the long panels of it, cut-aways of the ship, stuff like that-- I'm going to be snatching a copy of that up. Then home with Jenny! Where I became very, very fussy. Anyhow, that was that. Watched a little bit of Mad Men on the couch with Jenny-- sorry, I just don't care about that show. I do care about vampires & werewolves & Frankenstein monsters though. & you know what? I am fine with calling the monster "Frankenstein" & as far as I care his first name is Adam. Canon enough for me! Okay, well. Now I'm on telephone hold & this is getting too stream of consciousness. I'll talk about the human/karnak/alpha/demi/cacogen/goblin axis & the Brood/Lodge/Mandate/Mother Church/Shining Horde/Unity axis.

So, it looks like (based on Dragon 379, a preview of Players Handbook 3, which will also feature the rules for psionics) that "Skill Powers" might be the start of widening the scope of the game; powers that are useful outside of combat. Of course, they are all Utility (at least in the preview), & many of them do have to do with combat, but we are starting to see the hack & slash facade crack. That has been my biggest complaint, & the problem most of the people I know have with the new edition: it is great fun if you want to rumble with a beholder, but outside of combat you can be the trickiest thief or the most powerful wizard, & it just doesn't matter. Come on, let me finesse the problem! Give me a bag of weird tricks! I've been saying that the solution is a Utility Powers book, along with a mechanism for trading in Daily or Encounter power slots for new Utility powers; I think these Skill Powers are a few steps down that path. Edit: & check out "Martial Practices" at the bottom of this article...non-magical rituals, basically. End of edit. Unrelatedly, if you recall I really liked Scott Westerfield's book Leviathan, with art by Keith Thompson. Well, there is a new trailer for the book, & it is pretty awesome, if only for the Darwinist/Clanker map of pre-war Europe.

Poll #1434955 BANDAIDE
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 5

What should this band be called?

& this video of a Star Wars dance-off is...amazing. WTF FTW.

Yesterday was a fine day, just fine. Went up to a park at 10:30, selected numerous vegetables. Fed my aching body a Chinese food breakfast-- fresh off the wok. Went to the gym & lifted some weights: another hour & a half. Not unproud of that. Then! A text message telling me all previous intelligence was invalid, & that the Jenny Lewis show was...pronto! Hopped in the shower, scrub a dub dub, met up with Peter & zoom! Off to the races. "Hey, do you actually know how to get to Battery Park?" I asked on the train, "because I was just heading to where Carla used to live in Battery Park City; it ought to be near there, right?" Between Peter & I we found it without too much ado, & nice walk along the piers lining the Hudson river, to boot. The set-up in the park was kind of annoying-- there was only one entrance to the show & you had to weave through a labyrinth to get there; but you had to find start of the maze, which was the tricky point. At the mouth, there was a worker-- enter here for the show. Guy, I don't need you at the entrance, I need you elsewhere to tell me where the entrance is! In we went though, & found ourselves a decent enough spot; Jennny Lewis! James (showing up to meet us) elaborated on my old chestnut-- "Pretty sure Jenny Lewis has a soul; pretty sure you don't-- into the new team motto: Jenny Lewis Is Not A P-Zombie. I tried not to get too annoyed at human beings-- seriously, such rude apes; makes me so mad. This is why I don't go to shows! But free is the price that flips that math. She ended with "Born Secular" & for a crazy moment I thought it was going too segue into "Big Guns," which-- anthems for war on heaven are all I ever want from music. Instead they left the music resonating & left the stage. For no encore!? Sad. Conner Oberst next so...we absconded with quickness.

Took the boys to Aperitivo to sing for our supper. Or well to just eat our supper I guess. They were putty in my hands, ordering what I recommended. I like it when that happens. Take my advice, it is always good for you! James had the beet gnocchi & Peter had the pasta with the three different kinds of mushrooms. I had a bresoala salad, which was arugula, goat cheese, truffle oil, & some smoked meat. Yo, the salads at Aperitivo are always worth a damn. Then for my entree I had linguine with chicken liver, sage, & a white wine & cream sauce. I took half of it home, rather than over-eating; the boys said I should text Jenny to let her know how responsible I was being. We also drank some Italian beer. I forget what it was called.



We were going to swing by the sake house on the way back-- says me "You are profiting from all the dates I go on with my wife!"-- but they were closed. What! Well I'd gotten the boys hearts set on sake, so we went to the wine shop & bought a bunch. Or at least, Peter & I did; James got shochu, which no one noticed till we put it in our mouths & did a spit-take. I got "Summer Snow," which was recommended to me by the sommelier-- which was very nice. Peter & Alicia's first time with unfiltered sake; leaving Alicia unconvinced, which is a first for me, since everybody else likes it. James's bottle was, actually-- looking at it now, it isn't shochu, it is sake-- komekome-shu, which is maybe like-- some kind of sake? Anyhow, it is a weird thing. Not bad, but...not any taste I was expecting. Peter's bottle I heated up; heated water & then soaked the bottle in it thus. The label peeled off though, so I don't know what is was called. There was much MarioKart & LifeForce, lo. In the middle of all this, Alicia arrived, wearing Peter's clothing & bearing a gift: a painting she made me!



& then we started flexing & had a gunshow waterfall.



Alicia was feeling crappy, so she & Peter left (after Peter went to go get a burrito & chips, missing the chance to play veterinarian & check out our sick pythons); James & I grabbed sake & climbed the fire escape to the roof. Talked about being in the wizard's city. I say: most American day! Italian food, Japanese drinks, then Mexican snacks, then fireworks. America. We watch the fireworks, & the superintendent & his family come up to watch them too; meaning we can get down via the actual staircase, instead of the fire escape. Which, we do! Then James & I split a couple mouthfuls of wine, I have him roll me a cigarette, we go outside & then I bid him farewell. Goodbye, I'll see you tomorrow at play practice. & then I'm up another hour being a lovesick sap, then bed. Which puts me at today. I'll leave this entry with the most patriotic thing I know of.

It can't be overstated; ICO & Shadow of the Colossus are both brilliant pieces of art. They are a sterling example of how video games can & will rival other forms of media, how interactivity & narrative can intermingle. All the lit geeks freaking out about textual tricks are overlooking the integrated branching story of the game. Plus, face meltingly beautiful & heart wrenchingly plotted. Yorda remains one of the best characters in fiction precisely because she alchemically transforms from silent & passive into something expressive & present. She's not a burden on the players but manages to convince you she is an equal participant. Suck on that, Disney princesses. Anyhow, now the new game from Fumito Ueda looks like it will cross ICO with Shadow... to become something I can only describe as Atreyu & Falcor. You're a young kid with a pet...gryphon? Fox-bird? Possum-eagle? Luck-dragon? I'm incredibly amped.



( Shadow of the Colossus & ICO trailers )

Big O by Sunrise Studios.

I started watching this show because-- well, because I would occasionally catch a snippet of it & end up totally befuddled. I couldn't wrap my head around what was going on, so I decided to immerse myself in it. I finally watched the final episode last night (I still have episodes at the beginning to see, since I started in the middle) & the end verdict is: I liked it, even the controversial second season. The hybrid style, the old-fashioned AIs, the whole attitude of the show appeals to me. Like, check this out:

The boot sequence ("Cast in the name of God, Ye not guilty") is a design of series director Kazuyoshi Katayama. Katayama first learned of the phrase through a magazine article on John Milius and the Conan the Barbarian series. According to the article, the phrase comes from the swords of executioners in the 17th century. A variation of the phrase ("Suffer no guilt ye who wields this in the name of Crom") is engraved in Conan's sword. Katayama liked the sound of it and decided to use it as the robot's call to arms. (Wikipedia)

On the surface, the premise of the show is a mash-up of a mecha fighting show with Batman: the Animated Series. The style is art deco, almost vergeing on steam-punk where the robots are concerned. The "mecha"-robots are called Megadeuses-- big gods. The main character is an integrated Bruce Wayne-- no psychotic break to cause a "bat-man" or anything. He even has a kick-ass butler. A sweet car. Gadgets. Oh, & a giant mecha called Big O. Designed by the same guy who designed crazy Tranzor Z, which explains why I like it so much, right?

The real plot of the show, though is thus: orchestral music will play & there will be voice overs about memory. See, everyone lost their memories 40 years ago, & now live in a domed city called "Paradigm City." Ruled by an evil corporation, natch. The real gist of the show is memory, amnesia, identity. Whether you're screaming about how you don't need them, or you do need them, or wrestling with the controls of your giant fighting robot until you have some catharsis-- memory. To such an over-the-top extreme that it alchemically transmutes from over-drama to melo-drama. Fun stuff. Then a robot punches a monster.

from BodyWorld.

Been fairly busy today-- shame, because I've had flitting thoughts going through these noodles, the grey pudding. Like-- another reason to be down on Frank Miller? He doesn't get Conan. What, he called Marv "Conan in a trench coat," right, & has his whole big "bad in the day they would've made Marv a king!" line, right? Well kiddo, no. One person made Conan king-- Conan. He wasn't put there by popular acclaim, & he wasn't some drug addled mess. & Conan is already the story about savage man in a civilized world-- Howard's Hyborean age is fundamentally civilized. That is the dialogue already present in the text! So that's been eating me. Plus, the season has changed, so I feel really alien everywhere I go-- I like the feeling. The best part of the greening is how foreign it makes everything seem. Took lunch outside-- a huge pile of bacon? That is what twice-cooked pork is? Ugh, intense. Then also, Hoboken? Suddenly everyone is talking about it; looks like the Megaplex is Sprawling, you know? Today? Dentist. I hate that there are people who can just yell at me. Do your job, clean my teeth! Flossing is a joke. Then Dungeons & Dragons. Oh, & the oft referenced musical number from America's Next Top Model!

Had one of those train-ride obsessions today. A blonde girl with a kind of eskimo look to her. Maybe it was the Bjork hair, lending a kind of Icelandic look. She got on with me, off at Rector. Not a crush-- I should be clear. More like a kind of recognition. She had really young looking hands while she held on to the pole. Sort of-- do I recognize you from the internet? Did your genes just tumble out of the dice cup in some way that seems familiar to my brain's pattern recognition? Are you some how psychically intruding in my grey noodles? Are you my best friend from the Other Place? A weird haunting came on down on me. Then when I got to work, I had one of those fun elevator situations. I'm on the twelfth floor, twelve out of twenty (twenty one if you count the J. Jonah's office). Got in with a small gaggle of people & out of all of them, I was the lowest floor! I was first. An auspicious start to the day. Things are better now; Jenny came home, she has short hair, & I am super amped about this week's Batman: The Brave & the Bold. Red Hood!

Weekend successfully unshabby. Not a bad start to 200fine. Friday was my first day back in the salt mines, & the grindstone didn’t need my nose too much—it was a nice way of easing in. Came home to find that, after covering me in kisses, Jenny had plans with Carla. Carla lives in the Slope now & has been making an effort with me; good news gospel stuff all around. So they went out & I watched 2001: A Space Odyssey. They came home about three fourths of the way through it, & didn’t care when I kept babbling about cosmic rebirth. Phillistines! I didn’t care though, I’ve seen it a few times before (like a million-- 2001 is easily the best movie of all).

Saturday was a little more easy going; played some video games (aka the only thing I did during my vacation—I doubt I even picked up a book, though I read some comics), hit the gym, & then met up with ranai. She’s my dude. We were planning on going to the Brooklyn Museum for their free, late First Saturday of the Month thing. Which we did, but not without some misadventure. First, I wanted to walk there, so we did. I miss my jaunts to Grand Army Plaza. The problem with this plan was that it froze Danielle’s ears off. We did get to walk around the fountain & through the arch, though. The other problem here is—who can understand Grand Army Plaza? Not me. So we ended up pretty much missing the museum entirely & walking down the wrong street—the street where sleeping truckers lie. It worked out in the end; we got there, saw some museum stuff—I really don’t like Gilbert & George—& watched some courtly seventeenth century dancing, went into some southern houses. We finally bailed & went to dinner: Rancho Allegre, where I’ve never been. It is on the second floor, which is nice, & the mole sauce was good. Also, we decided they thought I was cheating on my wife with Danielle, since they comp’ed half our pitcher of sangria. Then home to Jenny & some Angel & a little Doom.

Instead of my game, Sunday was another guest slot in Sam & Tracey’s one-on-one game, with toughlad & one of Sam’s friends. I reprised my role as Dell Kurs, the WWII Nosferatu. James’ wasn’t his WWII Ventrue this time but rather an Age of Aquarius Ancient Roman. The other James was a Gangrel bounty hunter, Tracey was her mage & Sam was the Storyteller (often in the guise as the mage’s paramour). The session was a party—as all good game sessions are I find—which took place on winter solstice. A vampire party. There were more than a few entertaining moments—I "roofied” a political opponent by tricking her into feeding on a mortal who was candy flipping, & James’ character locked a leech in a car trunk with a zippo. I found out that Fancy Vampire Moves are sometimes stupid—I took a two die penalty to not do aggravated damage & give her a minus one dexterity? Next time forget that; I’ll take the two extra dice & do like six aggravated, thanks. In the end, the Big Bad was killed, hooray.

( lj-cute text= fishdog )

my old chum scribble turned me on to this hot shit. watch & prepare. bernard isn't going to be guest appearing in my game tommorow, so it is back to the a-plan. now all i have to do is remember what plan a was. i know it starts with some goblin road riding; i'll write that shit up as a teaser, all martak-style, & shoot it over to them. that is the plan for now.

the trailer for the play witch prison!

( my parts, or some of them, below! )

io9 tells me this is scott pilgrim...'s creator brian lee o'malley (destroyerzooey) covering underworld's "born slippy" & then dubbed on top of the uh...i guess they are called the "lucky star decepticons"? i guess that kind of charts out my geek credentials; i can follow as far as to the line of transformers canon. there is a line in the sand. or the grit, i guess transformers have grit. anyhow, this is happening, bitch!